SUBMARINES WITH GUNS.

Mataura Ensign, 27 January 1912, Page 2

SUBMARINES WITH GUNS.

FIRST IN THE WORLD. "D 4," the first submarine to be equipped with a quick-firing gun, which has been built by Messrs Vickers, Ltd., of Barrow, has arrived at Portsmouth from Barrow under convoy of the torpedo gunboat Hazard, and will be attached to the Portsmouth depot, which has become the experimental department of the submarine service. Trials with the vessel have already been carried out in the Irish Sea, and they have proved so satisfactory that the Admiralty have come to the conclusion that the idea of guns for submarines will allow of great development.

The "D 4" is the largest and most powerful submarine, not only in the British navy, but in the world, and when completed for service will carry, in addition to her 12-pounder quickfiring gupn, a searchlight and an installation of wireless telegraphy, which will enable her to communicate over a distance of nearly a thousand miles. Of course, the chief feature is the 12-pr. armament. The gun is situated just forward of the conning tower, and is mounted on a disappearing platform, which is raised or lowered by a simple hydraulic machine. One movement of a lever will bring the gun into action, and a reverse movement will take it back to its original place and automatically close a hatchway above it, so that the submarine can vanish almost instantly beneath the water after delivering its attack.

The submarine's deadliest opponent is the torpedo-boat, but a shell from a 12-pr. will penetrate a torpedo boat's plating at a range of three miles. The general impression lias been that a submarine would be a very unsteady guii platform, but the "D 4's" trials have shown that it is far steadier than a torpedo boat or even a destroyer, particularly in a seaway.