Russo-Japanese war A submerged torpedo-tube on board the Russian battleship " Peresviet " , now at Port Arthur (rate of fire : 1 every 4 or 5 minutes ) . Great secrecy is observed with regard to the Russian torpedo-tubes . The submerged tubes are partly a French and partly a Russian invention . Those above water are the same as in the Japanese and all other fleets . The compressed air for firing is carried in teh cigar-shaped chamber which appears above the tube . The torpedo itself is a kind of Whitehead . The rate of torpedo-firing varies according to the efficiency of the ship's company ; but at the best the Russians can only fire one torpedo from an underwater tube every four or five minutes , as against Japan's one every two minutes . The Russians cannot deliver a torpedo accurately when the ship is going fast . 20 February 1904