Arizona Republican

Aerial Torpedoes.

The Marine Francaise publishes an article by Admiral Reveillere, in which he assures his readers that a revolution in naval affairs is approaching not less important than that caused by the introduction of armored ships. The gun will cease its contest with the armor plate in the sense of seeking to penetrate by its shock, and will henceforth scatter destruction by launching explosive shells of large capacity at comparatively low velocities. A shell containing 100 kilograms of panclastite would, he says, be a veritable torpedo, and would infallibly destroy whatever it fell upon. The gun for this service would be a mortar, such as is used for military purposes, and in the admiral's view a mortar of 22 cm. (8.6 inches) would replace a gun of 14 cm. (5.5 inches), and one of 27 cm. (10.6 inches) a gun of 16 cm. (6.2 inches), wherever these are found.

Guns of high velocity, he says, must be reserved for action against the personnel; they have henceforth no place against the ship itself. This proposal is but an extension of Admiral Reveillere's project of swift mortar vessels, analogous to torpedo boats, but constructed for the launching of aerial torpedoes.