en from what has
been called the lessons of certain naval wars which occurred on the
coasts of South America and China--international embroilments in which
mercenaries, or only half-trained seamen and engineers, were engaged.
On similar fallacious grounds it was argued that the magazine-rifle
had put the bayonet out of the court of military arbitrament, and the
South African war has proved conclusively how erroneous was that idea.
The use of the torpedo-boat and of the weapons which it carries must
always demand, like that of the bayonet, men of the strongest nerve,
and of the greatest devotion to their duty and to their country.

Fifty miles an hour is a rate which is already in sight as the speed
of the future torpedo-boat, the first turbine steamer of the British
Navy having achieved forty-three miles an hour before the end of the
nineteenth century. It should be distinctly understood, however, that
such a speed cannot be kept up for any great length of time and that
long voyages are out of the question. The role of the turbine
torpedo-boat will be to "get home" with its weapon in the shortest
practicable time. Hence its great value for the defence of harbours by
striking at distances of perhaps two or three hours' steaming.

On the high seas the battle-ships, which will virtually be the
cruisers of the future, will be provided with turbine torpedo-boats,
carried slung in convenient positions and ready at short notice to be
let slip like greyhounds. During the hazardous run of the
torpedo-boat towards the enemy, various devices will be employed for
the purpose of baffling his aim, such for instance as the emission of
volumes of smoke from the bows and the erection of broad network
blinds covering the sight of the little craft, but capable of being
shifted from side to side, so that the enemy's marksmen may never know
exactly what part of the object in sight is to be aimed at. The
torpedo will be carried on a mast, which at the right moment can be
lowered to form a projecting spar like a bowsprit; and the explosion
that will take place on its impact with the enemy's hull will be
enough to blow a fatal breach in any warship afloat.

For harbour defence and the safety of the battle-ship the wire-guided
and propelled torpedo will form a second line behind the fast
torpedo-boat. This type of weapon strikes with more unerring accuracy
than any other yet included in the armoury of naval warfare, because
it is under the c