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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 99, 19 January 1918, Page 3

In conneotion with tho electricallycontrolled boat which it was announced had been destroyed off the Belgian coast a little-time ago, tho following information has been supplied officially by the British Admiralty"The elec-trically-controlled motor boats used on the Belgian coast are twin petrol-cn-gined vessels partially closed in, and travel at a high speed. They carry a drum with between 30 and 50 miles of insulated single core cable, through which tho boat is controlled electrically. Tho foro part carries a. considerable charge of high explosives, probably from 300 to 5001b. in weight. After the engino has been started tho crew loave the boat. A seaplane protected by a strong fighting patrol, then accompanies the vessel at a distance of three to five miles, and signals to the shore operator the helm to give the vessel. The boat is zig-zag-gcd whilo running; this may bo either intentional or unintentional. On being steered into a ship the charge is exploded automatically. The device is a very old 0110. A boat similarly controlled was used in H.M.S. Vernon (the torpedo experimental ship) as far back as 1885. The only new features in the German boats are petrol engines and W/T signals, neither of which existed then.