The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-09-09
SUBMARINE BOATS.
wonderful Engines for the Blowing Up of
Iron-C La War-vesseIs.

Lu6S IOr Gn6 BLOWING I'm o
Iron Clad War-vesseIs.
The Goubet submarine torpedo boat
is OF iron, 16 feet 5 inches long, 3 feet
81 inches wide, and 5 feet 1Oa inches
deep, including the lookout dome.
The weight of the boat, with its water
reservoirs empty and without the crew,
is 3,196 pounds (1,45O k~ilograms), and
its displacement when submerged is
4,O56 pounds in sea water q, 800 llters).
Its buoyancy is, therefore, $50 pounds,
and the boat is submerged by the weight
of the crew and the water admitted to
the reservoir.
Each man requires about 400 liters
fourteen cubic feet) of air per hour.
10 provide for this a reservoir contains
air at a pressure of fifty atmospheres, in
sufficient quantity to last the crew of
two men for ten hours. The carbonic
acid and other acids are absorbed by
chemicals, and an air pump expels the
foul air.
To drive the boat at its maximum
speed of 5 knots a POWER of II kilo-
grams (.553 II. p is required, and NAV
be furnished by aSiemens motor, work
ing from accumulators. (This would
necessitate a weight of 1000 pounds for
motive power.)
There is no rudder, but a universal
joint in the screw shaft permits the
screwto move through an arc of 80 de-
grees on each side.
In submarine boats it is essential that
the trim should be very exact, as other
wise the motive power might cause the
boat to jump out of water or dive to
unsafe depths. To maintain the trim in
the Goubet boat there is a water-tank
at each end of the boat connected with
a do~uble-acting pump, which draws and
delivers in opposite directions, accord
ing to the direction of motion of its
operating shaft. This shaft ends in a
crown wheel, which may gear with
either of two wheels on a shaft at RIGHT
angles to the first, and revolving con-
stantly in the same direction. As LONG
as the boat remains with it's axis hor-
lzontal, the pump is motionless, but on
any change of the axis a pendulum
throws the pump into gear with one of
the two wheels on the second shaft and
water is pumped from the lower to the
higher tank, bringing the boat to a level
axis.
The torpedo is carried outside the
boat and is secured by a bayonet-catch
controlled from the inside. On arriving
under the enemy the torpedo is released
and rises by its reserve of buoyancy I'M
til it catches on the vessels bottom by
spikes, with which its upper surface is
provided. The torpedo boat then with
draws, maintaining its connection with
the torpedo by unreeling a wire. When
the BOAT is at a safe distance the torpedo
is exploded.
The boat is also provided with a small
torpedo, which, when released, rises to
the surface and explodes, forming a sie-
which, by its noise and the color of
its flame, calls attention to the boat and
indicates the depth at which it is. The
torpedo may also carry up a telephone
wire.
A large weight is attached to the bot
tom of the boat by a screw and nut, and
may be released at any time, thus per- |
hitting the boat to rise.
In case the motor breaks down there
is an arrangement for working two
oars. which habitually trail alongside.
These r fold longitudinally. When
in use they open at the stroke and close
at the recover.
To attach a vessel the boat proceeds
along the surface until it is thought |
necessary to dive, when the captain di- |
reefs the boat at the enemy by the sight
vane; the other maintains the course by |
compass, and the boat sinks by admit |
ting water to the tanks.
1t is stated 800 of these boats were |
ordered for Russia in 1881, and that fifty |
were delivered in 1883. The early form |
Of the boat was driven by manual power. |
Gazette.