THE FUTURE OF THE SUBMARINE
The world will not always be at war. Interminable as the conflict by
which it is now racked seems, and endless as appear the resources of
the nations participating in it, the time must come when victory or
sheer exhaustion shall compel peace. People talk of that peace being
permanent. That is perhaps too sanguine a dream while human nature
remains what it is, and nations can still be as covetous, ambitious,
and heedless of others' rights as are individuals. But beyond doubt
a prolonged period of peace awaits the world. What then is to be the
future of the aircraft and the submarine which had to wait for war
to secure any recognition from mankind of their prodigious
possibilities?
Of the future of the aircraft there can be no doubt. Its uses in
peace will be innumerable. Poor old Count Zeppelin, who thought of
his invention only as a weapon of war, nevertheless showed how it
might be successfully adapted to the needs of peace merely as a
byproduct. As for the airplane both for sport and business its
opportunities are endless. Easy and inexpensive to build, simple to
operate with but little training on the part of the aviator, it will
be made the common carrier of all nations. Already the United States
is maintaining an aërial mail service in Alaska. Already too, bi-
and triplanes are built capable of carrying twenty-five to thirty
men besides guns and ammunition. It is easy to foresee the use that
can be made of machines of this character in times of peace. Needing
no tracks or right of way, requiring no expensive signalling or
operative system, asking only that at each end of the route there
shall be a huge level field for rising and for landing, these
machines will in time take to themselves the passenger business of
the world.
But the future of the submarine is more dubious. Always it will be a
potent weapon of war. It may indeed force the relegation of
dreadnoughts to the scrap heap. But of its peaceful services there
is more doubt. That it can be made a cargo carrier is unquestionably
true. But to what good? There is no intelligent reason for carrying
cargoes slowly under water which might just as well be carried
swiftly on the surface unless war compels concealment. Underwater
navigation must always be slower and more expensive than surface
navigation, nor does it seem probable that the underwater boats can
ever equal in size ordinary ships, though undoubtedly their present
proportions are going to be greatly increased.
As a result of the German submarine campaign it is possible that the
United States may develop a fleet of underwater merchantmen to
circumvent the enemy while this war continues, though there has been
but little discussion of it. But even so, commonsense would indicate
that such a fleet would be abandoned on the restoration of peace. If
anything is to be done toward making the submarine a vessel of
ordinary everyday use the present double system of motors--the
Diesels for surface navigation and the electric for submerged
service--will have to be abandoned. Inventors however are diligently
working on this problem to-day. Indeed so well known and successful
a builder of submarines as Mr. Simon Lake seemed to have faith in
their possibilities as merchant craft. As early as February, 1916,
he announced that he had taken out a patent on a new form of
cargo-carrying submarine which he described as made up of "nests of
light-weight circular tanks of comparatively small diameter
surrounded by a ship-shape form of hull." What advantage was to
accrue from this type of vessel Mr. Lake has not explained. However
the Germans who seemed to originate everything successfully
demonstrated that the merchant submarine was a practicable and
useful craft with which to beat the blockade.
This was proved by the two successful trips made by the unarmed
German merchant submarine _Deutschland_ between Germany and the
United States in 1916. Loaded with a cargo of dyestuffs and
chemicals she left Bremen on June 14, 1916, and arrived in Baltimore
early in July. After a short stay, during which she took on a full
return cargo, consisting chiefly of rubber and metal, she started on
August 1, 1916, for her return trip to Bremen where she arrived
safely soon after August 15, 1916. Once more, in October of the same
year she made a successful round trip, docking this time in New
London. There was considerable talk about additional trips by other
German merchant submarines, but none of them were ever carried out.
It has never become known whether this was due to the loss of these
merchant submarines or to political relations between Germany and
the United States which were then gradually assuming a less friendly
form.
[Illustration: Photo by International Film Service.
_A Submarine Built for Chili, Passing through Cape Cod Canal._]
Of course, it is true that such boats are blockade runners and in a
way, therefore, part and parcel of warfare. But they are unarmed
merchantmen just the same and their exclusively mercantile character
has been officially acknowledged by the United States Government.
Under conditions of peace, however, it is very doubtful whether
submarine merchantmen would pay, nor does it seem as if they
possessed any advantages at all over surface merchant vessels.
Nevertheless they represent an entirely new development of submarine
navigation and, therefore, deserve attention.
During her stay in the United States, very few people were permitted
to get more than a glance of the _Deutschland_. As a result,
comparatively little became known regarding her mechanical details.
The _Scientific American_, however, in its issue of July 22, 1916,
gives a fairly detailed description of this first merchant
submarine.
From this account we learn that the _Deutschland_ conforms rather
closely to the typical German naval U-boat. The hull proper consists
of an internal cigar-shaped, cylindrical structure, which extends
from stem to stern, and in its largest diameter measures about
twenty feet. Enclosing this hull is a lighter false hull, which is
perforated, to permit the entrance and exit of the sea-water, and is
so shaped as to give the submarine a fairly good ship model for
driving at high speed on the surface and at a much lesser speed
submerged. The upper portion of the false hull does not present such
a flat deck-like appearance as is noticeable in the naval U-boats.
In fact, the whole modelling of the _Deutschland_, as compared with
the naval boats, suggests that she has been fulled out somewhat,
with a view to obtaining the necessary displacement for cargo
carrying.
The interior cylindrical hull is divided by four transverse
bulkheads into five separate water-tight compartments.
Compartment No. 1, at the bow, contains the anchor cables and
electric winches for handling the anchor; also general ship
stores, and a certain amount of cargo. Compartment No. 2 is given
up entirely to cargo. Compartment No. 3, which is considerably
larger than any of the others, contains the living quarters of
the officers and crew. At the after end of this compartment, and
communicating with it, is the conning tower. Compartment No. 4 is
given up entirely to cargo. Compartment No. 5 contains the
propelling machinery, consisting of two heavy oil engines and two
electric motors. The storage batteries are carried in the bottom
of the boat, below the living compartment. For purposes of
communication, a gangway, 2 feet 6 inches wide by 6 feet high, is
built through each cargo compartment, thus rendering it possible
for the crew to pass entirely from one end of the boat to the
other.
The length of the _Deutschland_ is about 315 feet; beam 30 feet,
and draught 17 feet. For surface propulsion and for charging the
batteries, the boat carries two 4-cylinder, Diesel, heavy-oil
motors of about 600 H. P. each. The speed at the surface is from
12 to 13 knots; and submerged it is 7 knots. At the surface the
displacement of the boat is about 2000 tons, and she has a cargo
capacity of about 700 tons.
The freeboard to the main deck, which runs the full length of the
boat, but is only about 5-1/2 feet wide, is about 6 feet, and the
cockpit at the top of the conning tower is about 15 feet above
the water. This cockpit, by the way, is suggestive of the
protection afforded a chauffeur in an automobile, there being a
shield in front of the quartermaster, so shaped as to throw the
wind and spray upwards and clear of his face.
Two periscopes are provided; one at the forward end of the
conning tower, and the other, of larger diameter, being forward
and on the starboard of the conning tower. An interesting feature
is the two folding, steel, wireless masts, about 50 feet in
height, both of which fold aft into pockets built in the deck of
the ship. The forward one of these masts carries a crow's nest
for the lookout.
The commander of the _Deutschland_, Captain Paul König, was before the
war a popular captain of North German Lloyd liners. He has published a
very vivid and interesting account of the _Deutschland's_ trip, the
_Voyage of the Deutschland_. In this book, he tells us how he was
offered this novel command while the plans were still being drawn and
that he immediately accepted, making, however, the proviso "if the
thing really comes off."
The men, backing the venture, lost no time and, so Captain König
tells us,
in less than two months a telegram called me to Berlin to an
important conference. Here I looked at sketches, plans, and
working drawings until my eyes swam. Four more months passed
which I utilized to the full. I then went to Kiel and saw a
remarkable framework of steel slowly take shape upon the stocks
across the way at Gaarden. Rotund, snug, and harmless the thing
lay there. Inside it were hidden all the countless, complicated,
and powerful features of those sketches and working drawings. I
cannot boast that the reality as executed in steel and brass was
any easier to grasp than the endless network of lines and circles
which had bewildered me when inspecting the blueprints.
Those of you who have seen illustrations and photographs of the
interior of the "central station" or the "turret" of a submarine,
will understand what I mean. And should you have entered a
submarine itself and felt yourself hopelessly confused by the
bewildering chaos of wheels, vents, screws, cocks, pipes,
conduits--above, below, and all about--not to speak of the
mysterious levers and weird mechanisms, each of which has some
important function to fulfill, you may find some consolation in
the thought that my own brains performed a devils' dance at the
sight.
But after this monster, with its tangle of tubes and pipes, had
been duly christened, and its huge grey-green body had slid
majestically into the water, it suddenly became a ship. It swam
in its element as though born to it--as though it had never known
another.
For the first time I trod the tiny deck and mounted the turret to
the navigation platform. From here I glanced down and was
surprised to see beneath me a long, slender craft--with gracious
lines and dainty contours. Only the sides, where the green body
vaulted massively above the water, gave an indication of the huge
size of the hull. I felt pride and rapture as my eye took in this
picture. The fabric swayed slightly beneath my feet--an
impressive combination of power and delicacy.
And now I know that what had at first seemed to me nothing more
than the product of some mad phantasy on the part of the
technicians was in reality a ship. It was a ship in which oceans
might be crossed, a real ship, to which the heart of an old
sailor like myself might safely attach itself.
Then came a short period of trial trips and diving tests, all of
which were carried off successfully, and at last the day of
departure arrived. As soon as the last escort had turned around a
final diving test was ordered.
Instantly the response came back from the turret and the central
station, and the men hurried to their posts. The oil engines were
still hammering away at a mad rate. I left the manhole of the
turret. The cover was battened down, the engines stopped at the
same moment.
We felt a slight pressure in our ears for a moment. We were cut
off from outside and silence reigned. But this silence was merely
an illusion--and was due to the change.
[Illustration: Permission of _Scientific American_.
_A Submarine Entrapped by Nets._]
"Open the diving-valves! Submerge!"
The valves were flung open and the compressed air escaped hissing
from the tanks. At the same time a gigantic, intermittent
snorting ensued, like the blowing and belching of some
prehistoric monster. There was an uncomfortable pressure in our
ears, then the noise became more regular, followed by a buzzing
and a shrill hum. All the high notes of the engines in the
central station intermingled and made a bewildering noise. It was
like a mad diabolical singsong. And yet it was almost like
silence after the dull, heavy pounding of the oil-motors--only
more insistent and irritating. The penetrating hum in the various
vents announced the fact that the diving mechanism was in
operation. It moaned and sang lower and lower in the scale of
tones. These slowly diminishing and steadily deepening tones
give one the physical feeling of mighty volumes of water pouring
in and flooding full.
You have the sensation of growing heavier and sinking as the boat
grows heavier and sinks, even though you may not be able to see
through the turret window, or the periscope, how the bows are
gradually submerged and the water climbs higher and higher up the
turret until all things without are wrapped in the eerie twilight
of the depths.
The faithful lamps burned, however, and then a real silence
suddenly ensued. There was no sound but the gentle trembling
rhythm of the electric engines.
I then gave the order:
"Submerge to twenty meters!"
"Both engines half steam ahead!"
I was able to follow our submersion by means of the manometer.
Through flooding the tanks, the boat is given several tons
over-weight and the enclosed ship's space is made heavier than
the displaced quantity of water. The titanic fish, therefore,
began to sink downward in its element, that is to say, it began,
in a certain sense, to fall. At the same time the electric
engines are put into motion and the propulsive force of the
propellers acts upon the diving rudders and causes the sinking to
become a gliding. After the required depth has been
reached--something which may easily be read from the manometer
that records the depth--all further sinking may be stopped by
simply lightening the hull, which is done by forcing out some of
the water in the submarine's tanks. The furious growling of the
pump is always a sure sign that the required depth is being
approached. The noise ceased, only the electric motors continued
to purr, and the word came from the central station:
"Twenty meters--even keel!"
"Rudder set!"
So we forged ahead at a depth of twenty meters. Of course we are
"blind" under such conditions and can regulate our movements only
by means of the depth recorder and that precious little jewel of
the boat, our compass. No ray of light reached us any longer from
without, the periscope was submerged long ago and the steel
safety covers over the windows were closed. We had been
metamorphosed completely into a fish.[1]
[Footnote 1: ©]
Orders were then given to rise again. The _Deutschland_ carried out
this manoeuvre with the same facility with which she had taken the
initial dive of her long voyage. In record time the ballast tanks
were emptied and the change from electric motors to oil engines was
completed without further loss of time. The boat was started at top
surface speed towards her ultimate goal, the United States.
On the following day the _Deutschland_ barely escaped running foul
of a British submarine chaser, disguised as a neutral merchantman. A
quick dive alone saved her. When she came up again a wild storm and
a heavy sea were raging. Even before the change from the electric
motors to the oil engines had been completed, another dangerous
looking vessel appeared and before long was recognized as a hostile
destroyer by Captain König. He tells us that he "Made one jump into
the turret and slammed the cover fast."
"Alarm! Dive quickly! Flood!"
"Set diving rudder!"
"Twenty meters' depth!"
The commands were uttered in almost one breath. But the execution
of them!
To attempt to dive with such a sea running was sheer madness, as
experience has taught us. What was I to do? The destroyer might
have seen us already!
Well, we knew we must get under--and as quickly as possible.
The men in the central below me were working away in silent
haste. All the exhausts were opened wide, the compressed air
hissed from the tanks--the diving vents were chanting in all
possible keys.
I stood with my lips pressed together and stared out of the
turret window upon the tossing sea, and watched for the first
sign of our going down. But our deck remained still visible and
we were continually lifted into the air by some wave. There was
not a moment to be lost.
I ordered the diving rudder to be set still more sharply and both
engines to drive ahead with full power.
The whole vessel quivered and thrilled under the increased
pressure of the engines and made several leaps. She staggered
about in the furious seas--but still seemed loath to leave the
surface. Then she gave a jerk and her bows suddenly dipped and
cut into the flood. She began to sink into the depths at an
ever-increasing angle. The coming daylight vanished from the
windows of the turret, the manometer in rapid succession showed
2--3--6--10 meters' depth. But the angle of the boat also began
to increase.
We staggered about, leaned back, slipped off our feet. We then
lost our footing entirely--for the floor of the _Deutschland_
slanted sharply toward the front. I was just able to catch hold
of the ocular or eye-piece of the periscope. Down in the central
the men were hanging on to the hand-wheels of the diving rudder.
A few terrible seconds passed thus.
We had not yet seized the full significance of this new situation
when there came a severe shock. We were hurled to the floor and
everything that was not fastened down went flying in all
directions.
We found ourselves in the queerest attitudes--and stared into one
another's faces. There was a grim silence for a moment, then
First Officer Krapohl remarked dryly:
"Well, we seem to have arrived!"
This broke the ghastly tension.
We were all rather pale around the gills, but at once tried to
get our bearings.
What had happened?
What had caused this unnatural inclination of the boat? And why
were the engines above us raving at intervals in a way that made
the whole boat roar from stem to stern?
Before any of us had arrived at any solution of the mystery, our
Chief Engineer, little Klees, had jumped up from his crouching
position, and, swift as lightning, had swept the engine-signal
dial around to "Stop!"
And suddenly there was a deep silence.
We slowly assembled our proper legs and arms and thought hard
over what had happened.
The vessel had slanted down toward the bows at an angle of about
36 degrees. She was standing, so to speak, on her head. Our bow
was fast upon the bottom of the sea--our stern was still
oscillating up and down like a mighty pendulum. The manometer
showed a depth of about 15 meters.[2]
[Footnote 2: ©]
[Illustration: Permission of _Scientific American_.
_Diagram of a German Submarine Mine-Layer Captured by British._]
However, the _Deutschland_ finally worked herself free and soon was
again on the surface. Luck must have been with her, for she had
suffered no damage and, in spite of the mountains of water which she
must have thrown up, the hostile destroyer had not discovered her.
Once more she was off on her way.
So the days went by and before long the merchant submarine had
passed, without having been detected, beyond the territory in which
British patrol boats were operating. Then came a succession of
uneventful days and fine weather. Practically every day diving tests
were made. One of these the captain describes as follows:
During these experimental diving tests we were treated to a
spectacle of fairy-like loveliness.
I had set the rudder in such a way that the turret was travelling
about three yards under water. Overhead the sun shone brilliantly
and filled the deeps with a clear radiance. The pure water was
luminous with colour--close at hand it was of a light azure blue,
of fabulous clearness and transparent as glass. I could see the
entire boat from the turret windows. The shimmering pearls of the
air-bubbles which rise constantly from the body of the craft
played about the entire length of the vessel from deck to bows,
and every detail stood out in miraculous sharpness. Farther ahead
there was a multi-coloured twilight. It seemed as if the prow
kept pushing itself noiselessly into a wall of opalescent green
which parted, glistening, and grew to an ethereal, rainbow-like
translucency close at hand.
We were spell-bound by this vision of beauty. The fairy-like
effect was increased by medusæ which, poised in the transparent
blue, frequently became entangled in the wires of the mine-guards
or the railings and glowed like trembling fires of rose, pale
gold, and purple.[3]
[Footnote 3: ©]
But less pleasant things were in store for the _Deutschland's_ crew.
The nearer the boat came to the region of the Gulf Stream, the more
violent the weather became. Though she still ran most of the time on
the surface, it became necessary to keep all openings battened down.
Even the manhole, leading to the turret, could be kept open only
for short periods. Naturally the temperature was rising all the
time. It was midsummer and the Gulf Stream contributed its share of
warmth. No wonder, therefore, that Captain König compares conditions
below decks to a "veritable hell," and then continues:
While in the Gulf Stream we had an outer temperature of 28°
Celsius. This was about the warmth of the surrounding water.
Fresh air no longer entered. In the engine-room two 6-cylinder
combustion motors kept hammering away in a maddening two-four
time. They hurled the power of their explosions into the whirling
crankshafts. The red-hot breath of the consumed gases went
crashing out through the exhausts, but the glow of these
incessant firings remained in the cylinders and communicated
itself to the entire oil-dripping environment of steel. A choking
cloud of heat and oily vapour streamed from the engines and
spread itself like a leaden pressure through the entire ship.
During these days the temperature mounted to 53° Celsius.
And yet men lived and worked in a hell such as this! The watch
off duty, naked to the skin, groaned and writhed in their bunks.
It was no longer possible to think of sleep. And when one of the
men fell into a dull stupor, then he would be aroused by the
sweat which ran incessantly over his forehead and into his eyes,
and would awake to new torment.
It was almost like a blessed deliverance when the eight hours of
rest were over, and a new watch was called to the central or the
engine-room.
[Illustration: Redrawn from _The Sphere_. Permission of _Scientific
American_.
_A Submarine Discharging a Torpedo._]
But there the real martyrdom began. Clad only in an undershirt
and drawers, the men stood at their posts, a cloth wound about
their foreheads to keep the running sweat from streaming into
their eyes. Their blood hammered and raced in their temples.
Every vein boiled as with fever. It was only by the exertion of
the most tremendous willpower that it was possible to force the
dripping human body to perform its mechanical duty and to remain
upright during the four hours of the watch....
But how long would we be able to endure this?
I no longer kept a log during these days and I find merely this
one note: "Temperature must not rise any higher if the men are to
remain any longer in the engine-room."
But they did endure it. They remained erect like so many heroes,
they did their duty, exhausted, glowing hot, and bathed in sweat,
until the storm centre lay behind us, until the weather cleared,
until the sun broke through the clouds, and the diminishing seas
permitted us once more to open the hatches.[4]
[Footnote 4: ©]
The _Deutschland_ was now near her goal. Without any trouble she
entered Hampton Roads and was docked at Baltimore. There her cargo
was discharged and her return cargo loaded. This latter operation
involved many difficulties. During her stay a United States
Government Commission made a detailed inspection of the
_Deutschland_ to determine beyond all question her mercantile
character. But at last the day of departure, August 1, had arrived.
Properly escorted she made the trip down the Patapsco River and
Chesapeake Bay. On her way down she made again diving trials which
Captain König describes as follows:
In order to see that everything else was tight and in good order,
I gave the command to set the boat upon the sea bottom at a spot
which, according to the reading upon the chart, had a depth of
some 30 meters.
Once again everything grew silent. The daylight vanished the
well-known singing and boiling noise of the submerging vents
vibrated about us. In my turret I fixed my eyes upon the
manometer. Twenty meters were recorded, then twenty-five. The
water ballast was diminished--thirty meters appeared and I waited
the slight bump which was to announce the arrival of the boat at
the bottom.
Nothing of the sort happened.
Instead of this the indicator upon the dial pointed to 32--to
33--to 35 meters....
I knocked against the glass with my finger--correct--the arrow
was just pointing toward thirty-six.
"Great thunder! what's up?" I cried, and reached for the chart.
Everything tallied. Thirty meters were indicated at this spot and
our reckoning had been most exact.
And we continued to sink deeper and deeper.
The dial was now announcing 40 meters.
This was a bit too much for me. I called down to the central and
got back the comforting answer that the large manometer was also
indicating a depth of over forty meters!
The two manometers agreed.
This, however, did not prevent the boat from continuing to sink.
The men in the central began to look at one another....
Ugh! it gives one a creepy feeling to go slipping away into the
unknown amidst this infernal singing silence and to see nothing
but the climbing down of the confounded indicator upon the
white-faced dial....
There was nothing else to be seen in my turret. I glanced at the
chart and then at the manometer in a pretty helpless fashion.
In the meantime the boat sank deeper; forty-five meters were
passed--the pointer indicated forty-eight meters. I began to
think the depth of the Chesapeake Bay must have some limit; we
surely could not be heading for the bottomless pit? Then--the
boat halted at a depth of fifty meters without the slightest
shock.
I climbed down into the central and took counsel with Klees and
the two officers of the watch.
There could be only one explanation; we must have sunk into a
hole which had not been marked upon the chart.[5]
[Footnote 5: ©]
[Illustration: Permission of _Scientific American_.
_A German Submarine in Three Positions._]
When orders were now given to rise, it was found that the exhaust
pumps refused to work. After a while, however, the chief engineer
succeeded in getting them started. They reached the surface after
about two hours of submergence.
It was dark by the time the merchant submarine was approaching the
three-mile limit. Outside of it hostile warships were lying in wait.
That the _Deutschland_ escaped them well illustrates the fact that
submarines may be kept by various means from entering a bay or a
harbour, but that to blockade their exit is practically impossible.
This is how Captain König speaks of his escape.
We knew that the most dangerous moment of our entire voyage was
now approaching. We once more marked our exact position, and then
proceeded to make all the preparations necessary for our breaking
through.
Then we dived and drove forward. All our senses were keyed to the
utmost, our nerves taut to the breaking-point with that cold
excitement which sends quivers through one's soul, the while
outwardly one remains quite serene, governed by that clear and
icy deliberation which is apt to possess a man who is fully
conscious of the unknown perils toward which he goes....
We knew our path. We had already been informed that fishermen had
been hired to spread their nets along certain stretches of the
three-mile limit; nets in which we were supposed to entangle
ourselves; nets into which devilish mines had very likely been
woven....
Possibly these nets were merely attached to buoys which we were
then supposed to drag along after us, thus betraying our
position....
We were prepared for all emergencies, so that in case of extreme
necessity we should be able to free ourselves of the nets. But
all went well.
It was a dark night. Quietly and peacefully the lighthouses upon
the two capes sent forth their light, the while a few miles
further out death lay lowering for us in every imaginable form.
But while the English ships were racing up and down, jerking
their searchlights across the waters and searching again and
again in every imaginable spot, they little surmised that, at
times within the radius of their own shadows, a periscope pursued
its silent way, and under this periscope the _U-Deutschland_.
That night at twelve o'clock, after hours of indescribable
tension, I gave the command to rise.
We Had Broken Through!
Slowly the _Deutschland_ rose to the surface, the tanks were
blown out and the Diesel engines flung into the gearing. At our
highest speed we now went rushing toward the free Atlantic.[6]
[Footnote 6: ©]
The homeward voyage was completed without untoward incident and long
before the month had ended, the first--and probably last--merchant
submarine was again safe and snug in her home port.
The cargo-carrying submarine, however, is by no means the only type
of underwater vessel engaged in peaceful pursuits which has been
suggested so far. Mr. Simon Lake, the American submarine engineer
and inventor, has frequently pointed out the commercial
possibilities of the submarine.
In the early part of 1916 a series of articles from his pen appeared
in _International Marine Engineering_. They contained a number of
apparently feasible suggestions looking towards the commercial
development of the submarine.
First of all he tells of experiments made with submarines for
navigation under ice. The proper development of this idea, of
course, would be of immense commercial value. Many harbours in
various parts of the world are inaccessible during the winter months
for vessels navigating on the surface. Navigation on many important
inland lakes likewise has to be stopped during that period.
Submarines, built so that they can safely travel under the ice,
would overcome these conditions and would make it possible to use
most ice-bound ports throughout the entire year at least in Mr.
Lake's view.
Ever since Mr. Lake began inventing and building submarines he has
been interested in the possibilities which submarines offer for the
exploration of the sea-bottom and for the discovery of wrecks and
recovery of their valuable cargoes. His first boat, the _Argonaut_,
as we have heard, possessed a diving chamber for just such purposes.
He has continued his investigations and experiments along this line,
and in these articles he shows illustrations of submarine boats and
devices adapted for such work. Properly financed and directed, the
recovery of cargoes from wrecks undoubtedly would not only bring
large financial returns to the backers of such a venture, but also
do away with the immense waste which the total loss of sunken
vessels and cargoes inflicts now on the world. Submarines in peace
may yet recover for the use of man much of the wealth which
submarines in war have sent to the bottom of the sea. Marine
insurance, too, would be favourably affected by such an undertaking.
Still one other commercial submarine boat is advocated by Mr. Lake.
This is to be used for the location and collection of shellfish on a
large scale. Of this vessel its inventor says:
The design of this submarine oyster-dredging vessel is such that
the vessel goes down to the bottom direct, and the water is
forced out of the centre raking compartment so that the oysters
may be seen by the operator in the control compartment. With only
a few inches of water over them, headway is then given to the
submarine and the oysters are automatically raked up, washed, and
delivered through pipes into the cargo-carrying chambers.
Centrifugal pumps are constantly delivering water from the cargo
compartments, which induces a flow of water through the pipes
leading from the "rake pans" with sufficient velocity to carry up
the oysters and deposit them into the cargo holds. In this manner
the bottom may be seen, and by "tracking" back and forth over the
bottom the ground may be "cleaned up" at one operation.
This boat has a capacity of gathering oysters from good ground at
the rate of five thousand bushels per hour. The use of the
submarine will make the collection of oysters more nearly like
the method of reaping a field of grain, where one "swathe"
systematically joins on to another, and the whole field is
"cleaned up" at one operation.
Man's greediness for profit has already driven the salmon from the
rivers of New England where once they swarmed. Mechanical devices
for taking them by the hundreds of thousands threaten a like result
in the now teeming rivers of Washington and British Columbia. Mr.
Lake's invention has the demerit of giving conscienceless profiteers
the opportunity to obliterate the oyster from our national waters.
[Illustration: Permission of _Scientific American_.
_Sectional View of a British Submarine._]
It does not appear, however, that, except as an engine of war the
submarine offers much prospect of future development or future
usefulness. And as we of the United States entered this war, which
now engages our energies and our thoughts, for the purpose of making
it the last war the world shall ever know, speculation on the future
of the submarine seems rather barren. That does not mean however
that there will be a complete stoppage of submarine construction or
submarine development. War is not going to be ended by complete
international disarmament, any more than complete unpreparedness
kept the United States out of the struggle. A reasonable armament
for every nation, and the union of all nations against any one or
two that threaten wantonly to break the peace is the most promising
plan intelligent pacifism has yet suggested. In such an
international system there will be room and plenty for submarines.
Indeed it is into just such a plan that they intelligently fit.
Though not wholly successful in their operations against capital
ships, they have demonstrated enough power to make nations hesitate
henceforth before putting a score of millions into ponderous
dreadnoughts which have to retire from submarine-infested waters as
the British did in their very hour of triumph at Jutland. They have
not nullified, but greatly reduced the value of overwhelming sea
power such as the British have possessed. A navy greater than those
of any two other nations has indeed kept the German ships, naval and
commercial, locked in port. But less than two hundred inexpensive
submarines bid fair to sweep the seas of all merchant ships--neutral
as well as British unless by feverish building the nations can build
ships faster than submarines can sink them. Huge navies may
henceforth be unknown.
The submarine has been the David of the war. It is a pity that its
courage and efficiency have been exerted mainly in the wrong cause
and that the missiles from its sling have felled the wrong Goliath.
Aircraft and submarine! It is still on the cards that when the
definitive history of the war shall be written, its outcome may be
ascribed to one or the other of these novel weapons--the creation of
American inventive genius.
INDEX
A
_Aboukir_, 235, 236
Aërial mail service, 362
Aërial instruction, 109-121
Aërial Coast Patrol Unit, 188
Aerodromes, 170
Airplane costs, 224, 225
American aviators in France, 109, 111, 174
American Flying Corps, 175
André, General, 267-269
Andrée, Polar expedition, 41, 56, 57
Anti-aircraft guns, 128, 129, 144-147, 150, 151, 169, 172, 173, 211,
230, 297, 305
Antwerp, 195
"Archies," _see_ anti-aircraft guns
Arlandes, Marquis, d', 29
Archimedes, 19
Army Aviation School, Mineola, 188
Arras, 185
Astra-Torres, 81
Austrian, submarine, U-11, 190;
seaplane, 191;
warships _vs._, British submarines, 334;
submarines, 261, 360;
submarine strength of, 306, 307
Aviation, in England, 104, 105, 106;
in France, 104-106;
Germany, 104-106, 108;
Russia, 106;
United States, 182-190, 194, 202, 221
"Avro" machines, 148
B
Baker, Ray Stannard, quoted, 287-293
Ball, Captain, 212-214
Baltic, 157
Bauer, Wilhelm, 253, 254
Belgium, 18, 108, 184, 196
Belgium, mapping coast of, 150
Berlin, 65, 74, 75, 156, 357
Besnier, wings, 16
Blanchard, aeronaut, 35
Bleriot, aviator, 35, 95, 109;
airplane, 186
Blockade, United States, 10
Boelke, Lieutenant, 118-120;
story of air duel of, 214-216
Brazil, submarine strength of, 307
Briggs, Commander, 148
Bristol, biplane, 126
British, 105, 147, 149, 151, 152, 164, 166, 171, 183, 188, 190, 334;
Admiralty, 236, 272;
Navy, 195, 274;
Royal Flying Corps, 105, 106, 164, 166, 167, 174, 212;
Royal Naval Air Service, 150, 200;
submarine strength, 301, 302
Brussels, 165
Bushnell, David, 246-249, 263
C
Calmette, M., 267-270
Canada, airplane factories in, 107
Caproni, airplanes, 204, 228
Cayley, Sir George, 36, 83
Channel, English, 30, 35, 55, 144, 324, 340, 341
Chanute, 90
Chapman, Victor, 176, 179, 180, 214
Charles, M., 25;
balloon, 31
Churchill, Winston, 155
Civil War, 5, 7, 10, 61, 260, 261, 333
_Clement-Bayard II._, 56
Coffin, Howard E., 202
Congress of the United States, 182, 187, 194, 196, 201, 221, 276, 301
Congressional Committee, 204
_Cressy_, 235, 236
Curtis, Glenn, 83, 98
Cuxhaven, 8, 108, 132, 148, 149, 150, 155
D
Dardanelles, 157, 190, 310, 334
Da Vinci, Leonardo, 15
Day, J., 242-246
"D. H. 5," 126
Denmark, submarine strength of, 306, 307
Department of Aeronautics, 182
Deutsch, Henry, prize for aviation, 39, 46-50
_Deutschland_, The, 13, 364-378
Dewey, Admiral, 271, 272
Diesel motor, 308, 309, 319, 325, 363, 366
Douaumont, 162
Drachens, 220
Drebel, Cornelius, 238-240
Driggs, Lawrence La Tourette, 358, 359
Dubilier, William, 357
E
Eiffel Tower, 42, 46-49, 51. _See also_ Santos-Dumont
Emperor of Germany, 65, 69, 72
England, 73, 75, 95, 105, 108, 142, 147, 166, 182, 184, 194, 201,
202, 207, 209, 240, 251, 253, 303, 345
Essen, 8, 108
Expeditionary Army, 106
F
Faotomu, Lieutenant Takuma, 352, 353
Farman, 95, 108, 218
Farragut, Admiral, 132
Fiske, Rear-Admiral, 155, 157, 206
Flanders, 6, 148
Fléchette, 138, 186
Fokker, 126, 128, 163, 170, 171, 212
Fort Myer, 96, 97
_Foucault_, submarine, 191
France, 59, 80, 81, 95, 104-106, 111, 120, 133, 142, 147, 167, 180,
182, 183, 195, 199, 200-202, 208, 209, 214, 240, 251, 254, 295,
303, 343
Franklin, Benjamin, views of balloons, 24;
letters, 32, 33
French, airplanes at Battle of Somme, 198;
Commission to United States, 196;
guns, 147;
improve on German airplane, 204;
inspection of captive Zeppelin, 81;
standardize their airplanes, 104;
submarine, 309;
submarine strength, 302, 303
French, General Sir John, 3-5, 106
Friedrichshaven, 8, 70, 75, 76, 108, 147
Fulton, Robert, 251, 252, 253
G
George, Lloyd, 210
German, Admiralty, 190;
air champion, 214;
air raids on England, 207;
attempt to starve England, 194;
fleet, 183, 184;
submarine attacks on allied shipping, 305;
submarine destroyed by bombs, 191;
submarines _vs._ international law, 192;
submarine strength, 303-305
German U-boats, 188, 206, 236, 304, 310, 314, 333, 336, 338
Germany, 61, 62, 69, 72, 73, 75, 79, 80, 81, 97, 104, 105, 106, 108,
121, 133, 142, 146-149, 157, 171, 183-185, 193, 198, 200, 210, 235,
280, 297, 310, 341, 361, 364
Ghent, 165
Gibbons, Floyd P., 347-351
Giffard, dirigible, 37, 38, 41, 43
Grange, de la, Lieutenant, 196, 199
Great Britain, 57, 58, 105, 106, 120, 142, 143, 157, 191, 192, 202,
203, 204, 207, 310, 341, 343
Great War, 3, 12, 72, 80, 98, 103, 159
Greece, submarine strength of, 307
Grey, C. G., quoted, 189
Gross, dirigible, 77, 78
Guynemer, Captain Georges, 211, 212, 214
Gyroscope compass, 312
H
Hartlepool, 208
Harvard University, 175, 176
Harwich, 208
Heligoland, 155-157, 202, 333
_Hogue_, 235, 236
Holland, 150, 235;
submarine strength of, 306, 307
Holland, John P., 241, 274-277, 294;
submarine, 294-296, 298, 301, 302, 304, 306, 313
Holland Torpedo Boat Company, 272, 277, 298
Hotchkiss, 147
_Housatonic_, U. S. S., 259, 260
Hydro-airplane, 160, 189, 190, 206, 225
Hydroplane, 280, 308
I
Icarus, 14
Immelman, Captain, 119, 212-214
Instruction, in aviation, 111-118;
of American aviators, 11
_Ironsides_, 256, 257, 295
Italy, 81, 343;
submarine strength of, 306
Italian submarines, 360
J
Japan, submarine strength of, 306, 307
Japanese submarines, 352
Joffre, General, 4, 196
Jutland, battle of, 12, 381
K
Kaiser, 78. _Also see_ Emperor of Germany
Kiel, 9, 108, 155-157, 183, 195, 202, 230, 253, 314, 367
Kipling, Rudyard, 80, 166, 226, 227, 346
Kitchener, Lord, 58
Kitty-Hawk, 89, 94
Kluck, General von, 3, 4
König, Captain Paul, 367-377
Krebs, 39
L
Lafayette Escadrille, 121, 175, 176, 216
Lake Constance, 62, 148
Lake, Simon, 278-295, 356, 364, 378-380;
submarine, 294-296, 302, 304, 306, 317
Lana, Francisco, 17
Lancaster, F. W., 144
Langley, Professor Samuel, 82, 83, 84, 183
_La Patrie_, 55
_La République_, 55
Latham, 95
Laurenti, Major, 300;
submarine, 302, 306
Lebaudy Brothers, 54;
airplane, 56, 78
Le Bris, 86-88
Lee, Ezra, 249, 250
Lewis gun, 217
Liberty motor, 222, 226;
plane, 127
Liège, 159
Lilienthal, Gustav, 84
Lilienthal, Otto, 84-86, 90
Lilienthals, 88
Lille, 185
London, 9, 134, 142, 156, 208, 209, 230
Lufbery, Captain Raoul, 121, 180
Lunardi, aeronaut, 30
_Lusitania_, 193, 210, 263, 343
M
McConnell, Sergeant James R., 160
Marne, battle of, 5, 183, 196
Maxim, Sir Hiram, 83
_Merrimac_, 12
Meuse river, 4, 161
_Monitor_, 12
Mons, battle of, 3, 5
Montgolfier Brothers, Jos. & Jacques, 20, 22;
balloon, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 30
Moranes, 186
N
Namur, 4
Napoleon, 99, 108, 252
Naval Committee, House of Representatives, 271, 272
Navy Department of U. S., 188, 189, 278, 298, 300, 301
Navy Department, Civil War, 256, 257
Navy, Secretary of, 187, 194, 222
Needham, Henry Beach, 166
Nieuport, airplane, 140, 163, 186;
town of, 150, 151, 154
Nordenfeldt, Swedish inventor, 263, 264, 275
North Sea, 6, 76, 144, 149, 154, 156, 157, 187, 188, 190, 235, 236, 305
Norway, submarine strength of, 306, 307
Noyes, Alfred, quoted, 335-340
O
Ostend, 9, 150, 151, 191, 194, 200
P
Paris, 3, 23-25, 28, 48, 50-53, 61, 110
Parseval, dirigible, 77, 78
Parseval-Siegfeld, 141
Pau, 110
Père Galien, 17
Periscopes, 296, 305, 310, 311, 326-328, 333, 366
Petersburg, 6
Pilcher, Percy S., 84, 86, 88
Pitney, Fred B., quoted, 323-328
Porter, Admiral David, 259
Prince, Norman, 176, 180, 216-221
R
Rees, Major L. W. B., 174
Renard, 38, 42, 43
Richmond, 6
Roberts Brothers' balloon, 34, 35
Rockwell, Kiffen, 176-179, 214
Royal Aërial Factory, 105
Rozier, Pilatre de, 27, 29;
death of, 30
Rumsey, Adjt., quoted, 217-220
Russia, 81, 106, 203, 254;
submarine strength of, 306, 307
Russian ships sunk in Baltic, 157;
submarine sunk by bombs, 190
S
Santos-Dumont, 34;
quoted, 38, 39-47, 48-50, 51-54, 59, 60, 62, 63, 88, 95
Scarborough, 208
Schutte-Lanz, dirigible, 77, 79
Schwartz, David, 63
Scott, Lieutenant, 133
Seaplanes, 105, 106, 108, 143, 149, 150, 154, 188, 191, 225, 236
_Severo Pax_, 77
Sikorsky, airplanes, 203
Sincay, Lieutenant de, 191
Sopwith, biplane, 126, 219
"S. P. A. D.," 217
Spain, 81;
submarine strength of, 306
St. Louis Exposition, 54
St. Petersburg, 63
Submarine, controversy between U. S. and Germany, 342;
cruise on, 323-331;
interior of, 318-323;
losses, 351-354;
tenders, 316;
strength of different countries, 306, 307;
ventilation, 239, 240, 307, 312;
war zones, 342, 343
Submarine warfare, allied losses, 344;
British losses, 344, 345;
neutral losses, 344
Submarines:
_Argonaut_, 282-295, 379
_David_, 256, 257
"E" class, 301
_Fenian Ram_, 275
"F-1," 300
"F" (Holland type), 301
German type, 304
_Gustave Zédé_, 266, 267
_Gymnote_, 265, 266
_Holland No. 2_, 275
_Holland No. 4_, 275
_Holland No. 8_, 278
_Holland No. 9_, 271-273, 278
_Hundley_, 258-260
_Intelligent Whale_, 261
_Le Diable Marin_, 254
Laurenti type, 306
_Morse_, 267-270
_Mute_, 253
_Narval_, 267, 270
_Nautilus_, 252
_Nordenfeldt II._, 264
_Octopus_, 299
_Plongeur_, 260
_Plunger_, 277, 278
_Resurgam_, 263
"S" class, 302 (Laurenti or "F. I. A. T." type)
_Turtle_, 247, 249, 275
"U-3," 314
"U-20," 330
"U-47," 328-331
"V" class (Lake type), 302
"W" class (Laubeuf type), 302
"Viper" class, 299
Submarines, aircraft as enemy of, 357, 358;
armament of, 312;
(general topic), 159, 188, 190-195, 209;
marksmanship, 322;
microphone, 357;
motives powers of, 308, 309;
precautions and devices against, 345, 346, 355, 361;
requirements of modern, 307-317
Sweden, submarine strength of, 306, 307
Switzerland, 150
T
Taube, 126
Thaw, Lieutenant William, 214
Tissot, Professor, 357
Torpedo chamber, 320;
plane, 156, 157;
tubes, 298, 301, 303-306, 312, 315, 317, 320, 353
Trocadero, 49-51
Tulasne, Major, 196, 199
Turkey, submarine strength of, 307
Turkish, 177, 188, 334
U
U-53, 12, 206, 353, 354
U-Boat attacks on, allied merchantmen;
_Amiral Ganteaume,_ 340;
_Gulflight_, 343;
_Lusitania_, 193, 210, 263, 343;
_Laconia_, 347-351;
_Strathend_, 354;
_West Point_, 354;
_Stephano_, 354;
_Bloomersdijk_, 354;
_Christian Knudsen_, 354;
in general, 346-354
United States, 56-58, 81, 91, 94-96, 103, 107, 111, 120, 142, 158,
166, 180, 182, 185, 187, 193, 194, 200, 202, 209, 221, 228, 230,
239, 260, 261, 271, 295, 297, 301, 303, 310, 334, 341, 343, 345,
361, 364, 365, 381;
government of, 96, 272, 273, 276, 296, 343;
declares war upon Germany, 342;
Navy, 297, 298, 300, 354;
submarine strength, 350
V
Vanniman, 57, 159
Vaux, 162
Venice, 108
Verdun, 6, 55, 161, 162
Verne, Jules, 40, 262, 287
Vickers, gun, 217;
scout airplane, 126, 131, 147, 164
Vicksburg, 6
Viney, Lieutenant, 191
von Bernstorff, Count, 353
W
Wanamaker, Rodman, 160
War, Department of, 101;
Secretary of, 187, 194, 222
War zones, 341, 342
Warneford, sub-Lieutenant R. A. J., 164, 165, 214
Washington, D. C., 96, 97, 204
Washington, General George, 247
Watt, James, 19
Weddigen, Captain, Otto von, 236, 305, 334
Wellington, 108
Wellman, Walter, 56, 57, 159
White, Claude Graham, 128
Whitehead torpedo, 261, 262, 264, 266
Wilhelmshaven, 132, 156, 157, 183, 195, 230, 353
Winslow, Carroll Dana, 111, 115, 116, 139
Woodhouse, Henry, 190
Wright Brothers, 14, 43, 58, 60, 64, 83, 84, 87, 89, 90-95, 97,
98, 109, 111, 183
Wright, Orville, 74, 75, 88, 99-102
Wright, Wilbur, 88, 91, 96, 97
Z
Zédé, M. Gustav, 265, 266, 303
Zeebrugge, 8, 9, 150, 151, 153, 155, 195, 200, 230
Zeppelin, Count, von, 28, 34, 38, 50, 54, 59-65, 68-77, 79, 105, 362
Zeppelin, Eberhard, 64
Zeppelin disasters:
_Zeppelin I._, 66-69
_IV._, 66, 72
_L-I_, 76
_L-II_, 67
Zeppelin raids, 9, 208, 209
Zeppelins, 8, 60, 62, 65-81, 100, 101, 104, 105, 108, 133, 134,
148-150, 164, 165, 208
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End of Project Gutenberg's Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot