The action of the gear is so simple and rapid that the torpedo protection can be always ready without arresting the way of the ship.  As a length of net 30 ft. by 20 ft. deep weighs about 3 cwt., it will also be seen that the reduction of strains by working the crinolines from the heel instead of the head of the booms is considerable.  The attack by the Whitehead upon the booms and nettings was made shortly before 2 p.m., at the time of high tide.

The whole affair occupied a very few minutes.  As soon as the red pennant was struck on board to show that Mr. Bullivant was satisfied with the arrangements, and that the target was ready, the torpedo vessel Vesuvius got under way, and after circling round the doomed hulk discharged a Whitehead against the netting from her under-water bow torpedo tube at an approximate range of 50 yards.  As on former occasions, the missile was one of the old 16 inch pattern, but it was understood that the charge of gun cotton had been reduced to 87 lb., so that the net protection should not bear a greater strain than would be the case in actual hostilities.  The torpedo, which was set to a depth of about 10 feet, struck the net in the middle and threw up an immense spout of water, but without getting to the ship, which was apparently uninjured.  Although it hit the net immediately below the center boom, no fracture occurred, and the points remained intact.  Although at the short range the torpedo would spin through the water at from 30 to 40 horse power, and would deliver a formidable blow upon the net, the thrust was effectually resisted, though as a matter of course the net was much torn by the explosion of the baffled projectile.

Although at the second torpedo attack made on the Resistance, the following day, the offensive power that was brought to bear was quite exceptional, the victory remained with the ship.  The charge exploded was an exceptionally heavy one.  It consisted of 220 lb. of gun cotton.  It was consequently more destructive than any which is ever likely to be launched against an armorclad much better prepared to resist it than the obsolete and time-worn Resistance.  An idea, however, had got abroad that the Russians either have or intend to have a locomotive torpedo capable of carrying the same weight of explosive in its head, and the object of the experiment was to ascertain what would be the effect of the detonation of such an enormous charge upon the submerged portions of a ship of war.

But, while this was no doubt the primary purpose in view, the experiment also served the secondary purpose of determining the result of the explosion upon the net defenses of a ship.  Mr. Bullivant’s booms and runners, which were found to be scarcely anything the worse from the ordeal of the previous day, were again used.  The damaged net was taken away and one of the old service grummet nets slung in its place, the cylinders containing the gun cotton being attached to the jackstay immediately in front