NAVAL WARFARE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18900, 22 December 1923, Page 5

NAVAL WARFARE

“ STABILISATION OF THE SUBMARINE i GERMAN CONSTRUCTOR’S CLAIM j By Telegraph.—Press Association. ,- —Copyright. e. „ LONDON, Dec. 20. “I have at last succeeded in solv0. tlle lllost battling of all problems (in naval warfare, namely, stabilising s -submarines,” said Professor Oswald fFiamm, of the Technical University jot' Ca a riot leu burg, to the Berlin corn [respondent of the Daily News. ProfesHamm has a world wide reputation as as eminent naval constructor. He said: “'During the war when we found when we built a submarine ' [above normal size, or armoured e (against aerial attack, or equipped ,° with long-range guns, we destroyed '• is ability. The larger submarines we i- (built towards the end of the war e [of.en took a list of thirty-five degrees r | when submerging, which played il (havoc with the crews’ nerve", and d 'sometimes led to disaster. Daily and e .nightly I pondered over the problem e (of stability. Suddenly, during the (summer of 1918, the solution pre- •- seated itself like a flash of light- - uing. If .1 had possessed this knowledge e la year earlier Germany would have I undoubtedly won the war. The Vert sallies Treaty forbids Germany . from building submarines, but it cannot prohibit naval designing. My r invention will be able to stabilize a t submarine of the largest dimensions. I could construct a perfectly sea- , worthy submarine cruiser of ten , thousand tons. There are designs f for a 7067-t-jn submarine, with a . length .of 403 feet, and a beam of forty-nine. Never before has there ' been a ship of such h'gh'y offensive • er defensive characlei Owing to stability it L poss me to give the deck sides and the connin r tower five-inch steel armour, without the slightest danger of listing. The armour, totalling 614 tons, renders it invulnerable from aerial attack. The submarine carries two guns, four smaller ones, 5800 rounds of ammunition, and forty-five torpedoes compared with a maximum of six or seven so far, and is able to fire torpedoes in any direction by means of swivelled tubes without, manoeuvring for position. The maximum surface speed is 22.33 knots, it ha s a radius of twenty-three thousand miles, with

-an underwater speed of from ten to eleven knots. The s”bmarine carries a crew of on e hundred and takes a - minute to submerge. Professor Flamm showed the correspondent the design of a giant submarine mine-layer, carrying a thousand mines, each weighing a ton, Whereas ten mines have been the maximum so far. The vessel can lay mines at any required interval while [proceeding on her course. She has a radius of twenty-three thousand miles, can circumnavigate the world without touching a port, and can sow mines in any part of the world. Projfessor Flamm told the correspondent ’ [that such a mine-layer would revolutionise the naval warfare. A belligerent could in a single voyage mine the Thames estuary, the Panama and Suez Canals and the Straits of Gibraltar. REASSURING COMMENT GERMAn CLAIMS ILLUCORY LONDON, Dee. 20. Thu naval correspondent of the (Daily News pays tribute to Professor Flamm as the doyen of German ship architects, and contends that British constructors are capable of designing a ten thousand ton submarine if ordered. There is no technical limit to the size. The difficulty is running a submerged submarine manageably. Professor Flamm’s submarine, with its thick armour and powerful guns would be a formidable opponent against smaller patrol ships, but it would bo unable successfully to engage any large surface warship The (inherent and irremediable weakness |of all submarines is that they dare (not fight at close quarters because 'one hit might destroy their power for diving. Professor Flamm’s submarine might do extensive damage to commerce in a few months, but its success would be short lived. It would be almost as vulnerable to depth charges and aerial bombs as smaller submarines are. The cruising radius of twenty-three thousand miles is illusory, he vessel might be able to carry sufficient fuel and stores to circle the world, but the crew could not keep fit throughout. Six weeks is outside the period a submarine can remain at sea in war time. A giant mine layer would be more dangerous to shipping than a fighting submarine, but such large vessels would be useless in narrow seas owing to the enormous draught and limited powers of manoeuvring. It can be confidently stated that British constructors are ahead of all others in technical knowledge and experience in all features of submarine design.