On Wednesday, a trial was made at Portsmouth of the
new Swan-Edison torpedo, an engine of war which, if it fulfils the expectations of its inventors, will prove of extreme valve in coast-defense. It is claimed for the Swan-Edison torpedo, that it has "an effective range of two miles, at a rate of speed of over twenty knots ; instant control from a distance by electricity, as to starting, stopping, steering, and exploding ; invulnerability to the shot and shell of an enemy, all but the float being under water ; absolute trustworthiness in opera- tion; the power to dive under or cut through obstructions placed in its path ; and capacity to carry a charge of 500 lb. of the highest explosive, sufficient to disable, if not destroy, the largest war-ship, even if exploded 30 ft. distant, which is about the usual limit of netting defence." The new torpedo is sent at the enemy much as is a Whitehead, but it has a wire some two miles long attached to it, by which it can be directed and fired at any moment. At the trial on Wednesday, the tor- pedo while in motion was turned to the right and left, and finally made to make an almost complete tour of the ship from which it was despatched. If a party of engineers were given a store of these torpedoes, and placed at every martello tower on the coast, an invasion ought to be rendered impossible. It must not be forgotten, however, that the new torpedo is what the old Somersetshire woman called a "terrible zite of mazeenery," and may prove useless in the rough-and-tumble of actual war.
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