Word: torpedo
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...Prince of Wales was attacked by a swarm of torpedo bombers. She was hit astern, her propellers and steering gear knocked out. This was exactly the kind of blow by which the British themselves had crippled the Bismarck...
...special sort of thrill he'd never known before the war when one of the gray puffs of the anti-aircraft shells came particularly close. But this way he had a chance. It wasn't suicide. He didn't mind taking big risks; even 99 to 1 like those torpedo flyers. That one possibility of life out of a hundred was something to work for, something to fight for. He didn't think he'd mind dying like that...
...appearance Burgess' destroyer is a close-coupled version of the current models. It will steam at a top of 52 knots (60 m.p.h.). Displacing around 1,000 tons (steel destroyers: 1,500 to 2,000), it will be about 275 feet long, have almost as much gun and torpedo power as its standard sisters. It will have more anti-aircraft fire power, carry more depth charges for potting its natural enemy, the submarine. But it will be an experimental ship until tests at sea (and enough aluminum at home) convince the Navy that Designer Burgess has another winner...
...board. Last July his PT-69, a neat, sleek boat which jumps from wave to wave like a rock skipping over the water, was ready for Navy tests. Last week the Navy showed that it shared some of Huck's confidence that he had built the fastest, smoothest torpedo boat in the world: it gave him a contract (about $1,000,000) to build eight of them as a starter...
Although the PT-69's specifications are a military secret, pictures show that she is about 70 ft. long, about 16 ft. in the beam, carries two torpedo tubes and has a stern gangway for depth charges. The three engines pack enough power to run away from destroyers (i.e., 45 knots or more) except in rough weather. Since such boats have little offensive value unless used in large flotillas, the Navy may decide to put little Huckins Yacht Corp. (normal gross: less than $500,000 a year) into the defense business...