CHAPTER VUSE OF THE SUBMARINE IN WARThe submarine boat is the guerilla in warfare. Its tactics are the tactics of the Indian who fights under cover or lies in ambush for his enemy. These are necessarily the tactics of all weaker individuals and are an essential method of procedure in preventing the weaker party from being annihilated by the strong and more powerful. Some people have contended that the submarine is an unfair weapon, but the old statement that "all's fair in love and war" applies to the submarine as it does to every weapon which has been invented since the days when men struggled for supremacy with their bare hands. The first man who wielded the club might have been accused of being unfair; the same term might have been applied to the man who invented the sling-shot or the bow and arrow. When people fight for their existence, the existence of their families or of their country, they do not fight according to the "Marquis of Queensberry Rules." A revolver in the hands of a weak man or a defenceless woman is a proper weapon to enable them to protect their property, their honor, or their life; and, no matter what theorists may claim, the submarine will remain as a weapon to be reckoned with in all future wars, provided there are future wars upon the high seas. In making this assertion I do not intend to justify a great many of the acts performed by the submarines of one of the belligerents in the present war. I do claim, however, that the submarine is a perfectly legitimate naval weapon, and that it deserves a place in thearmament of any nation whose military power is maintained for purposes of self-defence.Above all, I believe the submarine most fitted to act as a weapon in coast-defence operations. Coast-defence submarines will probably be found to be the most important adjunct to the navies of every country whose policy is to defend their own coast lines, rather than to attempt aggressive warfare. Vessels for this purpose do not need to be of great tonnage nor of high speed. Speed is the one thing, more than anything else, which runs up the cost of the submarine vessel. While speed is desirable for the cruising submarine, it is not an essential for a defensive submarine. It is possible to get a speed of fourteen or fifteen knots in a submarine of about five hundred tons displacement, and at the same time have comfortable living quarters for the crew. A boat of this size may carry eight Whitehead torpedoes, each torpedo being capable of destroying a fifteen-million-dollar battleship, and as a five-hundred-ton displacement submarine can be built for about one-half million dollars, and is capable of carrying eight Whitehead torpedoes, potentially good for eight fifteen-million-dollar battleships, or a total of one hundred and twenty million dollars' worth of capital ships, it seems as if that would be sufficient to ask of one little submarine boat. Now to double that speed would require a much larger vessel, and would cost approximately two and one-half million dollars. A two and one-half-million-dollar boat for the defence of harbor entrances or seacoast cities would not carry as many torpedoes as five of the five-hundred-ton boats. A torpedo fired from a small boat is fully as potent as one fired from a two and one-half-million-dollar boat.These small boats could be located at five different points covering a portion of our coast, and the chances are that at least two of these smaller boats could reach an objective point on the coast line under their protection in shorter time than one large high-speed boat would be able to do. At the same cost they could cover the same area of coast line to a much better advantage, as there would be five of them to protect that area instead of one.We will assume, for purposes of illustration, that the Sandy Hook entrance to New York Harbor is to be defended. If we strike a fifteen-mile radius from Sandy Hook point, running from the Long Island to the New Jersey shore, and have four submarines take station on that radius line about five miles apart, no ship could pass that radius line without coming within the range of vision of the commander of the submarine, either from his periscope in daylight or at night within the range of hearing of his "submarine ears." The Fessenden oscillators, or microphones, now installed in all submarines, would readily detect the approach of a surface ship or ships. These instruments have been improved to such an extent that it is now possible to carry on wireless conversation under water between one submarine and another for a considerable distance. Communication by the Morse code, or other special codes, may be carried on between submarines up to a distance of several miles.It would be possible for groups of submarines on station, or picket duty, so to speak, to be in constant communication with shore stations, either by submerged telephone stations or by wireless. In that way the submarines can be kept in constant touch with the country's scouting fleet of high-speed surface vessels or aeroplanes and immediately be notifiedof the approach of an enemy's fleet or ship. There is no way in which they can themselves be detected, so far as I am aware, as there is no need to run the machinery of the submarine while lying at rest on picket duty, and it would be impossible for a surface ship or flying machine to detect them, providing a constant watch was kept on the horizon or the heavens through the aeroscopes.As the effective range of the modern Whitehead torpedo is about three miles, no ship could pass between the submarines without passing within torpedo range. However, a commander of a submarine would hardly take a chance of making a hit at such great distance, and on sighting the enemy he would leave his station and attempt to intercept her, so as to get a shot at shorter range. If the enemy succeeded in running the gauntlet of the outer circle it would have to pass the submarines distributed on, say, a ten-mile radius. Three submarines would be able to protect this radius line. A five-mile radius might also be established with two submarines, and one located at the entrance. To enter Sandy Hook, therefore, a ship would have to run the gauntlet of five or six submarines without it being necessary for them to leave their stations.Submarines with high speed will become valuable as commerce destroyers and for carrying on an offensive warfare.Page 32shows a high speed, sea-keeping, fleet submarine of the "Lake" type. Its principal characteristics are the same as those of the coast-defence type, except that the buoyant superstructure is increased in height sufficiently to form living quarters for the crew when cruising in surface condition.One of the essentials of a high-speed sea-going vessel is high-powered machinery. A large portion of the interior of the pressure-resisting hull, therefore, must be devoted to machinery space. The quarters would necessarily be somewhat cramped without a buoyant superstructure, which gives plenty of room for the crew to take exercise and secure plenty of fresh air when off duty, even in rough water. As it is very important to keep the physical and mental condition of the crew in a satisfactory state, it is essential that the men be not kept in restricted quarters for a long period of time.This vessel is designed to carry torpedoes firing in line with the axes of the ship both fore and aft, and carries, also, torpedo tubes in the superstructure which may be trained to fire to either broadside. Of course, such a vessel as this should be fitted with wireless and sound-transmitting and detecting devices, and, to be effective, should have a speed of at least twenty-five knots, in which case she would be able to pursue and overtake any battle fleet that could be assembled from existing ships in any navy in the world. Undoubtedly such high-speed submarines will come into being within the next few years.Congress, in 1914, appropriated money to build "fleet submarines," in which they expressed the desire to secure twenty-five knots. A certain amount of discretion, however, was left with the Navy Department, which would permit them to accept boats of not less than twenty knots. There is no difficulty in the way of making such vessels function satisfactorily when submerged, but up to date no internal-combustion engine has been produced suitable for such high-speed submarines, and steam has many disadvantagesin a military submarine, which should be able to emerge and get under way at full speed after a long period of submergence.The tactics of the fleet submarine would be to search for and destroy the enemy's warships or commerce carriers wherever they could be found. A seagoing submarine of such character would also carry rapid-fire guns of sufficient calibre to destroy surface merchantmen. Having sufficient speed to overhaul them, they would be able to capture the merchantmen and perhaps take them as prizes into their own ports, something which it is impossible for the commander of the small-sized submarines now in commission to do, as they have neither the speed to overhaul swift merchantmen nor guns of sufficient range and power to destroy them if they refuse to follow the instructions of the submarine commander. The only alternative, therefore, has been to destroy the merchantmen, and, in many cases, the crews and passengers of the merchant ships have been destroyed as well. This latter policy, however, is much to be regretted.From a study of the submarine problem as it stands to-day, the one thing lacking to make the submarine sufficiently powerful to stop commerce on the high seas between countries at war is speed. We have seen from the foregoing that sufficient speed to accomplish this purpose means great additional cost, and, as the engine situation exists to-day, it may be considered that it is impossible. My own personal opinion is that we shall not see satisfactory twenty-knot submarines, let alone twenty-five-knot submarines, for a matter of several years. In the meantime the people of this country, now engaged in the gigantic conflict which is taking place across the water, are becoming much exercisedas to the possibility of some condition arising which may bring about an attack upon our own country.There is a method of preparing this country with a type of submarine which may be navigated, so to speak, at much greater speed than that called for by the 1914 Congress; namely, twenty-five knots. The boats would have the further advantage in that they would be much less expensive even than the fourteen-knot submarines now called for in the latest specifications for the coast-defence type. This new method calls for the construction of a moderate-size submarine, which, for the want of a better term to distinguish it, I have called an "amphibious submarine"; that is, a submarine which may be carried on land as well as on or under the water."AMPHIBIOUS" SUBMARINEMaking up a train to ship a Lake submarine across Siberia during the period of the Russian-Japanese war. Note the special trucks with sixteen wheels each, used to carry the load (about 130 tons). As the Trans-Siberian road had light rails, it was necessary to design these special trucks to distribute the weight so as to carry this heavy load. It is remarkable that several of these unheard-of weights should have been transported by vessel and rail a distance of over 10,000 miles each without accident or damage. Boats mounted on trucks especially designed to pass through tunnels could be transported from one port to another at railroad speed and be ready for immediate action in defending threatened sections of the country. The Germans have since made extensive use of this method of transporting submarines, giving them access to the Dardanelles and other points not easily accessible to their submarines by water.These submarines would be much smaller than the present coast-defence type of submarine, and of a diameter that could pass through our tunnels and over our bridges. They could be of about two hundred and fifty tons submerged displacement. A railroad truck would be provided for each submarine, with a sufficient number of wheels to carry the load. The submarine itself would be constructed with proper scantlings to carry her entire load of machinery, batteries, fuel, and supplies without injury when mounted on her special trucks. Vessels of this type, which would have a surface speed of ten to twelve knots and a submerged speed of ten knots, would be readily constructed. They could carry as many as eight Whitehead torpedoes and have a radius of action on the surface of about two thousand miles at eight knots. Fitted with telescopic, or housing, conning towers and periscopes, nothing would need to be taken apart to ship these submarines from one section of the country to anotherat railroad speed. Fifty submarines of this type would probably be more efficient in time of need for protecting our thousands of miles of coast line than would many times the same number of fourteen-knot boats distributed over the same number of miles of coast line.In the war game no one can tell where the enemy may decide to strike in force. An attack might be made in the vicinity of Boston, New York, Charleston, Pensacola, New Orleans, or Galveston on the eastern coast; it might be made at or in the vicinity of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle on the western coast. There should be, of course, a certain number of the coast-defence type of submarines permanently stationed at these ports for their protection during war-time periods. But wars come suddenly, and the old saying that "the one who gets in the first blow has the advantage" is a true one. The history of recent wars shows that the declaration of war usually comes after the first blow has been struck. It is readily conceivable, therefore, that before we knew that we were going to become involved in war a fleet of battleships and transports stationed off our harbors, or off a suitable landing place on our extensive coast line, might be able to establish a shore base before we knew it or had time to get sufficient of our slow-going submarines at the danger point to prevent the landing of an invading force.If we had one hundred submarines distributed over our Atlantic and Pacific coast lines, it would take weeks or months to mobilize many of them at the point of attack, for the reason that a submarine, when submerged, has such a small radius of action. The best in the service to-day have a radius of action of about one hundred miles at fiveknots, or eleven miles at ten and one-half knots, or twenty-four miles at eight knots. The enemy, with light, shallow-draft, high-speed picket boats, could probably make it very unsafe for a submarine to travel any considerable distance along the coast in the daytime, or even at night, in surface cruising condition. As it takes considerable time to charge the batteries to enable the boat to run in a submerged condition, should the enemy have control of the surface of the sea, the average submerged radius to-day of a submarine would probably be less than one hundred miles, unless it ran a grave risk of being captured while on the surface. The chances are, therefore, that if we had one hundred submarines distributed over our Atlantic and Pacific coast lines, not over ten or a dozen of them would be able to reach the point of attack in time to prevent the landing of an invading force with sufficient men, guns, and ammunition to do a great deal of harm in some of the thickly populated sections of the country.AN AMPHIBIOUS SUBMARINE BEING HAULED OUT OF THE WATERIf, however, the country were provided with fifty "amphibious submarines" located at ten of our importantAtlantic and Pacific ports, they could all be mobilized at an objective point within a week. If the government made arrangements with the railroads to run a track down under the water at each railroad coast terminal, or to run special tracks into the water at other suitable localities along the coast where there would be sufficient water to float a submarine, submarines could be rapidly mobilized to ward off a landing at any point.To illustrate the point which I wish to make, assume that this country should become involved in war with nations lying both to the east and west of us. To get submarines from one coast to the other would require a long period of time. The "amphibious submarine," on the contrary, could in an hour's notice be run on to the tracks at New York and three days later be run into the water at San Francisco, with her crew, fuel, stores, and torpedoes all ready to go into action at once. A submarine could make a trip from Boston to New York in five hours, or from Boston to New Orleans in thirty-five hours. These boats could be built in quantities at a cost of about $300,000 (£61,500) each. Fifty of them could, therefore, be built at approximately the cost of one modern battleship.There has been much talk recently about the so-called "baby" submarines—little one-or two-man boats. A large number of one-man submarines were built for the Russian Government previous to 1880 by Mons. Dzrewieckie, the well-known inventor of the Dzrewieckie type of torpedo launching apparatus. Mr. Holland, Goubet, and practically all inventors and builders of submarines commenced with "baby" submarines. One of the designs which I submitted to the United States Government in 1901 called for a one-manboat to be carried on the davits of a battleship or cruiser. A boat of that kind might have had a place a number of years ago when attacking vessels came near the shore. Such small craft must necessarily have a very limited range of action and very slow speed; they also would be unseaworthy. It would be impossible for a man to remain submerged in a vessel of this type for a considerable length of time, so that personally I can see very little use for them at present.It has been well established that submarine boats should be divided into two classes: one a torpedo boat with as high surface and submerged speed as it is possible to attain with a large radius of action, capable, if possible, of exceeding battleship speed when on the surface, so that it may intercept a battle fleet on the high seas and submerge in its path of approach before being discovered; the second class should consist of smaller, slower-speed, mine-evading submarines, with torpedo and mining and countermining features. Such submarines are essentially defensive, but if they have sufficient radius of action to reach the enemy's harbors and to lie in wait off the entrance to such harbors, or to enter submerged the harbors themselves and there destroy the enemy craft, they have become potent offensive weapons of the raiding class. For a European power it is relatively easy to give such boats the radius necessary for them to invade an enemy's ports.We have not pushed the consideration of the submarine of the second class, with its anti-mine features, because we have been kept busy trying profitably to meet the wishes of the various governments which demand constantly increasing speeds at a sacrifice of some characteristics which Ipersonally regard very highly. Most government officials have been more attracted to vessels of the first class, as speed in all classes of vessels more than anything else seems to appeal to the imagination, but I think it may be the old story of the tortoise and the hare over again.As regards the first class of submarines, the present submarine boats engaged in the continental war consist of vessels only a few of which have a surface speed exceeding twelve knots, or a submerged speed exceeding ten knots for one hour or eight knots for three hours. There may be a few in commission that exceed these speeds, but very few. Some are in course of construction that are expected to give a surface speed of seventeen and eighteen knots for forty hours and about eleven knots submerged for one hour, or a slower speed for a greater number of hours.Governments are asking for bids for submarines of greater speed, and some have been designed which are expected to make twenty knots on the surface; but they are not in service as yet. One reason that higher surface speeds have not been reached is the difficulty of securing a perfectly satisfactory high-power, heavy-oil, internal-combustion engine, suitable for submarine boat work. As soon as a proven satisfactory heavy-oil engine is turned out by the engine builders, capable of delivering five thousand horsepower per shaft, submarine boats may be built capable of making up to twenty-five knots on the surface.The submarine, even at its present development, has shown its superiority over the battleship in coast operations; to intercept a battleship at sea, however, even a high-speed submarine must lie in wait, perhaps for days or even weeks at a time, much like a gunner in a "blind" waiting for aflock of ducks to pass within gunshot. Because of its relatively slow speed it would have to wait for a long time, also, for a battleship or fleet to pass sufficiently near to be headed off, especially if the submarine were entirely submerged, because the moment the periscope appears above water the quarry will take to its heels, if it follows the latest ruling of the British Admiralty, to "steer away from the vicinity of submarines at full speed, even if it is necessary to abandon a torpedoed sister ship and its drowning crew to their own fate."I believe that this apparently heartless order is justified by the loss of theAboukir,Cressy, andHogue, the only flock of ducks, figuratively speaking, that has come within the shot of the submarine torpedo gunner.The conclusion must be reached, therefore, that on the high seas the only advantage the costly dreadnought has over the pigmy, cheap submarine, as at present constructed, lies in its ability to run away and to rule commerce far offshore on the high seas.So little is known of the possibilities of submarine vessels of the second type that it seems necessary for me to devote some time to describing their possibilities and my experience in their construction. In 1905, while living in Berlin, Germany, I prepared plans for a mine-laying submarine for submission to the Russian Government, a general description of which was published in 1906. This submarine was designed to carry thirty-six of the regulation naval mines, which could readily be placed in a desired locality while the submarine was entirely submerged. A vessel of this type might be useful for either offensive or defensive purposes. Where used for offensive purposes the mine-laying submarinecould readily, with comparatively little danger to herself, plant mines off entrances to the enemy's harbor. Equipped with the "mine-evading" guards, they might even work their way into an enemy's harbor and plant mines under a vessel at anchor, or destroy shipping lying tied up at the docks. For defensive purposes a mine-laying submarine would be of great value, as it could readily plant mines, even under the guns of a powerful fleet, to protect its own entrances and harbors.The submarineProtector, built in 1901 and 1902 at Bridgeport, Connecticut, was fitted with a diving compartment which corresponds to the mine-laying compartment of the 1905 design above referred to. The importance of a mine-laying submarine for the defence of the country was first officially called to the attention of the American people by a board of officers appointed by ex-President Taft, then Secretary of War, as early as January, 1903. This board of officers consisted of General Arthur Murray, late chief of Coast Artillery Corps (then Major); Captain Charles J. Bailey, and Captain Charles F. Parker, of the Artillery Corps. The following is a copy of their recommendations for this type of vessel for the defence of our coast:"First and second, the board believes that this type of submarine boat is a most valuable auxiliary to the fixed-mine defence, and in cases where channels cannot be mined, owing to the depth, rough water, swift tides, or width of channel, it will give the nearest approach to absolute protection now known to the board. The boat can lie for an indefinite time adjacent to the point to be defended in either cruising awash, or submerged condition, by its anchors, or on the bottom ready for instant use, and practically independentof the state of the water and in telephonic connection with the shore, or can patrol a mined or unmined channel invisible to the enemy and able to discharge its torpedoes at all times. It possesses the power of utilizing its engines in every condition except the totally submerged, and can always charge its storage batteries while so doing, necessitating its return to shore only when gasolene (petrol) must be replenished. In narrow channels the boat or boats would have a fixed position with a telephone cable buoyed or anchored at the bottom. In wide channels they would patrol or lie in mid-channel where they could readily meet approaching vessels. Third, as a picket or scout boat, outside of the mine field, or even at extreme range of gun fire, telephone communications can be sustained and information received, and instructions sent for attacking approaching vessels. Fourth, the test at Newport demonstrated the ease with which the boat can locate and pick up cables, and with minor alterations in the present model, junction boxes, etc., can be taken into the diving compartment and repaired at leisure while absolutely protected from hostile interference. The faculty possessed by the boat of manœuvring on the bottom and sending out divers leaves little or nothing to be desired in its facilities for doing this work.THE "PROTECTOR" (LAKE TYPE, 1901-1902)"The boat shows great superiority over any existing means for attacking mine-fields known to the board. First, it can be run by any field, as at present installed, with but little or no danger from the explosion of any particular mine or from gun fire during the few seconds it exposes the sighting hood for observations, and can attack at its pleasure the vessels in the harbor. Second and third, the board personally witnessed the ease with which cables can be grappled,raised, and cut, while the boat is manœuvring on the bottom; mine cables can be swept for, found and cut, or a diver can be sent out for that purpose. The crew of the boat is a skilled one, trained for its tests in every way likely to be requested by the Naval Board. It should be noted that, with one exception, no seamen are used, this exception being the man who steers and handles the boat. The crew is as follows: One navigator, who is also a diver; one chief engineer, one assistant engineer, one electrician, one machinist, one deck hand, and one cook."The board recommends consideration of the foregoing by the General Staff. The question of the use of the Whitehead torpedoes as a part of the fixed-mine defence, fired from tubes on shore, is now receiving consideration. Where channels are wide and water swift, this use of the Whitehead will be very limited. With boats of this type the Whitehead can, it is believed, be carried within certain effective range in all ordinary channels, and this alone will warrant the consideration asked for."The board recommends, in consequence of its conclusions, that five of these boats be purchased for use in submarine defence as follows:"One for the School of Submarine Defence for experimental work, one for the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound, one for the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, one for San Francisco harbor, and one for Puget Sound."The necessity for this kind of defence in the four localities named needs no demonstration to those acquainted with them.Arthur Murray,"Major, Artillery Corps, President."The recommendations of this board were submitted to Congress, and the Senate passed the bill for the purchase of theProtectorto enable the authorities to test out the merits of this type of boat as an adjunct to our coast defence, but at this time it seemed as if certain politicians and financial groups were able to control the policy of the United States Government in its development of the submarine. The result indicated, at least, that these influences had been sufficiently strong to take out of the hands of the Navy Department and of the officers connected with the Coast Artillery, who had charge of the laying of our mines and the protection of our coast from hostile invasion, the right to specify the kind of appliances they should use. Instead of leaving the question of defence of our country in the hands of the expert officers who had been trained to study the problem, Congress in this instance specified the exclusive use of a type of boat which did not possess the characteristics called for by these expert students of defence.Strange as it may seem, the opportunity of the United States to be a leader in the development of the type of boat which Germany has proven to be of such great value was lost by the dictation of a manufacturer of gloves from an inland county. It is a sad commentary on our laws that such a state of affairs could exist, but I accidentally happened to learn that this was the case in this instance, and I fear it has been the case in many other instances where financial and political influences have been permitted to overrule the recommendation of officers of the army and navy.TheProtectorhad been built by private capital at the suggestion of the Board of Construction of the United States Navy, at that time composed of Admirals Melville, O'Neil,Bradford, Bowles, and Captain Sigsbee. In 1901 I had been called to Washington by a telegram from the late Senator Hale, who was then chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs in the Senate, and was asked to submit plans and specifications for a submarine torpedo boat. Accordingly, I submitted plans for the three types above referred to. The Board of Construction complimented me upon the plans, and stated that they believed the plans of the vessels I had proposed showed great superiority over any type of vessel that had been heretofore proposed, either in this country or abroad, but at the same they stated that all appropriations made by Congress had specified the particular type of boat that must be used, and the Navy Department did not have any authority to authorize the construction of a different type. They suggested further that if I or my friends had sufficient capital to construct such a vessel, they would see that it had a fair trial upon its merits, and if it proved of value to the service they would recommend its adoption, and they did not believe that Congress would then ignore their recommendations. Consequently theProtectorwas built. Her performances and capabilities for defence of the United States were strongly endorsed by the Board of Officers which had tested her, and many of her characteristics have been copied by all European builders of submarines.After the Senate passed the bill authorizing her purchase, the matter was referred to a sub-committee in the House. As the boat had been built by private capital, and the lifetime savings of a number of friends, as well as all my own capital, were tied up in her, I was naturally desirous to learn if the House committee having the matter in charge was also going to recommend her purchase. One day I calledat the committee room to inquire. There was no one present in the main committee room, so I took a seat at the table. After sitting there for a few moments, I heard a conversation in the chairman's room, adjoining the general committee room. Soon the voices took on an angry tone, and I heard one member of Congress accuse the chairman of the sub-committee which had the matter in charge of intention to report unfavorably the recommendations for the purchase of theProtector. I recognized the voice of the gentleman who was making the accusation as that of an old retired general. He did not use polite language in accusing the chairman of the sub-committee of intending to defeat the purchase of theProtectorin the interest of the company which had had sufficient influence to maintain a monopoly of submarine boat construction in the United States up to that time.The chairman of this sub-committee did report unfavorably, and, as I have already stated, a manufacturer of gloves from an inland section of the country was able to defeat the recommendation for the adoption of a means of defence for this country which the best qualified officers in the United States service of both the army and the navy had recommended as of great value, and superior to other defensive means known to them at that time. It was this type of vessel which Germany later developed and which has so far been able to keep great fleets of almost the entire world from her shores. Recently the ex-member of Congress referred to in this connection was sentenced to imprisonment for attempt to defraud the government in other matters.OFFICIAL DRAWING OF THE CAPTURED GERMAN MINE-PLANTING SUBMARINE, U. C-5Copyright by Munn & Co., Inc.Published exclusively in theScientific Americanby permission of the British Admiralty and here reproduced by its courtesy.I am a great believer in the value of this type of vessel for harbor and coast-defence work, and I believe that in onecountry vessels of this type are now engaged as mine layers in the present war. Our own government has to this day no submarine vessel equipped for the laying of mines, although the Commandant of the School of Submarine Defence repeatedly urged their adoption. I quote from the annual report of the Commandant of Submarine Defence, 1904-1905:"As in the case of movable torpedoes, the question of the use of submarine boats as adjuncts to the fixed-mine defence of the country has been under consideration by the board for the revision of the Report of the Endicott Board during the past year, and the Torpedo Board has been called on for remarks on this subject."It is now again desired to invite special attention to the unquestionable value of submarine boats as an adjunct to fixed mine and movable torpedoes for the defence of the particular places named in the report of the second committee; and also to the need of a boat of the Lake type, or similar type, at the School of Submarine Defence for experimental work, as this is the only submarine boat, so far as known, that can be efficiently used in countermining electrically controlled mines. The advisability of procuring submarine boats for the defence of the places named, it is believed, will also be seen to be unquestionable when it is considered that the cost of such a boat is about one-fortieth of that of a modern battleship; that without such boats as an adjunct to the mine and gun defences of those places a more expensive boat of the navy will undoubtedly be called for as a home-guard for those waters in case of war; and that with submarine boats as an adjunct to the army's defences it will be impossible so to defend those waters as to enablethe more expensive and seagoing boats proper of the navy to cut loose from those harbors with impunity and go wherever naval strategy may demand.(Signed) "Arthur Murray,"Lieutenant-Colonel, Artillery Corps."The principal means used in my mine-planting, mine-and net-evading submarine are the bottom wheels and diving compartment which were incorporated in my 1893 design, which also carried my pioneer features of lateral hydroplanes to get even-keel submergence; high, water-tight superstructure, which is indispensable for high-speed, ocean-going submarines; anchors, and lifting and lowering sighting instruments. Excepting the bottom wheels and diving compartment, most navies have now incorporated these features into their submarines. Three navies have adopted the bottom wheels, etc. These mine-evading craft are able to enter the enemy's own territory with impunity and destroy their merchant ships and warships in their own harbors. TheNigerwas sunk at Deal by a German submarine which is reported to have passed through a mine field.A BOTTOM-CREEPING SUBMARINE PASSING THROUGH A MINE FIELDCourtesy of the Scientific AmericanFitted with guards and gently pushing aside the cables which anchor the buoyant mines, the bottom-creeping submarine can proceed slowly and cautiously over the bottom and pass through a mine field with impunity.The necessity of such features as bottom wheels and diving compartment is now being brought out in the present war. I believe the mining and countermining features must be incorporated in one type before the submarine reaches its full development. The impotency of the great combined English and French fleets of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines must be galling to the people who have paid for them by the sweat of their brows. These fleets are impotent because the Germans will not come out from behind their mines and forts and wage an unequal battle againstsuperior numbers, but prudently are sending out their submarines to destroy gradually the enemy which is trying to blockade the German ports.A MINE AND NET EVADING SUBMARINE UNDER-RUNNING A NETCourtesy of the Scientific AmericanA submarine fitted with a device of this kind can readily under-run any net; running slowly on the bottom the net may be seen through the aquascope or felt with its advanced feelers. Even if mines are attached, divers may cut them loose, or they may be exploded by counter mines to make a safe passage under the nets. Surface ships attempting to guard the nets may be sunk by torpedoes or heavy gun fire from disappearing guns on other submarines, giving the bottom-working submarines ample time to clear away nets and mines.Winston Churchill, former First Lord of the British Admiralty, expressed the bitterness of this impotency when he said: "If they don't come out and fight, we will go in after them and dig them out like rats"; regrettably, the German mines and submarines stand in the way, and are themselves taking their toll of ships.The mine-evading submarine can enter with comparative safety through a mine field, like a shuttle passing through the woof of cloth during the weaving process, and I take the opportunity to explain this method of entering harbors.To comprehend thoroughly the safety with which this is accomplished, it is necessary to appreciate the almost insuperable difficulty of discovering an object like a submarine vessel when once sunk beneath the surface of the water. There are many sunken ships containing valuable treasures and cargoes that lie along our coast, and in most of the harbors of the world, that have been known to have sunk within a radius of less than a mile from some given point, but which have never been located. Some of these vessels have been searched for for years and never have been found. Dozens of vessels have been sunk in the waters of the North and East Rivers and never have been located. Some of the British and French submarines have been lost in localities well known, but it has been impossible to locate them.During several years of experimental work with submarine investigating bottom conditions I have travelled many miles in the Chesapeake and Sandy Hook bays, along the Atlantic coast and Long Island Sound, and later in theGulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea; and it is a fact that cannot be successfully disputed, technically, by any one, that a submarine of the type recommended by the United States Army Board may be taken into any harbor in the world entirely unseen, and remain there, if necessary, for a month at a time, destroying shipping, docks, and war craft deliberately and leisurely, and yet defy discovery.My method of entering harbors or through mine fields consists principally in providing submarine vessels with bottom wheels and other component undisclosed details. When submerged, the vessel is given sufficient negative buoyancy so that she will not be drifted off her course by the currents when resting on the bottom. The vessel is what may be termed a submarine automobile, and it may be navigated over the bottom as readily as an automobile runs on the surface of the earth. The submarine automobile has one great advantage over the surface type in its ability to mount steep grades or go over obstructions, because the vessel is so nearly buoyant that she will mount any obstruction she can get her bow over.My early experience proved to me that a submarine could not be satisfactorily navigated submerged in shallow, rough water by the same method of control as was found to be practical in deeper water, for the reason that the vessel would pump up and down with the rise and fall of the sea. Neither could the vessel lie at rest on the bottom, as the lift of the ground swell in bad weather was sufficient, even with a considerable negative buoyancy, to cause the vessel to pound so badly that the storage battery plates would be destroyed in a few minutes. I therefore suspended the wheels on swinging arms and applied a cushioning cylinder. The hullof the vessel was then free to move up and down, synchronizing with the lift of the ground swell, and at the same time the weight of the wheels kept the submarine close to the bottom and able to keep her position while at rest or to be navigated over the bottom at any speed desired.Most of our Atlantic coast, Long Island, and Chesapeake Bay water-beds are comparatively uniform as to depths. In other countries I have navigated over rocky bottoms filled with giant boulders. A rough bottom limits the speed at which it is advisable to travel, but I have never seen a bottom so rough that it could not be readily navigated."Lake" boats, fitted with bottom wheels, have, in a competitive test abroad, entered landlocked and fortified harbors without discovery, where the entrance from the sea has been through a tortuous channel. All other vessels, except the one fitted with bottom wheels, were discovered long before reaching the outer fortifications, because it was necessary for them to show their periscopes to sight their way. They struck the sides of the dredged channel, which caused them to broach and be discovered, because they had to maintain a comparatively high speed to be kept under control. In tests carried out in Russia the boat fitted with bottom wheels simply wheeled along in the channel at slow speed and stopped and backed to change course at will. The revolutions of the bottom wheels gave the distance travelled, the manometer gave the depth, and the compass the proper direction; consequently, with a correct chart as to courses and depths, navigation on the bottom in entering harbors is very much easier than on the surface, unless the channels are well buoyed.Most mines, as at present installed, are either of the observation or contact type; the observation mines are fired usually from shore stations when the enemy is seen to be over them, while the contact mine is anchored a few feet beneath the surface and is either exploded by contact with the surface of the vessel's bottom or by the agitation caused by the rush of water due to the swiftly passing vessel. The European belligerents have put out contact mines to protect their capital ships from the submarines. The dread of these mines is holding the submarines outside of the mined areas, and the mines are therefore effective. None of the British vessels are fitted with bottom wheels and diving compartments, and they must be navigated at such speed to keep submerged control that they would explode a contact mine if either the mine or its anchor rope were touched. This also applies to some of my later boats, as the bottom wheels have been omitted to meet the demand for greater speed on the surface and submerged.I am inclined to the belief that this has been more or less of a mistake, because the bottom-wheeled submarine can go to and dig the enemy out of its base in addition to hunting the big surface craft of the enemy on the high seas.With the bottom wheels, navigation can be conducted so carefully over the bottom that inspection of the course can be made, if desired, foot by foot, as progress is made, and all mines can be avoided.MINES PLACED UNDER SHIPS AT ANCHORPermission Scientific AmericanA submarine of the mine-planting and mine-evading type may, by means of its periscope, range finders and direction indicators, ascertain the exact distance and bearing of vessels at their anchorage. On securing this exact knowledge the submarine may then be submerged to the bottom and creep up under the anchored craft and plant a mine under her which may be exploded by electricity after the submarine has backed a safe distance away, or a mine might be fitted with a powerful magnet and allowed to ascend (by the diver) until it attaches itself to the bottom of the ship.The diagrammatic sketches illustrate the "Lake" method of operation in cutting cables, evading mines, planting countermines, clearing away mines, or passing under chains, cables, and nets that may be stretched across the entrancesof the harbors to effectively stop the progress of surface vessels and submarines not fitted with bottom wheels.SUBMARINE SUPPLY STATION(Drawing by Robt. G. Skerrett.)Illustrating the use of the submarine supply station, which may be anchored on the bottom in positions known only to the commanders of submarines, who may visit such station and renew their supplies of fuel, foodstuffs and torpedoes. The submarine boat approaches alongside of the supply boat, then, by utilizing the air lock, divers may pass out of the submarine and enter into the supply boat through its air lock compartment. A hose may be led from the fuel tanks of the submarine to the fuel supply tanks in the submerged station, compressed air admitted to the tanks and fuel driven from the submarine station to the military submarine. The author's experimental cargo-carrying submarine as tested out in 1900, proved the practicability of transferring cargo from one submerged vessel to another submarine, all the operations being performed under water.The diving compartment is another feature of submarine construction which has been neglected by the majority of the world's naval authorities. This device is of value not only to vessels of the type just described, but is of general usefulness to all submarines of whatever size or speed. A submarine crew is able by this means to go outside the vessel while submerged and make repairs on the propellers, periscopes, and other exterior parts without the necessity of rising to the surface or of returning to their base. Further, it is capable of use in such a way as to add immensely to the cruising radius of submarines. The method by which this may be accomplished I will briefly outline.As matters stand now, the submarines are forced to return to their home ports to refill their fuel tanks, to take on fresh provisions for the men, and to replenish their exhausted ammunition and torpedoes. Thus, even though their personnel gets relief by the boat's halting upon the sea-bed, a cog is slipped in the matter of continued military efficiency. Without a fresh supply of fuel oil and more food and munitions of war the submarine is ineffective, and when her objective is a distant one she must draw heavily upon her stores to get her there and to carry her safely back to her revictualling base. Indeed, she may overreach herself through her commander's desire to strike his remote enemy and then find herself forced back to the surface and without the means to take her home again, floating impotently upon the sea, an easy target for attack, and certain to be sunk or captured.These present handicaps need not be permanent ones, and there is no more reason why a submarine should not take on fresh stores in the open sea than a surface vessel. Indeed, a submarine should be able to replenish her fuel tanks and to ship provisions under some circumstances even more securely than its rivals that run upon the water.In short, a submarine should be capable of sinking to the sea-bed and there, beyond the reach of its foes, of drawing new strength, so to speak, from a suitably designed submergible supply boat. This scheme is not at all visionary. In part it has already been done in the past by vessels planned by me for commercial work, and there is no inherent difficulty in modifying both the military submarine and its revictualling consort so that they can thus function in unison for the purpose of giving the fighting undersea boat a wider field of action.While the torpedo-boat destroyer, the submarine's logical pursuer to-day, is battling with wind and wave, jarring well nigh her sides out, and hunting over the tumbling seas for elusive periscopes, the submarine can lie in ambush upon the ocean-bed if the water be not too deep, or at rest at any desired depth, held in suspension between the surface and the bottom by her anchors, thus conserving her energies so that when she does rise for a peep through her observing instrument she can strike more certainly with all of the sinister force of her chosen weapon of attack. She can lurk in wait for her quarry not only for one day but for weeks at a time, especially when sand banks a hundred feet below the surface offer the needful haven.What I propose is to provide every seagoing submarine with one or more mobile submersible bases of supply in theform of boats without motive power of their own which can be towed by the military under-water boat and sunk upon the sea-bed at convenient points where they will best suit the purposes of the subaqueous torpedo vessel. Naturally you ask what would happen if submarine scouts should sight a submarine towing a convoy of this sort. Wouldn't the submarine have to desert her supply vessels and sink alone beneath the surface? My answer is no.Of course, this assumes that the submarine at the time is traversing waters that are not too deep for her to go to the bottom. She would take her tender or tenders down with her under such circumstances, for the supply boats would be built to stand safely the test submergence of the military submarine; that is, a depth of two hundred feet. The question may arise as to how I can control the sinking of the crewless consorts, holding as they would only supplies, and having none of the operative mechanisms that constitute a necessary functional part of the fighting undersea boat.This is illustrated by the method with which I controlled the submergence of a tender with which I salvaged the coal from a sunken barge in Long Island Sound years ago. That cargo boat had tanks into which water could be admitted from the sea, and certain of the inlet passages were closed by means of check valves which were automatic, seating themselves by the tension of springs. In order to submerge the boat it was only necessary to admit water purposely and to open a valve on the deck for the escape of the air as the water entered.To refloat the tender after it had reached the bottom and was loaded, a diver went from the submergedArgonautby way of the diving compartment and attached a hose to the deck vent. This hose was then connected to the compressed-air flasks in the submarine. The air was blown down through the pipe into the ballast tanks and the water forced outboard, past the check valves that yielded in that direction, but reseated and closed themselves as soon as the air pressure stopped. In this fashion buoyancy was reacquired and the tender rose to the surface.Of course, the initial sinking operation required the presence of someone in a small boat alongside the tender which I have just described. This would not be feasible in the case of the military supply boats I have in mind. These must be made to sink by suitable controlling devices manipulated from within the military craft, but in principle the cycle would not differ from that which I have outlined.The deck valve allowing the air to escape from the tanks and the inlets admitting sea-water could be operated by suitable electrical mechanisms, and, once opened, the sea-water would enter and destroy the reserve buoyancy, thus causing the tenders to sink. Again, compressed air supplied from the submarine or compressed air carried by the supply craft themselves could be turned on by electrical control, and the boats brought to the surface at the will of the military commander.The supply boats, like the fighting submarine, would have diving compartments, but these would be arranged so that the bottom door could be opened from the outside by divers, who, by manipulating suitable valves, would fill the chambers with compressed air and thus permit the door to be opened and allow entrance into the tender. An air-lock would then facilitate a passage into the inside of the craft,where stores would be stowed. This air-lock would have to be operated each time materials were brought into the diving chamber for transfer to the submarine.The provisions and other portable supplies would be packed in metal cylinders capable of keeping out the water at any depth in which a diver could work safely. I should count upon carrying on this transfer of provisions, etc., on depths of one hundred feet and less, but deep enough to constitute a sufficient cover against detection by aeroplanes. To facilitate disguise in clear water the tenders could be painted mottled colors which would make them blend into the background of the sea-bed, much after the fashion of a flounder.These provision tanks, when loaded, would have a negative buoyancy of only a few pounds, just enough to make them sink, and a diver would have no trouble in either carrying or dragging one of them from the tender to the open diving compartment of the submarine. Only food, drinking water, the ammunition for guns, and the disjointed sections of torpedoes need to be transported in this way. Fuel oil for the engines, and even lubricating oil, could be sent from the tender to the submarine in a very simple manner. The outboard connection of the oil tanks of the supply craft would have hose joined to them leading to the fuel tanks of the submarine, and the contents could be transferred simply by pumping them across.The supply boats should have fenders in the shape of long metal rods reaching out from the bow and the stern and both sides. These would give the tenders the appearance of gigantic water-bugs, but they serve to form smooth surfaces over which the loop of a mine sweeper would glidefreely without encountering any projections to which it could cling. Thus, while the mine sweeper could certainly pick up a floating mine, it would pass without warning over a submerged supply base capable of holding stuff sufficient to keep a submarine going for weeks without return to her home port.With such a system of revictualling, submarines should be able to operate secretly for long periods and virtually hold to the sea during the entire time, doing in that interval what would be absolutely impossible for any type of surface fighting craft of kindred displacement and military power. The submarine commander would be the only one having knowledge of the position of his submerged supply bases, and he could place them under cover of night just where they would contribute best to the carrying out of the operations planned for him.SUBMARINE "SEAL"—LAKE TYPE U. S.This vessel is unique in that she was the first vessel built that was provided with deck torpedo tubes that could be trained and fired to either broadside when the vessel is submerged, in addition to the vessel's hull tubes. In her acceptance trials her crew took her down to a depth of 256 ft. She broke the record for speed in the U. S. Navy.On almost every coast there are areas where submarines could sink safely to the bottom in moderate depths of water, and there are also quiet coves but little frequented where ideal resting places could be found for the submerged supply boats. With these failing, however, the tenders could be sunk to the water-bed in the open sea, and with their bottom wheels to rest on, working upon pneumatic buffers, they need not feel any vertical motion of the sea even in the stormiest weather. I have found that such motion actually exists forty feet and more below the surface when the ground swell is deep.BRITISH SUBMARINE B-1 (HOLLAND TYPE)A sister ship to B-11, that sank the Turkish battleship "Messudieh" in the Dardanelles.Of course, the submarine must rise to the surface from time to time in order to draw in fresh air to fill her pressure tanks and also to recharge her storage batteries. The electrical accumulators are charged by means of the oil motors,and these engines are so greedy for air that they must have the free atmosphere to draw upon when working. Therefore the submarine would rise to the surface to perform these services during the night time, and boats seeking submarines after dark have a task cut out for them pretty much like that of hunting for the proverbial needle in a haystack. If the commander of a submarine recognizes that the first principle of successful submarine raiding is never to betray his position by exposing his periscope while under way when within sight of the enemy, his vessel becomes invulnerable, because it is an invisible object. The submarine vessel is then invincible, because all the science of naval architecture has not been able thus far to devise a protection against the mine and torpedo.
The submarine boat is the guerilla in warfare. Its tactics are the tactics of the Indian who fights under cover or lies in ambush for his enemy. These are necessarily the tactics of all weaker individuals and are an essential method of procedure in preventing the weaker party from being annihilated by the strong and more powerful. Some people have contended that the submarine is an unfair weapon, but the old statement that "all's fair in love and war" applies to the submarine as it does to every weapon which has been invented since the days when men struggled for supremacy with their bare hands. The first man who wielded the club might have been accused of being unfair; the same term might have been applied to the man who invented the sling-shot or the bow and arrow. When people fight for their existence, the existence of their families or of their country, they do not fight according to the "Marquis of Queensberry Rules." A revolver in the hands of a weak man or a defenceless woman is a proper weapon to enable them to protect their property, their honor, or their life; and, no matter what theorists may claim, the submarine will remain as a weapon to be reckoned with in all future wars, provided there are future wars upon the high seas. In making this assertion I do not intend to justify a great many of the acts performed by the submarines of one of the belligerents in the present war. I do claim, however, that the submarine is a perfectly legitimate naval weapon, and that it deserves a place in thearmament of any nation whose military power is maintained for purposes of self-defence.
Above all, I believe the submarine most fitted to act as a weapon in coast-defence operations. Coast-defence submarines will probably be found to be the most important adjunct to the navies of every country whose policy is to defend their own coast lines, rather than to attempt aggressive warfare. Vessels for this purpose do not need to be of great tonnage nor of high speed. Speed is the one thing, more than anything else, which runs up the cost of the submarine vessel. While speed is desirable for the cruising submarine, it is not an essential for a defensive submarine. It is possible to get a speed of fourteen or fifteen knots in a submarine of about five hundred tons displacement, and at the same time have comfortable living quarters for the crew. A boat of this size may carry eight Whitehead torpedoes, each torpedo being capable of destroying a fifteen-million-dollar battleship, and as a five-hundred-ton displacement submarine can be built for about one-half million dollars, and is capable of carrying eight Whitehead torpedoes, potentially good for eight fifteen-million-dollar battleships, or a total of one hundred and twenty million dollars' worth of capital ships, it seems as if that would be sufficient to ask of one little submarine boat. Now to double that speed would require a much larger vessel, and would cost approximately two and one-half million dollars. A two and one-half-million-dollar boat for the defence of harbor entrances or seacoast cities would not carry as many torpedoes as five of the five-hundred-ton boats. A torpedo fired from a small boat is fully as potent as one fired from a two and one-half-million-dollar boat.
These small boats could be located at five different points covering a portion of our coast, and the chances are that at least two of these smaller boats could reach an objective point on the coast line under their protection in shorter time than one large high-speed boat would be able to do. At the same cost they could cover the same area of coast line to a much better advantage, as there would be five of them to protect that area instead of one.
We will assume, for purposes of illustration, that the Sandy Hook entrance to New York Harbor is to be defended. If we strike a fifteen-mile radius from Sandy Hook point, running from the Long Island to the New Jersey shore, and have four submarines take station on that radius line about five miles apart, no ship could pass that radius line without coming within the range of vision of the commander of the submarine, either from his periscope in daylight or at night within the range of hearing of his "submarine ears." The Fessenden oscillators, or microphones, now installed in all submarines, would readily detect the approach of a surface ship or ships. These instruments have been improved to such an extent that it is now possible to carry on wireless conversation under water between one submarine and another for a considerable distance. Communication by the Morse code, or other special codes, may be carried on between submarines up to a distance of several miles.
It would be possible for groups of submarines on station, or picket duty, so to speak, to be in constant communication with shore stations, either by submerged telephone stations or by wireless. In that way the submarines can be kept in constant touch with the country's scouting fleet of high-speed surface vessels or aeroplanes and immediately be notifiedof the approach of an enemy's fleet or ship. There is no way in which they can themselves be detected, so far as I am aware, as there is no need to run the machinery of the submarine while lying at rest on picket duty, and it would be impossible for a surface ship or flying machine to detect them, providing a constant watch was kept on the horizon or the heavens through the aeroscopes.
As the effective range of the modern Whitehead torpedo is about three miles, no ship could pass between the submarines without passing within torpedo range. However, a commander of a submarine would hardly take a chance of making a hit at such great distance, and on sighting the enemy he would leave his station and attempt to intercept her, so as to get a shot at shorter range. If the enemy succeeded in running the gauntlet of the outer circle it would have to pass the submarines distributed on, say, a ten-mile radius. Three submarines would be able to protect this radius line. A five-mile radius might also be established with two submarines, and one located at the entrance. To enter Sandy Hook, therefore, a ship would have to run the gauntlet of five or six submarines without it being necessary for them to leave their stations.
Submarines with high speed will become valuable as commerce destroyers and for carrying on an offensive warfare.Page 32shows a high speed, sea-keeping, fleet submarine of the "Lake" type. Its principal characteristics are the same as those of the coast-defence type, except that the buoyant superstructure is increased in height sufficiently to form living quarters for the crew when cruising in surface condition.
One of the essentials of a high-speed sea-going vessel is high-powered machinery. A large portion of the interior of the pressure-resisting hull, therefore, must be devoted to machinery space. The quarters would necessarily be somewhat cramped without a buoyant superstructure, which gives plenty of room for the crew to take exercise and secure plenty of fresh air when off duty, even in rough water. As it is very important to keep the physical and mental condition of the crew in a satisfactory state, it is essential that the men be not kept in restricted quarters for a long period of time.
This vessel is designed to carry torpedoes firing in line with the axes of the ship both fore and aft, and carries, also, torpedo tubes in the superstructure which may be trained to fire to either broadside. Of course, such a vessel as this should be fitted with wireless and sound-transmitting and detecting devices, and, to be effective, should have a speed of at least twenty-five knots, in which case she would be able to pursue and overtake any battle fleet that could be assembled from existing ships in any navy in the world. Undoubtedly such high-speed submarines will come into being within the next few years.
Congress, in 1914, appropriated money to build "fleet submarines," in which they expressed the desire to secure twenty-five knots. A certain amount of discretion, however, was left with the Navy Department, which would permit them to accept boats of not less than twenty knots. There is no difficulty in the way of making such vessels function satisfactorily when submerged, but up to date no internal-combustion engine has been produced suitable for such high-speed submarines, and steam has many disadvantagesin a military submarine, which should be able to emerge and get under way at full speed after a long period of submergence.
The tactics of the fleet submarine would be to search for and destroy the enemy's warships or commerce carriers wherever they could be found. A seagoing submarine of such character would also carry rapid-fire guns of sufficient calibre to destroy surface merchantmen. Having sufficient speed to overhaul them, they would be able to capture the merchantmen and perhaps take them as prizes into their own ports, something which it is impossible for the commander of the small-sized submarines now in commission to do, as they have neither the speed to overhaul swift merchantmen nor guns of sufficient range and power to destroy them if they refuse to follow the instructions of the submarine commander. The only alternative, therefore, has been to destroy the merchantmen, and, in many cases, the crews and passengers of the merchant ships have been destroyed as well. This latter policy, however, is much to be regretted.
From a study of the submarine problem as it stands to-day, the one thing lacking to make the submarine sufficiently powerful to stop commerce on the high seas between countries at war is speed. We have seen from the foregoing that sufficient speed to accomplish this purpose means great additional cost, and, as the engine situation exists to-day, it may be considered that it is impossible. My own personal opinion is that we shall not see satisfactory twenty-knot submarines, let alone twenty-five-knot submarines, for a matter of several years. In the meantime the people of this country, now engaged in the gigantic conflict which is taking place across the water, are becoming much exercisedas to the possibility of some condition arising which may bring about an attack upon our own country.
There is a method of preparing this country with a type of submarine which may be navigated, so to speak, at much greater speed than that called for by the 1914 Congress; namely, twenty-five knots. The boats would have the further advantage in that they would be much less expensive even than the fourteen-knot submarines now called for in the latest specifications for the coast-defence type. This new method calls for the construction of a moderate-size submarine, which, for the want of a better term to distinguish it, I have called an "amphibious submarine"; that is, a submarine which may be carried on land as well as on or under the water.
"AMPHIBIOUS" SUBMARINEMaking up a train to ship a Lake submarine across Siberia during the period of the Russian-Japanese war. Note the special trucks with sixteen wheels each, used to carry the load (about 130 tons). As the Trans-Siberian road had light rails, it was necessary to design these special trucks to distribute the weight so as to carry this heavy load. It is remarkable that several of these unheard-of weights should have been transported by vessel and rail a distance of over 10,000 miles each without accident or damage. Boats mounted on trucks especially designed to pass through tunnels could be transported from one port to another at railroad speed and be ready for immediate action in defending threatened sections of the country. The Germans have since made extensive use of this method of transporting submarines, giving them access to the Dardanelles and other points not easily accessible to their submarines by water.
"AMPHIBIOUS" SUBMARINEMaking up a train to ship a Lake submarine across Siberia during the period of the Russian-Japanese war. Note the special trucks with sixteen wheels each, used to carry the load (about 130 tons). As the Trans-Siberian road had light rails, it was necessary to design these special trucks to distribute the weight so as to carry this heavy load. It is remarkable that several of these unheard-of weights should have been transported by vessel and rail a distance of over 10,000 miles each without accident or damage. Boats mounted on trucks especially designed to pass through tunnels could be transported from one port to another at railroad speed and be ready for immediate action in defending threatened sections of the country. The Germans have since made extensive use of this method of transporting submarines, giving them access to the Dardanelles and other points not easily accessible to their submarines by water.
Making up a train to ship a Lake submarine across Siberia during the period of the Russian-Japanese war. Note the special trucks with sixteen wheels each, used to carry the load (about 130 tons). As the Trans-Siberian road had light rails, it was necessary to design these special trucks to distribute the weight so as to carry this heavy load. It is remarkable that several of these unheard-of weights should have been transported by vessel and rail a distance of over 10,000 miles each without accident or damage. Boats mounted on trucks especially designed to pass through tunnels could be transported from one port to another at railroad speed and be ready for immediate action in defending threatened sections of the country. The Germans have since made extensive use of this method of transporting submarines, giving them access to the Dardanelles and other points not easily accessible to their submarines by water.
These submarines would be much smaller than the present coast-defence type of submarine, and of a diameter that could pass through our tunnels and over our bridges. They could be of about two hundred and fifty tons submerged displacement. A railroad truck would be provided for each submarine, with a sufficient number of wheels to carry the load. The submarine itself would be constructed with proper scantlings to carry her entire load of machinery, batteries, fuel, and supplies without injury when mounted on her special trucks. Vessels of this type, which would have a surface speed of ten to twelve knots and a submerged speed of ten knots, would be readily constructed. They could carry as many as eight Whitehead torpedoes and have a radius of action on the surface of about two thousand miles at eight knots. Fitted with telescopic, or housing, conning towers and periscopes, nothing would need to be taken apart to ship these submarines from one section of the country to anotherat railroad speed. Fifty submarines of this type would probably be more efficient in time of need for protecting our thousands of miles of coast line than would many times the same number of fourteen-knot boats distributed over the same number of miles of coast line.
In the war game no one can tell where the enemy may decide to strike in force. An attack might be made in the vicinity of Boston, New York, Charleston, Pensacola, New Orleans, or Galveston on the eastern coast; it might be made at or in the vicinity of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle on the western coast. There should be, of course, a certain number of the coast-defence type of submarines permanently stationed at these ports for their protection during war-time periods. But wars come suddenly, and the old saying that "the one who gets in the first blow has the advantage" is a true one. The history of recent wars shows that the declaration of war usually comes after the first blow has been struck. It is readily conceivable, therefore, that before we knew that we were going to become involved in war a fleet of battleships and transports stationed off our harbors, or off a suitable landing place on our extensive coast line, might be able to establish a shore base before we knew it or had time to get sufficient of our slow-going submarines at the danger point to prevent the landing of an invading force.
If we had one hundred submarines distributed over our Atlantic and Pacific coast lines, it would take weeks or months to mobilize many of them at the point of attack, for the reason that a submarine, when submerged, has such a small radius of action. The best in the service to-day have a radius of action of about one hundred miles at fiveknots, or eleven miles at ten and one-half knots, or twenty-four miles at eight knots. The enemy, with light, shallow-draft, high-speed picket boats, could probably make it very unsafe for a submarine to travel any considerable distance along the coast in the daytime, or even at night, in surface cruising condition. As it takes considerable time to charge the batteries to enable the boat to run in a submerged condition, should the enemy have control of the surface of the sea, the average submerged radius to-day of a submarine would probably be less than one hundred miles, unless it ran a grave risk of being captured while on the surface. The chances are, therefore, that if we had one hundred submarines distributed over our Atlantic and Pacific coast lines, not over ten or a dozen of them would be able to reach the point of attack in time to prevent the landing of an invading force with sufficient men, guns, and ammunition to do a great deal of harm in some of the thickly populated sections of the country.
AN AMPHIBIOUS SUBMARINE BEING HAULED OUT OF THE WATER
AN AMPHIBIOUS SUBMARINE BEING HAULED OUT OF THE WATER
If, however, the country were provided with fifty "amphibious submarines" located at ten of our importantAtlantic and Pacific ports, they could all be mobilized at an objective point within a week. If the government made arrangements with the railroads to run a track down under the water at each railroad coast terminal, or to run special tracks into the water at other suitable localities along the coast where there would be sufficient water to float a submarine, submarines could be rapidly mobilized to ward off a landing at any point.
To illustrate the point which I wish to make, assume that this country should become involved in war with nations lying both to the east and west of us. To get submarines from one coast to the other would require a long period of time. The "amphibious submarine," on the contrary, could in an hour's notice be run on to the tracks at New York and three days later be run into the water at San Francisco, with her crew, fuel, stores, and torpedoes all ready to go into action at once. A submarine could make a trip from Boston to New York in five hours, or from Boston to New Orleans in thirty-five hours. These boats could be built in quantities at a cost of about $300,000 (£61,500) each. Fifty of them could, therefore, be built at approximately the cost of one modern battleship.
There has been much talk recently about the so-called "baby" submarines—little one-or two-man boats. A large number of one-man submarines were built for the Russian Government previous to 1880 by Mons. Dzrewieckie, the well-known inventor of the Dzrewieckie type of torpedo launching apparatus. Mr. Holland, Goubet, and practically all inventors and builders of submarines commenced with "baby" submarines. One of the designs which I submitted to the United States Government in 1901 called for a one-manboat to be carried on the davits of a battleship or cruiser. A boat of that kind might have had a place a number of years ago when attacking vessels came near the shore. Such small craft must necessarily have a very limited range of action and very slow speed; they also would be unseaworthy. It would be impossible for a man to remain submerged in a vessel of this type for a considerable length of time, so that personally I can see very little use for them at present.
It has been well established that submarine boats should be divided into two classes: one a torpedo boat with as high surface and submerged speed as it is possible to attain with a large radius of action, capable, if possible, of exceeding battleship speed when on the surface, so that it may intercept a battle fleet on the high seas and submerge in its path of approach before being discovered; the second class should consist of smaller, slower-speed, mine-evading submarines, with torpedo and mining and countermining features. Such submarines are essentially defensive, but if they have sufficient radius of action to reach the enemy's harbors and to lie in wait off the entrance to such harbors, or to enter submerged the harbors themselves and there destroy the enemy craft, they have become potent offensive weapons of the raiding class. For a European power it is relatively easy to give such boats the radius necessary for them to invade an enemy's ports.
We have not pushed the consideration of the submarine of the second class, with its anti-mine features, because we have been kept busy trying profitably to meet the wishes of the various governments which demand constantly increasing speeds at a sacrifice of some characteristics which Ipersonally regard very highly. Most government officials have been more attracted to vessels of the first class, as speed in all classes of vessels more than anything else seems to appeal to the imagination, but I think it may be the old story of the tortoise and the hare over again.
As regards the first class of submarines, the present submarine boats engaged in the continental war consist of vessels only a few of which have a surface speed exceeding twelve knots, or a submerged speed exceeding ten knots for one hour or eight knots for three hours. There may be a few in commission that exceed these speeds, but very few. Some are in course of construction that are expected to give a surface speed of seventeen and eighteen knots for forty hours and about eleven knots submerged for one hour, or a slower speed for a greater number of hours.
Governments are asking for bids for submarines of greater speed, and some have been designed which are expected to make twenty knots on the surface; but they are not in service as yet. One reason that higher surface speeds have not been reached is the difficulty of securing a perfectly satisfactory high-power, heavy-oil, internal-combustion engine, suitable for submarine boat work. As soon as a proven satisfactory heavy-oil engine is turned out by the engine builders, capable of delivering five thousand horsepower per shaft, submarine boats may be built capable of making up to twenty-five knots on the surface.
The submarine, even at its present development, has shown its superiority over the battleship in coast operations; to intercept a battleship at sea, however, even a high-speed submarine must lie in wait, perhaps for days or even weeks at a time, much like a gunner in a "blind" waiting for aflock of ducks to pass within gunshot. Because of its relatively slow speed it would have to wait for a long time, also, for a battleship or fleet to pass sufficiently near to be headed off, especially if the submarine were entirely submerged, because the moment the periscope appears above water the quarry will take to its heels, if it follows the latest ruling of the British Admiralty, to "steer away from the vicinity of submarines at full speed, even if it is necessary to abandon a torpedoed sister ship and its drowning crew to their own fate."
I believe that this apparently heartless order is justified by the loss of theAboukir,Cressy, andHogue, the only flock of ducks, figuratively speaking, that has come within the shot of the submarine torpedo gunner.
The conclusion must be reached, therefore, that on the high seas the only advantage the costly dreadnought has over the pigmy, cheap submarine, as at present constructed, lies in its ability to run away and to rule commerce far offshore on the high seas.
So little is known of the possibilities of submarine vessels of the second type that it seems necessary for me to devote some time to describing their possibilities and my experience in their construction. In 1905, while living in Berlin, Germany, I prepared plans for a mine-laying submarine for submission to the Russian Government, a general description of which was published in 1906. This submarine was designed to carry thirty-six of the regulation naval mines, which could readily be placed in a desired locality while the submarine was entirely submerged. A vessel of this type might be useful for either offensive or defensive purposes. Where used for offensive purposes the mine-laying submarinecould readily, with comparatively little danger to herself, plant mines off entrances to the enemy's harbor. Equipped with the "mine-evading" guards, they might even work their way into an enemy's harbor and plant mines under a vessel at anchor, or destroy shipping lying tied up at the docks. For defensive purposes a mine-laying submarine would be of great value, as it could readily plant mines, even under the guns of a powerful fleet, to protect its own entrances and harbors.
The submarineProtector, built in 1901 and 1902 at Bridgeport, Connecticut, was fitted with a diving compartment which corresponds to the mine-laying compartment of the 1905 design above referred to. The importance of a mine-laying submarine for the defence of the country was first officially called to the attention of the American people by a board of officers appointed by ex-President Taft, then Secretary of War, as early as January, 1903. This board of officers consisted of General Arthur Murray, late chief of Coast Artillery Corps (then Major); Captain Charles J. Bailey, and Captain Charles F. Parker, of the Artillery Corps. The following is a copy of their recommendations for this type of vessel for the defence of our coast:
"First and second, the board believes that this type of submarine boat is a most valuable auxiliary to the fixed-mine defence, and in cases where channels cannot be mined, owing to the depth, rough water, swift tides, or width of channel, it will give the nearest approach to absolute protection now known to the board. The boat can lie for an indefinite time adjacent to the point to be defended in either cruising awash, or submerged condition, by its anchors, or on the bottom ready for instant use, and practically independentof the state of the water and in telephonic connection with the shore, or can patrol a mined or unmined channel invisible to the enemy and able to discharge its torpedoes at all times. It possesses the power of utilizing its engines in every condition except the totally submerged, and can always charge its storage batteries while so doing, necessitating its return to shore only when gasolene (petrol) must be replenished. In narrow channels the boat or boats would have a fixed position with a telephone cable buoyed or anchored at the bottom. In wide channels they would patrol or lie in mid-channel where they could readily meet approaching vessels. Third, as a picket or scout boat, outside of the mine field, or even at extreme range of gun fire, telephone communications can be sustained and information received, and instructions sent for attacking approaching vessels. Fourth, the test at Newport demonstrated the ease with which the boat can locate and pick up cables, and with minor alterations in the present model, junction boxes, etc., can be taken into the diving compartment and repaired at leisure while absolutely protected from hostile interference. The faculty possessed by the boat of manœuvring on the bottom and sending out divers leaves little or nothing to be desired in its facilities for doing this work.THE "PROTECTOR" (LAKE TYPE, 1901-1902)"The boat shows great superiority over any existing means for attacking mine-fields known to the board. First, it can be run by any field, as at present installed, with but little or no danger from the explosion of any particular mine or from gun fire during the few seconds it exposes the sighting hood for observations, and can attack at its pleasure the vessels in the harbor. Second and third, the board personally witnessed the ease with which cables can be grappled,raised, and cut, while the boat is manœuvring on the bottom; mine cables can be swept for, found and cut, or a diver can be sent out for that purpose. The crew of the boat is a skilled one, trained for its tests in every way likely to be requested by the Naval Board. It should be noted that, with one exception, no seamen are used, this exception being the man who steers and handles the boat. The crew is as follows: One navigator, who is also a diver; one chief engineer, one assistant engineer, one electrician, one machinist, one deck hand, and one cook."The board recommends consideration of the foregoing by the General Staff. The question of the use of the Whitehead torpedoes as a part of the fixed-mine defence, fired from tubes on shore, is now receiving consideration. Where channels are wide and water swift, this use of the Whitehead will be very limited. With boats of this type the Whitehead can, it is believed, be carried within certain effective range in all ordinary channels, and this alone will warrant the consideration asked for."The board recommends, in consequence of its conclusions, that five of these boats be purchased for use in submarine defence as follows:"One for the School of Submarine Defence for experimental work, one for the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound, one for the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, one for San Francisco harbor, and one for Puget Sound."The necessity for this kind of defence in the four localities named needs no demonstration to those acquainted with them.Arthur Murray,"Major, Artillery Corps, President."
"First and second, the board believes that this type of submarine boat is a most valuable auxiliary to the fixed-mine defence, and in cases where channels cannot be mined, owing to the depth, rough water, swift tides, or width of channel, it will give the nearest approach to absolute protection now known to the board. The boat can lie for an indefinite time adjacent to the point to be defended in either cruising awash, or submerged condition, by its anchors, or on the bottom ready for instant use, and practically independentof the state of the water and in telephonic connection with the shore, or can patrol a mined or unmined channel invisible to the enemy and able to discharge its torpedoes at all times. It possesses the power of utilizing its engines in every condition except the totally submerged, and can always charge its storage batteries while so doing, necessitating its return to shore only when gasolene (petrol) must be replenished. In narrow channels the boat or boats would have a fixed position with a telephone cable buoyed or anchored at the bottom. In wide channels they would patrol or lie in mid-channel where they could readily meet approaching vessels. Third, as a picket or scout boat, outside of the mine field, or even at extreme range of gun fire, telephone communications can be sustained and information received, and instructions sent for attacking approaching vessels. Fourth, the test at Newport demonstrated the ease with which the boat can locate and pick up cables, and with minor alterations in the present model, junction boxes, etc., can be taken into the diving compartment and repaired at leisure while absolutely protected from hostile interference. The faculty possessed by the boat of manœuvring on the bottom and sending out divers leaves little or nothing to be desired in its facilities for doing this work.
THE "PROTECTOR" (LAKE TYPE, 1901-1902)
THE "PROTECTOR" (LAKE TYPE, 1901-1902)
"The boat shows great superiority over any existing means for attacking mine-fields known to the board. First, it can be run by any field, as at present installed, with but little or no danger from the explosion of any particular mine or from gun fire during the few seconds it exposes the sighting hood for observations, and can attack at its pleasure the vessels in the harbor. Second and third, the board personally witnessed the ease with which cables can be grappled,raised, and cut, while the boat is manœuvring on the bottom; mine cables can be swept for, found and cut, or a diver can be sent out for that purpose. The crew of the boat is a skilled one, trained for its tests in every way likely to be requested by the Naval Board. It should be noted that, with one exception, no seamen are used, this exception being the man who steers and handles the boat. The crew is as follows: One navigator, who is also a diver; one chief engineer, one assistant engineer, one electrician, one machinist, one deck hand, and one cook.
"The board recommends consideration of the foregoing by the General Staff. The question of the use of the Whitehead torpedoes as a part of the fixed-mine defence, fired from tubes on shore, is now receiving consideration. Where channels are wide and water swift, this use of the Whitehead will be very limited. With boats of this type the Whitehead can, it is believed, be carried within certain effective range in all ordinary channels, and this alone will warrant the consideration asked for.
"The board recommends, in consequence of its conclusions, that five of these boats be purchased for use in submarine defence as follows:
"One for the School of Submarine Defence for experimental work, one for the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound, one for the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, one for San Francisco harbor, and one for Puget Sound.
"The necessity for this kind of defence in the four localities named needs no demonstration to those acquainted with them.
Arthur Murray,"Major, Artillery Corps, President."
The recommendations of this board were submitted to Congress, and the Senate passed the bill for the purchase of theProtectorto enable the authorities to test out the merits of this type of boat as an adjunct to our coast defence, but at this time it seemed as if certain politicians and financial groups were able to control the policy of the United States Government in its development of the submarine. The result indicated, at least, that these influences had been sufficiently strong to take out of the hands of the Navy Department and of the officers connected with the Coast Artillery, who had charge of the laying of our mines and the protection of our coast from hostile invasion, the right to specify the kind of appliances they should use. Instead of leaving the question of defence of our country in the hands of the expert officers who had been trained to study the problem, Congress in this instance specified the exclusive use of a type of boat which did not possess the characteristics called for by these expert students of defence.
Strange as it may seem, the opportunity of the United States to be a leader in the development of the type of boat which Germany has proven to be of such great value was lost by the dictation of a manufacturer of gloves from an inland county. It is a sad commentary on our laws that such a state of affairs could exist, but I accidentally happened to learn that this was the case in this instance, and I fear it has been the case in many other instances where financial and political influences have been permitted to overrule the recommendation of officers of the army and navy.
TheProtectorhad been built by private capital at the suggestion of the Board of Construction of the United States Navy, at that time composed of Admirals Melville, O'Neil,Bradford, Bowles, and Captain Sigsbee. In 1901 I had been called to Washington by a telegram from the late Senator Hale, who was then chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs in the Senate, and was asked to submit plans and specifications for a submarine torpedo boat. Accordingly, I submitted plans for the three types above referred to. The Board of Construction complimented me upon the plans, and stated that they believed the plans of the vessels I had proposed showed great superiority over any type of vessel that had been heretofore proposed, either in this country or abroad, but at the same they stated that all appropriations made by Congress had specified the particular type of boat that must be used, and the Navy Department did not have any authority to authorize the construction of a different type. They suggested further that if I or my friends had sufficient capital to construct such a vessel, they would see that it had a fair trial upon its merits, and if it proved of value to the service they would recommend its adoption, and they did not believe that Congress would then ignore their recommendations. Consequently theProtectorwas built. Her performances and capabilities for defence of the United States were strongly endorsed by the Board of Officers which had tested her, and many of her characteristics have been copied by all European builders of submarines.
After the Senate passed the bill authorizing her purchase, the matter was referred to a sub-committee in the House. As the boat had been built by private capital, and the lifetime savings of a number of friends, as well as all my own capital, were tied up in her, I was naturally desirous to learn if the House committee having the matter in charge was also going to recommend her purchase. One day I calledat the committee room to inquire. There was no one present in the main committee room, so I took a seat at the table. After sitting there for a few moments, I heard a conversation in the chairman's room, adjoining the general committee room. Soon the voices took on an angry tone, and I heard one member of Congress accuse the chairman of the sub-committee which had the matter in charge of intention to report unfavorably the recommendations for the purchase of theProtector. I recognized the voice of the gentleman who was making the accusation as that of an old retired general. He did not use polite language in accusing the chairman of the sub-committee of intending to defeat the purchase of theProtectorin the interest of the company which had had sufficient influence to maintain a monopoly of submarine boat construction in the United States up to that time.
The chairman of this sub-committee did report unfavorably, and, as I have already stated, a manufacturer of gloves from an inland section of the country was able to defeat the recommendation for the adoption of a means of defence for this country which the best qualified officers in the United States service of both the army and the navy had recommended as of great value, and superior to other defensive means known to them at that time. It was this type of vessel which Germany later developed and which has so far been able to keep great fleets of almost the entire world from her shores. Recently the ex-member of Congress referred to in this connection was sentenced to imprisonment for attempt to defraud the government in other matters.
OFFICIAL DRAWING OF THE CAPTURED GERMAN MINE-PLANTING SUBMARINE, U. C-5Copyright by Munn & Co., Inc.Published exclusively in theScientific Americanby permission of the British Admiralty and here reproduced by its courtesy.
OFFICIAL DRAWING OF THE CAPTURED GERMAN MINE-PLANTING SUBMARINE, U. C-5Copyright by Munn & Co., Inc.Published exclusively in theScientific Americanby permission of the British Admiralty and here reproduced by its courtesy.
Copyright by Munn & Co., Inc.
Published exclusively in theScientific Americanby permission of the British Admiralty and here reproduced by its courtesy.
I am a great believer in the value of this type of vessel for harbor and coast-defence work, and I believe that in onecountry vessels of this type are now engaged as mine layers in the present war. Our own government has to this day no submarine vessel equipped for the laying of mines, although the Commandant of the School of Submarine Defence repeatedly urged their adoption. I quote from the annual report of the Commandant of Submarine Defence, 1904-1905:
"As in the case of movable torpedoes, the question of the use of submarine boats as adjuncts to the fixed-mine defence of the country has been under consideration by the board for the revision of the Report of the Endicott Board during the past year, and the Torpedo Board has been called on for remarks on this subject."It is now again desired to invite special attention to the unquestionable value of submarine boats as an adjunct to fixed mine and movable torpedoes for the defence of the particular places named in the report of the second committee; and also to the need of a boat of the Lake type, or similar type, at the School of Submarine Defence for experimental work, as this is the only submarine boat, so far as known, that can be efficiently used in countermining electrically controlled mines. The advisability of procuring submarine boats for the defence of the places named, it is believed, will also be seen to be unquestionable when it is considered that the cost of such a boat is about one-fortieth of that of a modern battleship; that without such boats as an adjunct to the mine and gun defences of those places a more expensive boat of the navy will undoubtedly be called for as a home-guard for those waters in case of war; and that with submarine boats as an adjunct to the army's defences it will be impossible so to defend those waters as to enablethe more expensive and seagoing boats proper of the navy to cut loose from those harbors with impunity and go wherever naval strategy may demand.(Signed) "Arthur Murray,"Lieutenant-Colonel, Artillery Corps."
"As in the case of movable torpedoes, the question of the use of submarine boats as adjuncts to the fixed-mine defence of the country has been under consideration by the board for the revision of the Report of the Endicott Board during the past year, and the Torpedo Board has been called on for remarks on this subject.
"It is now again desired to invite special attention to the unquestionable value of submarine boats as an adjunct to fixed mine and movable torpedoes for the defence of the particular places named in the report of the second committee; and also to the need of a boat of the Lake type, or similar type, at the School of Submarine Defence for experimental work, as this is the only submarine boat, so far as known, that can be efficiently used in countermining electrically controlled mines. The advisability of procuring submarine boats for the defence of the places named, it is believed, will also be seen to be unquestionable when it is considered that the cost of such a boat is about one-fortieth of that of a modern battleship; that without such boats as an adjunct to the mine and gun defences of those places a more expensive boat of the navy will undoubtedly be called for as a home-guard for those waters in case of war; and that with submarine boats as an adjunct to the army's defences it will be impossible so to defend those waters as to enablethe more expensive and seagoing boats proper of the navy to cut loose from those harbors with impunity and go wherever naval strategy may demand.
(Signed) "Arthur Murray,"Lieutenant-Colonel, Artillery Corps."
The principal means used in my mine-planting, mine-and net-evading submarine are the bottom wheels and diving compartment which were incorporated in my 1893 design, which also carried my pioneer features of lateral hydroplanes to get even-keel submergence; high, water-tight superstructure, which is indispensable for high-speed, ocean-going submarines; anchors, and lifting and lowering sighting instruments. Excepting the bottom wheels and diving compartment, most navies have now incorporated these features into their submarines. Three navies have adopted the bottom wheels, etc. These mine-evading craft are able to enter the enemy's own territory with impunity and destroy their merchant ships and warships in their own harbors. TheNigerwas sunk at Deal by a German submarine which is reported to have passed through a mine field.
A BOTTOM-CREEPING SUBMARINE PASSING THROUGH A MINE FIELDCourtesy of the Scientific AmericanFitted with guards and gently pushing aside the cables which anchor the buoyant mines, the bottom-creeping submarine can proceed slowly and cautiously over the bottom and pass through a mine field with impunity.
A BOTTOM-CREEPING SUBMARINE PASSING THROUGH A MINE FIELDCourtesy of the Scientific AmericanFitted with guards and gently pushing aside the cables which anchor the buoyant mines, the bottom-creeping submarine can proceed slowly and cautiously over the bottom and pass through a mine field with impunity.
Courtesy of the Scientific American
Fitted with guards and gently pushing aside the cables which anchor the buoyant mines, the bottom-creeping submarine can proceed slowly and cautiously over the bottom and pass through a mine field with impunity.
The necessity of such features as bottom wheels and diving compartment is now being brought out in the present war. I believe the mining and countermining features must be incorporated in one type before the submarine reaches its full development. The impotency of the great combined English and French fleets of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines must be galling to the people who have paid for them by the sweat of their brows. These fleets are impotent because the Germans will not come out from behind their mines and forts and wage an unequal battle againstsuperior numbers, but prudently are sending out their submarines to destroy gradually the enemy which is trying to blockade the German ports.
A MINE AND NET EVADING SUBMARINE UNDER-RUNNING A NETCourtesy of the Scientific AmericanA submarine fitted with a device of this kind can readily under-run any net; running slowly on the bottom the net may be seen through the aquascope or felt with its advanced feelers. Even if mines are attached, divers may cut them loose, or they may be exploded by counter mines to make a safe passage under the nets. Surface ships attempting to guard the nets may be sunk by torpedoes or heavy gun fire from disappearing guns on other submarines, giving the bottom-working submarines ample time to clear away nets and mines.
A MINE AND NET EVADING SUBMARINE UNDER-RUNNING A NETCourtesy of the Scientific AmericanA submarine fitted with a device of this kind can readily under-run any net; running slowly on the bottom the net may be seen through the aquascope or felt with its advanced feelers. Even if mines are attached, divers may cut them loose, or they may be exploded by counter mines to make a safe passage under the nets. Surface ships attempting to guard the nets may be sunk by torpedoes or heavy gun fire from disappearing guns on other submarines, giving the bottom-working submarines ample time to clear away nets and mines.
Courtesy of the Scientific American
A submarine fitted with a device of this kind can readily under-run any net; running slowly on the bottom the net may be seen through the aquascope or felt with its advanced feelers. Even if mines are attached, divers may cut them loose, or they may be exploded by counter mines to make a safe passage under the nets. Surface ships attempting to guard the nets may be sunk by torpedoes or heavy gun fire from disappearing guns on other submarines, giving the bottom-working submarines ample time to clear away nets and mines.
Winston Churchill, former First Lord of the British Admiralty, expressed the bitterness of this impotency when he said: "If they don't come out and fight, we will go in after them and dig them out like rats"; regrettably, the German mines and submarines stand in the way, and are themselves taking their toll of ships.
The mine-evading submarine can enter with comparative safety through a mine field, like a shuttle passing through the woof of cloth during the weaving process, and I take the opportunity to explain this method of entering harbors.
To comprehend thoroughly the safety with which this is accomplished, it is necessary to appreciate the almost insuperable difficulty of discovering an object like a submarine vessel when once sunk beneath the surface of the water. There are many sunken ships containing valuable treasures and cargoes that lie along our coast, and in most of the harbors of the world, that have been known to have sunk within a radius of less than a mile from some given point, but which have never been located. Some of these vessels have been searched for for years and never have been found. Dozens of vessels have been sunk in the waters of the North and East Rivers and never have been located. Some of the British and French submarines have been lost in localities well known, but it has been impossible to locate them.
During several years of experimental work with submarine investigating bottom conditions I have travelled many miles in the Chesapeake and Sandy Hook bays, along the Atlantic coast and Long Island Sound, and later in theGulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea; and it is a fact that cannot be successfully disputed, technically, by any one, that a submarine of the type recommended by the United States Army Board may be taken into any harbor in the world entirely unseen, and remain there, if necessary, for a month at a time, destroying shipping, docks, and war craft deliberately and leisurely, and yet defy discovery.
My method of entering harbors or through mine fields consists principally in providing submarine vessels with bottom wheels and other component undisclosed details. When submerged, the vessel is given sufficient negative buoyancy so that she will not be drifted off her course by the currents when resting on the bottom. The vessel is what may be termed a submarine automobile, and it may be navigated over the bottom as readily as an automobile runs on the surface of the earth. The submarine automobile has one great advantage over the surface type in its ability to mount steep grades or go over obstructions, because the vessel is so nearly buoyant that she will mount any obstruction she can get her bow over.
My early experience proved to me that a submarine could not be satisfactorily navigated submerged in shallow, rough water by the same method of control as was found to be practical in deeper water, for the reason that the vessel would pump up and down with the rise and fall of the sea. Neither could the vessel lie at rest on the bottom, as the lift of the ground swell in bad weather was sufficient, even with a considerable negative buoyancy, to cause the vessel to pound so badly that the storage battery plates would be destroyed in a few minutes. I therefore suspended the wheels on swinging arms and applied a cushioning cylinder. The hullof the vessel was then free to move up and down, synchronizing with the lift of the ground swell, and at the same time the weight of the wheels kept the submarine close to the bottom and able to keep her position while at rest or to be navigated over the bottom at any speed desired.
Most of our Atlantic coast, Long Island, and Chesapeake Bay water-beds are comparatively uniform as to depths. In other countries I have navigated over rocky bottoms filled with giant boulders. A rough bottom limits the speed at which it is advisable to travel, but I have never seen a bottom so rough that it could not be readily navigated.
"Lake" boats, fitted with bottom wheels, have, in a competitive test abroad, entered landlocked and fortified harbors without discovery, where the entrance from the sea has been through a tortuous channel. All other vessels, except the one fitted with bottom wheels, were discovered long before reaching the outer fortifications, because it was necessary for them to show their periscopes to sight their way. They struck the sides of the dredged channel, which caused them to broach and be discovered, because they had to maintain a comparatively high speed to be kept under control. In tests carried out in Russia the boat fitted with bottom wheels simply wheeled along in the channel at slow speed and stopped and backed to change course at will. The revolutions of the bottom wheels gave the distance travelled, the manometer gave the depth, and the compass the proper direction; consequently, with a correct chart as to courses and depths, navigation on the bottom in entering harbors is very much easier than on the surface, unless the channels are well buoyed.
Most mines, as at present installed, are either of the observation or contact type; the observation mines are fired usually from shore stations when the enemy is seen to be over them, while the contact mine is anchored a few feet beneath the surface and is either exploded by contact with the surface of the vessel's bottom or by the agitation caused by the rush of water due to the swiftly passing vessel. The European belligerents have put out contact mines to protect their capital ships from the submarines. The dread of these mines is holding the submarines outside of the mined areas, and the mines are therefore effective. None of the British vessels are fitted with bottom wheels and diving compartments, and they must be navigated at such speed to keep submerged control that they would explode a contact mine if either the mine or its anchor rope were touched. This also applies to some of my later boats, as the bottom wheels have been omitted to meet the demand for greater speed on the surface and submerged.
I am inclined to the belief that this has been more or less of a mistake, because the bottom-wheeled submarine can go to and dig the enemy out of its base in addition to hunting the big surface craft of the enemy on the high seas.
With the bottom wheels, navigation can be conducted so carefully over the bottom that inspection of the course can be made, if desired, foot by foot, as progress is made, and all mines can be avoided.
MINES PLACED UNDER SHIPS AT ANCHORPermission Scientific AmericanA submarine of the mine-planting and mine-evading type may, by means of its periscope, range finders and direction indicators, ascertain the exact distance and bearing of vessels at their anchorage. On securing this exact knowledge the submarine may then be submerged to the bottom and creep up under the anchored craft and plant a mine under her which may be exploded by electricity after the submarine has backed a safe distance away, or a mine might be fitted with a powerful magnet and allowed to ascend (by the diver) until it attaches itself to the bottom of the ship.
MINES PLACED UNDER SHIPS AT ANCHORPermission Scientific AmericanA submarine of the mine-planting and mine-evading type may, by means of its periscope, range finders and direction indicators, ascertain the exact distance and bearing of vessels at their anchorage. On securing this exact knowledge the submarine may then be submerged to the bottom and creep up under the anchored craft and plant a mine under her which may be exploded by electricity after the submarine has backed a safe distance away, or a mine might be fitted with a powerful magnet and allowed to ascend (by the diver) until it attaches itself to the bottom of the ship.
Permission Scientific American
A submarine of the mine-planting and mine-evading type may, by means of its periscope, range finders and direction indicators, ascertain the exact distance and bearing of vessels at their anchorage. On securing this exact knowledge the submarine may then be submerged to the bottom and creep up under the anchored craft and plant a mine under her which may be exploded by electricity after the submarine has backed a safe distance away, or a mine might be fitted with a powerful magnet and allowed to ascend (by the diver) until it attaches itself to the bottom of the ship.
The diagrammatic sketches illustrate the "Lake" method of operation in cutting cables, evading mines, planting countermines, clearing away mines, or passing under chains, cables, and nets that may be stretched across the entrancesof the harbors to effectively stop the progress of surface vessels and submarines not fitted with bottom wheels.
SUBMARINE SUPPLY STATION(Drawing by Robt. G. Skerrett.)Illustrating the use of the submarine supply station, which may be anchored on the bottom in positions known only to the commanders of submarines, who may visit such station and renew their supplies of fuel, foodstuffs and torpedoes. The submarine boat approaches alongside of the supply boat, then, by utilizing the air lock, divers may pass out of the submarine and enter into the supply boat through its air lock compartment. A hose may be led from the fuel tanks of the submarine to the fuel supply tanks in the submerged station, compressed air admitted to the tanks and fuel driven from the submarine station to the military submarine. The author's experimental cargo-carrying submarine as tested out in 1900, proved the practicability of transferring cargo from one submerged vessel to another submarine, all the operations being performed under water.
SUBMARINE SUPPLY STATION(Drawing by Robt. G. Skerrett.)Illustrating the use of the submarine supply station, which may be anchored on the bottom in positions known only to the commanders of submarines, who may visit such station and renew their supplies of fuel, foodstuffs and torpedoes. The submarine boat approaches alongside of the supply boat, then, by utilizing the air lock, divers may pass out of the submarine and enter into the supply boat through its air lock compartment. A hose may be led from the fuel tanks of the submarine to the fuel supply tanks in the submerged station, compressed air admitted to the tanks and fuel driven from the submarine station to the military submarine. The author's experimental cargo-carrying submarine as tested out in 1900, proved the practicability of transferring cargo from one submerged vessel to another submarine, all the operations being performed under water.
Illustrating the use of the submarine supply station, which may be anchored on the bottom in positions known only to the commanders of submarines, who may visit such station and renew their supplies of fuel, foodstuffs and torpedoes. The submarine boat approaches alongside of the supply boat, then, by utilizing the air lock, divers may pass out of the submarine and enter into the supply boat through its air lock compartment. A hose may be led from the fuel tanks of the submarine to the fuel supply tanks in the submerged station, compressed air admitted to the tanks and fuel driven from the submarine station to the military submarine. The author's experimental cargo-carrying submarine as tested out in 1900, proved the practicability of transferring cargo from one submerged vessel to another submarine, all the operations being performed under water.
The diving compartment is another feature of submarine construction which has been neglected by the majority of the world's naval authorities. This device is of value not only to vessels of the type just described, but is of general usefulness to all submarines of whatever size or speed. A submarine crew is able by this means to go outside the vessel while submerged and make repairs on the propellers, periscopes, and other exterior parts without the necessity of rising to the surface or of returning to their base. Further, it is capable of use in such a way as to add immensely to the cruising radius of submarines. The method by which this may be accomplished I will briefly outline.
As matters stand now, the submarines are forced to return to their home ports to refill their fuel tanks, to take on fresh provisions for the men, and to replenish their exhausted ammunition and torpedoes. Thus, even though their personnel gets relief by the boat's halting upon the sea-bed, a cog is slipped in the matter of continued military efficiency. Without a fresh supply of fuel oil and more food and munitions of war the submarine is ineffective, and when her objective is a distant one she must draw heavily upon her stores to get her there and to carry her safely back to her revictualling base. Indeed, she may overreach herself through her commander's desire to strike his remote enemy and then find herself forced back to the surface and without the means to take her home again, floating impotently upon the sea, an easy target for attack, and certain to be sunk or captured.
These present handicaps need not be permanent ones, and there is no more reason why a submarine should not take on fresh stores in the open sea than a surface vessel. Indeed, a submarine should be able to replenish her fuel tanks and to ship provisions under some circumstances even more securely than its rivals that run upon the water.
In short, a submarine should be capable of sinking to the sea-bed and there, beyond the reach of its foes, of drawing new strength, so to speak, from a suitably designed submergible supply boat. This scheme is not at all visionary. In part it has already been done in the past by vessels planned by me for commercial work, and there is no inherent difficulty in modifying both the military submarine and its revictualling consort so that they can thus function in unison for the purpose of giving the fighting undersea boat a wider field of action.
While the torpedo-boat destroyer, the submarine's logical pursuer to-day, is battling with wind and wave, jarring well nigh her sides out, and hunting over the tumbling seas for elusive periscopes, the submarine can lie in ambush upon the ocean-bed if the water be not too deep, or at rest at any desired depth, held in suspension between the surface and the bottom by her anchors, thus conserving her energies so that when she does rise for a peep through her observing instrument she can strike more certainly with all of the sinister force of her chosen weapon of attack. She can lurk in wait for her quarry not only for one day but for weeks at a time, especially when sand banks a hundred feet below the surface offer the needful haven.
What I propose is to provide every seagoing submarine with one or more mobile submersible bases of supply in theform of boats without motive power of their own which can be towed by the military under-water boat and sunk upon the sea-bed at convenient points where they will best suit the purposes of the subaqueous torpedo vessel. Naturally you ask what would happen if submarine scouts should sight a submarine towing a convoy of this sort. Wouldn't the submarine have to desert her supply vessels and sink alone beneath the surface? My answer is no.
Of course, this assumes that the submarine at the time is traversing waters that are not too deep for her to go to the bottom. She would take her tender or tenders down with her under such circumstances, for the supply boats would be built to stand safely the test submergence of the military submarine; that is, a depth of two hundred feet. The question may arise as to how I can control the sinking of the crewless consorts, holding as they would only supplies, and having none of the operative mechanisms that constitute a necessary functional part of the fighting undersea boat.
This is illustrated by the method with which I controlled the submergence of a tender with which I salvaged the coal from a sunken barge in Long Island Sound years ago. That cargo boat had tanks into which water could be admitted from the sea, and certain of the inlet passages were closed by means of check valves which were automatic, seating themselves by the tension of springs. In order to submerge the boat it was only necessary to admit water purposely and to open a valve on the deck for the escape of the air as the water entered.
To refloat the tender after it had reached the bottom and was loaded, a diver went from the submergedArgonautby way of the diving compartment and attached a hose to the deck vent. This hose was then connected to the compressed-air flasks in the submarine. The air was blown down through the pipe into the ballast tanks and the water forced outboard, past the check valves that yielded in that direction, but reseated and closed themselves as soon as the air pressure stopped. In this fashion buoyancy was reacquired and the tender rose to the surface.
Of course, the initial sinking operation required the presence of someone in a small boat alongside the tender which I have just described. This would not be feasible in the case of the military supply boats I have in mind. These must be made to sink by suitable controlling devices manipulated from within the military craft, but in principle the cycle would not differ from that which I have outlined.
The deck valve allowing the air to escape from the tanks and the inlets admitting sea-water could be operated by suitable electrical mechanisms, and, once opened, the sea-water would enter and destroy the reserve buoyancy, thus causing the tenders to sink. Again, compressed air supplied from the submarine or compressed air carried by the supply craft themselves could be turned on by electrical control, and the boats brought to the surface at the will of the military commander.
The supply boats, like the fighting submarine, would have diving compartments, but these would be arranged so that the bottom door could be opened from the outside by divers, who, by manipulating suitable valves, would fill the chambers with compressed air and thus permit the door to be opened and allow entrance into the tender. An air-lock would then facilitate a passage into the inside of the craft,where stores would be stowed. This air-lock would have to be operated each time materials were brought into the diving chamber for transfer to the submarine.
The provisions and other portable supplies would be packed in metal cylinders capable of keeping out the water at any depth in which a diver could work safely. I should count upon carrying on this transfer of provisions, etc., on depths of one hundred feet and less, but deep enough to constitute a sufficient cover against detection by aeroplanes. To facilitate disguise in clear water the tenders could be painted mottled colors which would make them blend into the background of the sea-bed, much after the fashion of a flounder.
These provision tanks, when loaded, would have a negative buoyancy of only a few pounds, just enough to make them sink, and a diver would have no trouble in either carrying or dragging one of them from the tender to the open diving compartment of the submarine. Only food, drinking water, the ammunition for guns, and the disjointed sections of torpedoes need to be transported in this way. Fuel oil for the engines, and even lubricating oil, could be sent from the tender to the submarine in a very simple manner. The outboard connection of the oil tanks of the supply craft would have hose joined to them leading to the fuel tanks of the submarine, and the contents could be transferred simply by pumping them across.
The supply boats should have fenders in the shape of long metal rods reaching out from the bow and the stern and both sides. These would give the tenders the appearance of gigantic water-bugs, but they serve to form smooth surfaces over which the loop of a mine sweeper would glidefreely without encountering any projections to which it could cling. Thus, while the mine sweeper could certainly pick up a floating mine, it would pass without warning over a submerged supply base capable of holding stuff sufficient to keep a submarine going for weeks without return to her home port.
With such a system of revictualling, submarines should be able to operate secretly for long periods and virtually hold to the sea during the entire time, doing in that interval what would be absolutely impossible for any type of surface fighting craft of kindred displacement and military power. The submarine commander would be the only one having knowledge of the position of his submerged supply bases, and he could place them under cover of night just where they would contribute best to the carrying out of the operations planned for him.
SUBMARINE "SEAL"—LAKE TYPE U. S.This vessel is unique in that she was the first vessel built that was provided with deck torpedo tubes that could be trained and fired to either broadside when the vessel is submerged, in addition to the vessel's hull tubes. In her acceptance trials her crew took her down to a depth of 256 ft. She broke the record for speed in the U. S. Navy.
SUBMARINE "SEAL"—LAKE TYPE U. S.This vessel is unique in that she was the first vessel built that was provided with deck torpedo tubes that could be trained and fired to either broadside when the vessel is submerged, in addition to the vessel's hull tubes. In her acceptance trials her crew took her down to a depth of 256 ft. She broke the record for speed in the U. S. Navy.
This vessel is unique in that she was the first vessel built that was provided with deck torpedo tubes that could be trained and fired to either broadside when the vessel is submerged, in addition to the vessel's hull tubes. In her acceptance trials her crew took her down to a depth of 256 ft. She broke the record for speed in the U. S. Navy.
On almost every coast there are areas where submarines could sink safely to the bottom in moderate depths of water, and there are also quiet coves but little frequented where ideal resting places could be found for the submerged supply boats. With these failing, however, the tenders could be sunk to the water-bed in the open sea, and with their bottom wheels to rest on, working upon pneumatic buffers, they need not feel any vertical motion of the sea even in the stormiest weather. I have found that such motion actually exists forty feet and more below the surface when the ground swell is deep.
BRITISH SUBMARINE B-1 (HOLLAND TYPE)A sister ship to B-11, that sank the Turkish battleship "Messudieh" in the Dardanelles.
BRITISH SUBMARINE B-1 (HOLLAND TYPE)A sister ship to B-11, that sank the Turkish battleship "Messudieh" in the Dardanelles.
A sister ship to B-11, that sank the Turkish battleship "Messudieh" in the Dardanelles.
Of course, the submarine must rise to the surface from time to time in order to draw in fresh air to fill her pressure tanks and also to recharge her storage batteries. The electrical accumulators are charged by means of the oil motors,
and these engines are so greedy for air that they must have the free atmosphere to draw upon when working. Therefore the submarine would rise to the surface to perform these services during the night time, and boats seeking submarines after dark have a task cut out for them pretty much like that of hunting for the proverbial needle in a haystack. If the commander of a submarine recognizes that the first principle of successful submarine raiding is never to betray his position by exposing his periscope while under way when within sight of the enemy, his vessel becomes invulnerable, because it is an invisible object. The submarine vessel is then invincible, because all the science of naval architecture has not been able thus far to devise a protection against the mine and torpedo.