BRITISH FIRM’S CONTRACT

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1931, Page 15

BRITISH FIRM’S CONTRACT

PERISCOPES FOR SUBMARINES. ORDER FROM THE UNITED STATES. An important order for submarine periscopes has 'been placed with a British firm by the United States, Navy Department. This contract is a striking tribute to t'he quality of ithe optical glass now 'being produced in Britain m the manufacture of which Germany wa.s for long assumed to be pre-eminent (eats the London Daily Telegraph). The periscope is literally the eye Of the submarine. In its modern form it is used not only for navigating purposes when the vessel is running submerged, but also for the aiming and control of torpedo fire, and for the observation of aircraft. The latest type of periscope developed in Britain is universally acknowledged to be superior to all foreign productions. In diameter and light-gathering, properties the lenses represent an amazing advance on the types used during the war. Thanks to the efficiency of these instruments the submarines in which they are installed are able to navigate below water with greater safety, while the accuracy of torpedo attack has been much increased. The contract recently booked by a British firm indicates that many of the largest and most powerful U.S. submarines will be equipped with periscopes of British design and manufacture. ‘lt can also be disclosed, that the entire Japanese submarine flotilla is fitted with British periscopes. Moreover, until the issue—on purely political grounds—of a decree prohibiting the purchase of war material abroad all French submarine periscopes were manufactured in Great Britain. Even now the French, instruments we being made from British designs, and to some extent under direct technical supervision by British experts.