_Is a view of the brig Dorothea, as she was blown up on the 15th of Oct.
1805._
To convince Mr. Pitt and lord Melville that a vessel could be destroyed
by the explosion of a Torpedo under her bottom, a strong built Danish
brig, the _Dorothea_, burthen 200 tons, was anchored in Walmer road,
near Deal, and within a mile of Walmer Castle, the then residence of Mr.
Pitt. Two boats, each with eight men, commanded by lieutenant Robinson,
were put under my direction. I prepared two empty Torpedoes in such a
manner, that each was only from two to three pounds specifically heavier
than salt water; and I so suspended them, that they hung fifteen feet
under water. They were then tied one to each end of a small rope eighty
feet long: thus arranged, and the brig drawing twelve feet of water, the
14th day of October was spent in practice. Each boat having a Torpedo
in the stern, they started from the shore about a mile above the brig,
and rowed down towards her; the uniting line of the Torpedoes being
stretched to its full extent, the two boats were distant from each other
seventy feet; thus they approached in such a manner, that one boat kept
the larboard the other the starboard side of the brig in view. So soon
as the connecting line of the Torpedoes passed the buoy of the brig,
they were thrown into the water, and carried on by the tide, until the
connecting line touched the brig's cable; the tide then drove them under
her bottom. The experiment being repeated several times, taught the men
how to act, and proved to my satisfaction that, when properly placed
on the tide, the Torpedoes would invariably go under the bottom of the
vessel. I then filled one of the Torpedoes with one hundred and eighty
pounds of powder, and set its clockwork to eighteen minutes. Every thing
being ready, the experiment was announced for the next day, the 15th,
at five o'clock in the afternoon. Urgent business had called Mr. Pitt
and lord Melville to London. Admiral Holloway, Sir Sidney Smith, Captain
Owen, Captain Kingston, Colonel Congreve, and the major part of the
officers of the fleet under command of Lord Keath were present; at forty
minutes past four the boats rowed towards the brig, and the Torpedoes
were thrown into the water; the tide carried them, as before described,
under the bottom of the brig, where, at the expiration of eighteen
minutes, the explosion appeared to raise her bodily about six feet; she
separated in the middle, and the two ends went down; in twenty seconds,
nothing was to be seen of her except floating fragments; the pumps and
foremast were blown out of her; the fore-topsail-yard was thrown up to
the cross-trees; the fore-chain plates with their bolts, were torn from
her sides; the mizen-chain-plates and shrouds, being stronger than those
of the foremast, or the shock being more forward than aft, the mizenmast
was broke off in two places; these discoveries were made by means of the
pieces which were found afloat.
The experiment was of the most satisfactory kind, for it proved a fact
much debated and denied, that the explosion of a sufficient quantity of
powder under the bottom of a vessel would destroy her.[A] There is now
no doubt left on any intelligent mind as to this most important of all
facts connected with the invention of Torpedoes; and the establishment of
this fact alone, merits the expenditure of millions of dollars and years
of experiment, were it yet necessary, to arrive at a system of practice
which shall insure success to attacks, with such formidable engines. For
America, I consider it a fortunate circumstance that this experiment was
made in England, and witnessed by more than a hundred respectable and
brave officers of the Royal navy; for, should Congress adopt Torpedoes
as a part of our means of defence, lords Melville, Castlereagh, and
Mulgrave, have a good knowledge of their combination and effect. Lord
Grenville, Earls Gray and St. Vincent[B], have on their minds a strong
impression of their probable consequences. Sir Home Popham, Sir Sidney
Smith, and Colonel Congreve, the latter now celebrated for his ingenious
invention of Pyrotecnic arrows or rockets, were my friends and companions
in the experiments; they are excellent and brave men, and from my
knowledge of those noblemen and gentlemen, and their sentiments on this
subject, I can predict that they would feel much disposed to respect the
rights, nor enter the waters of a nation who should use such engines with
energy and effect.
[Footnote A: Twenty minutes before the _Dorothea_ was blown up, Capt.
Kingston asserted, that if a Torpedo were placed under his cabin while
he was at dinner, he should feel no concern for the consequence. Occular
demonstration is the best proof for all men.]
[Footnote B: The morning of my first interview with Earl St. Vincent he
was very communicative. I explained to him a Torpedo and the _Dorothea_
experiment. He reflected for some time, and then said, Pitt was the
greatest fool that ever existed, to encourage a mode of war which they
who commanded the seas did not want, and which, if successful, would
deprive them of it.]
This fortunate experiment left not the least doubt on my mind that the
one which I made in the harbour of New-York in August 1807, would be
equally successful. The brig was anchored, the Torpedoes prepared and
put into the water in the manner before described; the tide drove them
under the brig near her keel, but in consequence of the locks turning
downwards, the powder fell out of the pans and they both missed fire.
This discovery of an error in the manner of fixing the locks to a
Torpedo, has been corrected. On the second attempt, the Torpedo missed
the brig; the explosion took place about one hundred yards from her,
and threw up a column of water ten feet diameter sixty or seventy feet
high. On the third attempt she was blown up: the effect and result
much the same as that of the _Dorothea_ before described. About two
thousand persons were witnesses to this experiment. Thus, in the course
of my essays, two brigs, each of two hundred tons, have been blown up.
The practicability of destroying vessels by this means, has been fully
proved. It is also proved, that the mechanism will ignite powder at any
required depth under water within a given time. It now remains to point
out means by which Torpedoes may be used to advantage with the least
possible risque to the assailants.