They had yet, however, one thing to learn practically. It needs the
deadly torpedo, fired below the water, and traveling under the surface,
to make the torpedo boat the greatest of all dangers that menace the
haughty battleship of a modern navy.
Now, at last, Captain Jack Benson, together with his engineer, Hal
Hastings, and Eph Somers, another young member of the crew, were about
to have their first practical drill with the actual torpedo. An officer
of the United States Navy, especially detailed for the work, was expected
hourly at Dunhaven. The three submarine boys were eager for their first
taste of this work. Barely less interested were Jacob Farnum,
shipbuilder, and president of the submarine company, and David Pollard,
inventor of the Pollard type of submarine craft.
In this shed, placed on racks in three tiers, lay the two dozen Whitehead
torpedoes with which the first work was to be done. As Jack stepped
about the shed, looking to see that everything was in order, he was
thinking of the exciting work soon to come.
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