THE SUBMARINE MENACE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 31 March 1915, Page 4

THE SUBMARINE MENACE

ITS DEADLY WEAPON. Since tjlie Avar began, from .the nature-, of the tactics adopted iby Germany, considerable prominence lias been given, to the submarine as a. weapon of offenceOriginally the Imperial ■German naval force possessed 24 submarine 'boats of; various ages and types, and there Avefey in addition, almost completed, 13 others, of which one wae said: to be of extra large dimensions. There is no .evidence so far that any of the last-named boats have yet- taken part in the war, although, it is possible, as has been • suggested, that, in order to mislead, the numbers of the vessels employed have been changed on. different occasions, to make it appear that more boats than axe ill existence are ibeing employed. XJ.2I and 113,1, for instance, -which have at times appeared in the Irish Sea., are said to be the same submarine, the painting out of the first numeral and the substitution of another (being- a simple and easy manoeuvre to perform. THE AUTOMOBILE TORPEDO. The submarine is armed with a weapon of offence' known as the automobile torpedo. It consists of a cylindrical shell of thin, steel, (built with lines as fine as any yacht! It is 22 feet in length, up to 21 inches in diameter, weighs some 20001b., and costs *u;p to £I2OO to build. There are three main parts in the torpedo—the war-head, .the air-body, and the after-body. The war-he,ad,, .cpritams the explosive, "which ranges in. weight /up to 30011b., and varies according to r its .nationality in its constitution. Tlie, air-, body contains the necessary profiling, power, and.contributes, to the jbWjy&iicyM of the weapon, arid the after-body' coti- > tains the propelling machinery, steering gear, and gyroscope. One of the anost ingenious things connected with the toi pedo is a small propeller-shaped! artifice • which is attached to the nose of the -warhead, "which prevents the premature plosion of the torpedo after it had. left , its tube, arid thus protects the vessel.,m the event of any. deflection of the torpedo • on its leaving the side of its parent. PROPELLING POWER. The propelling power of the automoIbile is compressed air, which is >( contained « in tne-air chainber .in the, 'midshipa of the projectile. 7 The air flask.;takes up' lia.lt .the' length of the torpedo,. and as everything depends upon the . pressure ibeing steadily maintained, this , . chamber is designed and. built to- stated th& enormous pressure ,of 30001b. to tha square inch. Before the torpedo is fired this reservoir has to ho charged , by tha submarine's engine, although- iir.-war-tune • \ all torpedoes are presumed, to be loaded anu TeadV for instant service. '• THE ENGINES. . ; • The after-body-of the: torpedo contains all .tho .working niacliinery. Here Is; situated the gbwerful turbine i." engine> which* develops up, to 150 horsepower, and, driven by compressed air, spins the twin propellers at the rate -aippi'qximately iOOO revolutions a minute, arid hurla the torpedo through the water at the : initial speed of 40 knots an hour, for a distance of 10,000 yardfe. In the tail of the after-liody is the most ■wonderful of ; all-the-working parts of this jriodern l engine, of death—the gyroscope. Adjusted as -the iribst sensitive chro«\ it automatically controls, steers, and keeps the torpedo true to tho line of its flight. The ,complicated naturp of this 'beautiful little piece of; mechan: ism may ibe gauged /when it- issaid'thafc : taken altogether it contains over ,1000 parts "of steel, brass, "and bronze, all of ■ which put together make up the engines, of the torpedo -which carries .the. explosive to its destination. Everything con- • nected with this marvellous instrument is automatic aind;'self-contained., ' ■ l '- A SUBMARINE ATTACK. .

The following graphic account* of th# submarine attack made ;by the British ■under-water - hoat v ßllj- in-' the ' Dardan? elles, on the Turkish-, ibattloehip ' Mussiif. dieh, will perhaps cqnvey to the reader as good an idea ofV the way in ; which:th)s submarined makes its ,dart at its prey, as any technical description which could to' given. The story "was written, -by-one <>i the seamen on 8.11, named Victor Westall, and ; isVeil told : i.'; . On the ihoriiiiig. of I)ecember 3 o'clock the 6111 left for the entrance . of the Dardanelles. Haviflg fully cKargf ' ed her .battery—that .is, with electricity# . which gives the submarines - propelling y.' power whilst under the' cag>. tain gives the order, "Down bridge l'ail®,' prepare l to dive.' 1 The crew go, below, .. the captain last jhe closes, the .. tower lid. He then sings out, "Diving • stations.'The men get 1 to theif Jposfcsi <. < Two are at the torpedo tubes, one , 1 each main iballast-tank kingstqn, one &%,'■ the hydroplane wheel, another at tnjS submerged steering position j another at? the motor switches; the engineer is thers at the group of vents which allows the 1. air- to escape aB thte water floods too tanks. The next order comes from tKa - captain, "Flood main ballast." Each ' kingston is opened,the water- rushes in> and; the boat logins to sink. The- tanks ; axe .full, the gauge is showing 7ft., nop - suite deep enough', so the auxiliary bal 7 last tanks are opened, the tanks slowly 'fiU> and tfre gauge now shows • lOffe,, "Close everything" is next heard . froia the voice in the conning tower—thesfe* boats -are never under the autface unlesa under way, as there is a tank known s-jw: the' 'buoyancy tank, ■ which; is- neveir flooded, and always sufficient (buoyancy. for the -boat to come to the surface wljen the .

motors, are stopped. . . » ; : ■ ''"The.boat is now what we call-trimmed. Then we get, the order to 16ft., so that the periscope is just on > the surface. The hydroplanes are put to dive and the motors are started to trie ahead position. ; It does not take long-. to get down, for I have dived that boats--8.1 l to 65ft in She is now feeling the effects of the strong 1 which runs .down from the Black Sea. The captain is satisfied with things 'solar, so gives the order, "Take hei' dowii to 60ft." At,11.45 a.m. the boat?- is • brought to the surface to see where, - are. To the captain's surprise there is; f ship nob' far away—and a Turk, tod; •■jjown again to 40ft. ; charge firingtank; flood torpedo tube; stand 'by - to fire" All this in one breath. "Up . again to. 15ft. (she js within range), fire." The torpedo has gone, as you • say, to blow the Turks' and Germans tof. heaven. The shot was a, good one, for an explosion is heard. Now to get back te> safety. Guns from the - shore .are doihjp their best to hit the submarine, hut she' soon gets out of the danger-of tlie giina, and is at 40ft. again. NINE HOURS SUBMERGED.

We will just have a look at the / target to satisfy curiosity. She is sinking by the stern, so all is well. Dowa to 60ft. "What was that." At 30ft. the submarine has struck. For ten miniites she grates the ibottom —shingle ,no doubt. There is no panic in the boat, for the captain, Lieutenant. Holbrook; is very trustworthy. She is off. the bottom, and in the deep channel again,, so at.\f}osfc-< the boat gets as far at Helles Porifc;.* Next comes the order, "Surface.", The surface is .reached. "Blow; all main ballast." The water is forced'from tho tanks Iby a pressure of air, the tanks aro empty, the gas engine is started, and out she comes victorious, tto report a safe return and a ship ; hit,, after,'being 94 hours submerged. No wonder all England gives praise to such a grand feat, and no ,one will realise more tho dangers thdt have been dared than we ivhci (know the working of the boats.