INSIDE A SUBMARINE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1611, 14 January 1903, Page 2

INSIDE A SUBMARINE

interior of one of these “modern v sea V'dfevils”. As. divided into throe co>m T

partnioiits.' In the forward one is the toi'pedo Expulsion tube. The armament Freiichl -American or British, is the autoV mobile fish torpedo. Before the mven- ■ tapn < of this intricate weapon (says a

fifi “Good - Words”)—“the most ;iwon<|ernjl maehine 'ih' the world,’’ as it ; been callods—underwater' boats car“mines,” or cases of expljpsive, which . were either fastened to the side of a i* .hostile vessel or else allowed..to drift tip t .tot her. Nowadays,'there -is nothing to etjrial- the •‘Whitehead.” which * is. . in.

fact, a crewless submarine propelling

-it. Self along under; water and autoAnatripally steering itself towards its goal.' wjfs/rauge is about a 1 thousand, yards, and it 1 carries 2001 b ' p&gunc.ottpn.in its head, to send an ironclad to a watery ./grave. . The; British submarines carry ' five tprpefldes'; one is placed in the tube add'the; fbuf are carfhed side by 'side aboye the storage.'batteries. When the' first torpedo is / fired, a sufficient • aiiipunt. of- water to .coinpensate for the loss of weight is automatically and at- ; mbst instantaneously- admitted into the /tube, causiiig only a slight .change of Irim for - a few seconds; A Such compensation; is necessity, as tlie sub marine \"is: lighteir than the; amount of water: it displaces, and the expulsion , of the torppdorehders the boat lighter and ten as to send it mp to the surface. When the seecind torpedo is, placed in the tube the water is run ififco a special 'torpedo ccnn->penSatxng-tank;‘ of these tanks there are four, and one is filled as each tor- , pedo is fired.- When the last torpedo has been ejected the expulsion tube is filled with water and. is kept thus untu the end of the fun. -'■ 1

Besides the torpedo-tube there are also fin the forward compartment some Air flasks, a gasoline tank of 850 gallons capacity, and a.'‘trimming tank. In tlie flask air at 20001 b to the square inch pressure cis stored, and this is used for breathing purposes, for firing the tor-

pedoes/and for blowing the, water out of the ballast tanks Avhen it is Avished to bring the. boat to the surface. The central compartment contains in its double bottom the main ballast tanks and a circular compensating tank. Above the double bottbm and below the axis of the vessel are located the storage batteries ; beneath tlie surface the propelling. poAver is electricity, the electric

motor being of 90 horse-poAver, capable >df -giving a speed of about nine knots, and the storage batteries having sufficient capacity for a speed of nine knots or a four-hours’ submerged run. Above the batteries are the four torpedoes and In, the same compartment are more air

flasks. ' In the rear compartment is the 160 - horse-poAver single-screiv four-* cylinder Otto gasoline engine, capable of giving a speed of eight knots on the surface, the ’ radius of action being

about 400 knots. Here is also the electric motor, another trimming-tank, and other small pieces of machinery. The British boats go under at an angle, and dive by the boiis, and they are brought

to the level at the required depth either automatically, or by hand-operated mechanism. At the rear of tlie boat

are four rudders, two vertical and tAvo horizontal. The former steer the boat to 1 thq right and to the left, Avhile the Tatter steer it up and do\vn. When running submerged the boat- has a “reserve buoyancy,” and will come to the surface unless kept under by tlie A r er+ical rudders. The reserve buoyancy is a great safeguard, for if anything A\ r ere to happen to the craft it ivould at once come to the surface like a cork, except, of course, the hulk Avere so much damaged as to admit the water in large quantities.