SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 28 March 1918, Page 46

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

By "Volt."

Super-Submarines. . There seems to be little doubt, if any, that Germany has recently been employing submarines of a much greater size than those with which she began her submarine campaign. Rather more than a year ago semi-official authority was given to the reports to this effect by a statement by the American Navy Department, which was repeated some few months ago by Admiral Benson, Chief of Operations in the American Navy. The actual dimensions of these new boats are not known, but Admiral Jellicoe lately stated that the latest German submarines could steam on the surface "between 18 and 40 knots an hour, they could remain under water for 48 hours without coming to the surface, could carry up to 20 torpedoes, and could fire with considerable accuracy while showing only three inches of periscope above the water. These features alone, it was pointed out by a naval writer, would necessitate dimensions considerably above those of the submarine standards of pre-war days, especially when coupled with armaments occasionally comprising two guns of about five inches calibre, and two or more machine-guns. The credit for designing the fiest 5000-ton submarine is said to rest with a Russian engineer named Shuravieff. His design first saw the light in 1911, the following being some of the details:—Length, 400 feet; horse-power on surface, 18,000; radius of action. at 11 knots, 18,500 miles; armament 4.7 in guns, 30 torpedo tubes, 120 mines. In the summer of 1916 it was reported that Germany was building submarines which approximated closely to the Shuravieff design.. Whether this was a fact, or whether it was merely a case of "intelligent anticipation," is not known, but the naval expert of the London Times, without accepting all the current reports as Gospel, points out that the guns carried by British merchant ships have admittedly been outranged in many cases by those carried by the newer submarines, and from this remark one can gather that he attaches some credence to the stories about big U-boats, even though the rumor about Germany's "submersible cruisers" may be exaggerated. A remarkable case of resuscitation after electric shock is narrated in a recent report of an inspector of a New York power company, which gives particulars of the recovery of one of his men from the effects of an electric shock. The man, when about to erect primary wires, was apparently killed by accidentally touching a wire carrying current at 2300 volts. A lineman immediately took hold of the ankles of the limp body, lifting it until the whole weight rested on the neck, and letting it fall. He then took a pair of connectors and hammered the soles of the injured man's feet without removing his shoes. Another lineman opened the man's mouth, pulled forward the swallowed tongue (which occurs in electric shock), and was about to begin the Schaefer prone method of resuscitation when the man returned to life. He was removed to the hospital, and recovered, though suffering severely from his burns. Similar cases of recovery are mentioned in connection with the plan of striking the feet without removing the boots or shoes in case of electric shock. " s