At Sea.

Taihape Daily Times, 16 February 1918, Page 6

At Sea.

THE DIVING BOATS. 1 (Passed by the British Censor.) To a landsman, anything more uncomfortable for the accommodation or its passengers than a submarine, can hardly be imagined. But those wSo have the honour to command one or His Majesty's submarines consider their craft paragons of comfort and convenience, and when the land lubber expresses his commiseration at having to understand and operate such a tangle of complicated machinery, and to live for days and nights in such cramped quarters, he is blandly told that our boats are extraordinarily simple compared to those of the French, and that there is no discomfort or inconvenience on a cruise.

The submarine officer, if he has been some time at the game, shows the signs of his calling. He is accustomed to the stillness oftiie underwater, and it has got into his eyes and into his speech. In conversation they will not admit that they run any more risks than the other naval officers in command of other craft; in fact, some brazenly insist that theirs is the cusbfy job, for in bad weather they can go to sleep quietly in a nice sandy bottom But all the same, it is a very strenuous life when they are out of port, and the keenness with which they look forward to a hot bath when the tour is over, tells its own tale.

The staleness of the air in a submarine is a popular delusion. Except for the absorption of carbon dioxide and the superabundant moisture-,- no other means are necessary to keep the air pure and breatheable, Tjut newcomes to the service sometimes' experience discomfort from the increased pressure of the air,, owing to * small leaks from the air cylinders which are employed for blowing out the water tank. Rough weather is felt by a. submarine at quite consfderable depth, - and when the gale freshens up above, it often becomes necessary to go down a further 30 to 40 feet in order to lessen the bumping. To the landsman's eye the shell of the submarine seems a frail thing, but its commander will point with pride to the strength of its scientific construction and aver that if will stand a great deal more than one'would think. The submarine resembles in many rcspcts the invention of Jules Verne's fancy, except that it has no eyes with which to see under water. Some new form of X-ray must be discovered before it can acquire vision. I w3s Surprised to hear the young commander speak of hearing explosions wfren-''tfn-~ der water; this referred to a regent adventure, when two bombs from one of our seaplanes exploded unpleasant' ly close.

I could understand feeling .the;,explosion, but he spoke of hearing it. I gathered that among other delights of his adventurous trade~was the pr.espect, or, rather, practical certainty,, of being attacked by his own friends should he emerge in their vicinity;. He took this all as part of the game, 'as no doubt it is, but this additional spice of danger, seems to rather overdo the seasoning. It is, of course, impossible to refer to acfy of the really interesting things one is 'taldv'tas-en-my has ears, but those same ears would, if they have any manlyfbr-pro-fessional self-respect left, tingle and redden if they could hear the opinion held of their foul deeds commit,ted on helpless sailormen, by officers navy they once professed to .make their pattern

The censor may perhaps let ins mention one little story of good" hunt. ing. A slow "unter see" boat was spotted by one of our faster vessels, who very stealthily stalked his'.prey. This was described to me with much interesting detail, but the end was that the stalker successfully dispatched his tin fish, and the enemy submarine ceased to exist.