UNDERSEA NAVIES

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 121, 28 November 1928, Page 5

UNDERSEA NAVIES

1 HUGE^KEMCRAFT ¥\ CRUISER THATCAN GO,BELOW k __;. &j THE .BEITISH POLICY *"S;3 Visitors to Cherbourg in 'these days _>•__ hear sensational rmuours about the gii*j gantic submarine which is on the stocks ?.£ of the local dockyard. It is a fact >,*v that this vessel is.the largest uudcrsfi, sea unit that lias been laid clown so j_r!j far in any country, writes the na.vai 'M correspondent ' of. the "Daily Telo?V,tj graph.' '. '$ She is officially and aptly designated X; 5 a "Croiscursmarinj" since her so fil metier is two-fold.' On tho surface she 1$ will be, in effect, a 3000-ton cruiser of «■"<; IS knots speed,.'mounting two s_-in. *3*. gnus. Slio will, stow enough fuel-oil $& to take her at :lcast 10,000 'miles, and $ will thus bo more or less, independent ,V« of shore bases. A powerful w-iroless K$ plant will' enable her to take orders 'V. ri'olU tho Paris '-^"^'a-lty when she is ;tL". cruising far out at sea, and her own »;« radius of-vision" and intelligence will i; *> bo greatly' extended by the.small seaJ*ft ]ilano, with folding wings, which forms' *& part of her equipment. ;>\ "When circumstances require her to '"s■/ act as a submarine, about 800 tons of \A water will be admitted to her tanks )Cji bringing the displacement to nearly %& 4000 tons.;- Thanks to hor roomy com\f% partmcntsiand'amplo supply of air, she '.?«"' will be able to remain submerged for a 'Si day and a 'half without serious discom- '"'!? fort' to her crew of eighty officers and '"it{ men. As an underwater antagonist, \-l she will bo even more formidable than %?; when on'tho surface, sinco she is to bo i]v fitted with twelvo tubes for discharging £;• tho now 21.7 in. torpedo, reputed to bo *t$ the heaviest and most powerful weapon "Ctr of its kind in existence. !?j" No effort has been spared to ensure '>i! tho safety of this mammoth submersiblo & whon cruising under water, Tho prcs, paration of her design is said to havo 'iff,- occupied tho Paris Admiralty's' "See- | tion Technique" for four years, and - f'_ tho vessel was not begun until her plans % had-boon scrutinised and approved by ;H tho foremost French submarino experts. *m A sister vessel is to bo put in hand {§ this autumn. ,„ „THE FRENCH PROGRAMME. "* France thus reverts to hor former poftjj sitiqn as pioneer in the development of M- tho submarine arm. When her current ,'"_4 programme matures she will possess -'more submarines of up-to-date construc*J tion than any other Power. What that '•'J programme is may be briefly explained. _j Introduced in January, 1920, by M. rA. Georges Lcguos, the Minister of Ma- "\ '■ rinc then and now, it comprised 128 .*.{.-new vessels, aggregating .more than ,V 300,000 ton's. Among these wore fiftyA five submarines, but—and it is an im- •|; portant "but"—thirty-six additional i submarines of moderate tonnage wero J to be provided under the vote for coast •« defence, so that the actual total of new | undersea craft will be ninety-one. I Since tho smallest of the so-called 4 "coastal" submarines is considerably (j larger than tho German UC and llil types which were built during the 1 war, and proved able to operate far j| from their .bases, it is clear that tho j entire ilo.ti.lla of submarines that | France will have available a few | years hence must-bo classed as seajj going, if not as ocean-going. I "It should be added that the latest jj French submarines arc second to- none 3 in quality of design,' construction, aud | machinery. They, regularly undertako j voyages of several thousand miles with- | out escort,' they put in:at least as much 3 training time at sea as the boats of. any. j other navy,'-ahd: they have enjoyed-up ■j to now an extraordinary record of imi inunity from serious mishap. Many i competent observers declare, indeed, i that the new French undersea fleet is \ easily first in material efficiency.' A Next in order of submarino precej dencc comes Japan, where this type of ] vessel has undergone striking dovelop- : ment in recent years. Since tho war sixty-five new boats have been built or ■' started, and others are projected. A 'j fair proportion of these are of very 5 large dimensions, ranging up to 1970 3 tons,- with speeds as high as twenty-one ■j knots. They havo an exceptionally j wide cruising radius, as much as 16,000 ■: miles in the latest class, and, according i to one of the text-books, "they, are sup- . posed to be capable of crossing the Pacij fie and returning without refuelling." <i Japanese seamen appear to have a special aptitude for submarine service, a branch of the navy which has undoubtedly been brought to a high pitch of perfection. AMERICAN NUMBERS. Numerically, the United States is the strongest submarine Power, with a total of 124 boats. Not all of these, however,, can be classed as fully effective. The best are',fifty "S" boats, of 854 to 990 tons, which are comparable in sizo and power to tho British "L" type, though somewhat slower. In its latest designs the American navy has adopted much larger dimensions. The "V" boats, for example, are of 2164 tons and 21 knots i'speed, while tho newly-com-pleted submarine mine-layer, V-J, of 2890 tons, is for the timo being the largest submarine1 in the world. She is armed with a 6in gun and four torpedo tubes, and carries CO mines, which can bo laid while the boat is travelling under water. It is probable that all future American submarines will be large boats suitable for ocean cruising, expert opinion having selected this typo as the one best suited to American naval requirements. Last year the. United States spent £2,054,500 on the maintenance, repair, and operation of its submarines, apart . from expenditure on new construction. The British Navy at the close of the war possessed 141 submarines. To-day it has only 67 completed and building. Included in this total aro 19 boats of 440 tons, which arc too small for service overseas. In submarine tonnage we are well, behind the United States, Franco, and Japan. Our largest boat is the XI, of 2525 tons, and a speed of 19} knots. Being an experimental type, she took four years to complete, and cost over £1,000,000. She does not appear to bo an unqualified success. THE BRITISH POSITION. Although our naval. authorities aro nlive to the value of the submarine for Ileefc service, reconnaissance, coast defence, and trade protection, it is not their policy to force the pace in construction. This is made clear by the fact that.only 2S-now boats, including two for Australia, have been built or authorised.since the peace, which is a mere fraction of the world tonnage total built within that period. v Unremitting attention is paid.by the • Navy to the evolution.of anti-submar-ine tactics, in .regard to which, it is understood, substantial progress has been achieved. It was announced last month that the Submarine Detector Branch is to be reorganised, and will henceforth be an independent service, separate from' and equivalent to the gunnery and torpedo branches. A distinctive badge is to be. introduced for ratings attached to the new branch. An outstanding feature of. post-war naval development has been the building or acquisition of submarines by almost all the secondary and minor maritime States. Among those now in possession of submarine flotillas arc Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Finland, Latvia, Uoumania, Jugo-Slavia, Brazil, Child,, and Peru. The number of submarines afloat and under construction at the present time is far in_ excess of the pre-war' aggregate, and is, indeed, yery miih larger than tho total at «*ny previous- period.