PROGRESS OF THE SUBMARINE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10104, 23 March 1909, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE SUBMARINE.

Submarine vessels have continued to grow in size and military importance, in spite of setbacks, accidents, and tie scepticism of the older naval men, we are told by Robert. G. Skerrett in The Iron Age. A few years ago, says this -writer, they showed all the hall-marks of engineering inexperience, but since they . have progressed rapidly, and to-day the best of them are thoroughly serviceable nnits in a scheme of 'seaboard defence. This is partly the consequence of general progress in the mechanic"arts, but the major part is attributable to scientific analysis of accidents. Under-water boats have actually been the cause of only moderate loss of life, but the harrowing- circumstances of submarine accidents have given them prominence in our minds. France has the largest number of submarines, and Great Britain comes next; but according to Mr Skerrett, the recent achievement of the small Italian submarine flotilla puts all the other performances quite in the shade. lie says: •'The Italian flotilla consists principally of four boats of only 220 tons submerged displacement, which were launched successively in 1905, 1906, and 1907, and which have taken part, in the naval manoeuvres of the past three summers to the satisfaction of the authorities. "It was not until this season, however, that all four of the boats -were able to manoeuvre as a unit, and 'it is putting it-'mildly in saying that what they did during the month of August last year was startling. Part of the scheme of the naval manoeuvres included a raid by these -boats along both the Adriatic and the Mediterranean coasts, and the. Glauco, Narvalo, Otaria, ami Squalo were called upon to make unassisted the run of nearly 1,3C0 nautical miles from Venice to Spezia! The little boa-ts accomplished this without mishap and with remarkable celerity, and arrived upon the scene of tins grand manoeuvres with their crews in splendid condition and able to take part- in the concluding operations in connection with the combined fleets. In tills latter stage the little vessels were again handled by their officers and crew with so much skill that the King summoned them on board the flag shin Vitjtorio Emanuele and personally congratulated both the commanders "and the enlisted mc-u. One of. the circumstances leading to this rather unusual honor was the especial performance of the Glauco, the tirst of the flotilla completed, which in broad daylight was able to actually hit the battleship Saint lion twice, despite the vigilance of the picket-boats and the watch aboard the big ship, before rising to the surface and showing her nearness. "The position of excellence won by the Italian boats is of particular interest because Italy did not- figure conspicuously until within the last four years in this branch of naval architecture. While England, France, Russia, and the United States were spending largo sums of money in buying or building various types of submarines, Italy was going along in a quiet way experimenting witli her old submarine, Dcifino, modified. The lessons thus learned at a modest outlay were carefully calculated, and the Glauco and her remarkable classmates have been the outcome. Surely the records made by these little vessels stand out in brilliant contrast with the results recently secured from our own boats during their run to Philadelphia and return to New York, a distance each way of approximately 300 miles."

That the submarine may altogether displace the destroyer is thought probable by Mr Skerrett. The high-speed torpedo craft of this typo have grown to such sizes that they make very considerable targets, and at night betray their approach either by their size or the disturbance due to their speed. Says the writer: "It is urged that the destroyer be abandoned and that scouts, pure and simple, be built in their stead, and that submarine craft be developed for the primary purpose of providing a satisfactory mobile base from which to discharge torpedoes. The modern submersible can be made ready to dive in six minutes after she has been running on the surface in light trim, which is a very material gain in jKiwers of quick disappearance over the 20 or 30 minutes called for only a short while ago for vessels of very moderate displacement. In addition to this the latest boats are able to run in cruising trim' at a speed of 15 knots an hour, while they are accredited with submerged speeds of nine knots an hour. "In broad daylight all that the submarine craft shows above the surface when making an attack is the slender tube and small head of her observing-instrument, and this is now so installed that it can be thrust above the surface or withdrawn out of sight without altering the depth of submergence of the submarine boat. As the attack upon the- Italian battleship showed, and as experience during a number of tho French manoeuvres have substantiated, it is possible for these vessels to get within striking distance of their targets in broad daylight." The average layman, Mr Skerrett assures us, does not realise bow the automobile torpedo has been developed within the past few years in range, speed, and destructive force. Not very long ago.Boo yards was considered its maximum efficient range, yet to-day, owing to the- use of a superheater, which doubles the. motive air capacity, the range has increased to 40C0 vards'at a speed of 228 knots, while for the first -1000 yards the big 18-inch torpedo can be driven at 43 knots. The writer concludes: "As a surface torpedo-boat cannot do ibis work without inviting well-nigh certain destruction, the submarine boat is apparently the only torpedo craft that can lie at a distance of 4000 yards in the daytime, submerged of course, and profit by the increased range which has been given the up-to-date torpedo. The periscope of a few years ago would have made this quite impossible, because its defective optical properties gave no idea of true .distances after an object had passed 200 or 300 feet away. To-day, thanks to tho genius of the optician, this difficulty has been oveVeome, and the officer in command of a submerged submarine is able to judge with remarkable accuracy the approximate range of his target, while further improvement has given to this eye of the submarine all of the properties of a good night-glass for making observations after dark. The submarine vessel is thus surely coming into its own, and it is but another proof of what can be expected when a field of usefulness is established for any military instrument and the inventor and his more finished brother, the technicist and practical man, put their heads together to solve the problem and to meet a commercial demand."