The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-05
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from place to place and be practi-
cally impregnable. a travelling fort
could not be destroyed nearly so
quickly as a warship. for the reason
that there is no water to rush into the
former. A hundred holes can be shot
clear through it, and yet it will go
on unless the vital machinery be
broken.
THE SUBMARINE BOAT.
The submarine torpedo-boat will
also come into play Naval scientists
have been working on this problem for
years, and it is believed that each one
of the great nations has a submarine
boat, capable of doing efficient work.
Such possession would be treasured
as a secret of great value and every
possible means adopted to prevent
other nations from learning the de-
tails of its construction.
The fact that NJ. Goubet, a. French
inventor, has, after four years of work,
completed a submarine boat, which
has been satisfactorily tested, is proof
that this deadly vessel will figure in
the next war.
The qualities which distinguish a
submarine vessel. and without which
it would be useless, are habitableness,
security, rapidity of immersion and
emergence. stability. immobility at a
given depth, ready response to the
rudder, and the possibility of the crew
being able to manoeuyre from the in
terror of the boat.
For the first necessity, and, in fact,
the most essential Of aIi-viz., habit
ableness-the crew of the Goubet is
provided with air by means Of COM
pressed oxygen, which is carried on
the vessel in steel tubes, exhausted
under a normal pressure. In these
conditions a crew composed of three
men could exist in the interior of a
submerged vessel for fifteen hours,
without suffering any inconvenience
resulting from foul or rarefied air.
SAFETY ASSURED.
Its safety has been assured by extra
ballast. Should an unforeseen accident
occur to the machinery, the ballast
thrown overheard would right the
boat and it would rise to the surface
like a piece Of cork. The weight of
the Goubet is so calculated that armed,
loaded and carrying its crew it will
easily float leaving but a small portion
of its upper she'll and its alright dome
visible, which latter is used as a
lookout as it glides through the water.
To subnerge the boat it is sufficient
to augment it's density, and the boat
is furnished with interior reservoirs for
this purpose. A certain amount OF
water is introduced by means of a
suction and force pump, and this
quantity can be augmented or dimin-
ished at will. To sink the boat, the
suction pump draws in enough water
for the purpose; while to bring the
boat to the surface the force pump is
put in requisition. The Goubet can
sink or rise in vertical position.
The principal obstacle so far to the
propelling of a submarine vessel has
been its want of stability In fact, the
equilibrium Of boat once sunk has al
ways seemed to be at the mercy of the
slightest displacement in its interior.
Should the ballast slip to the bow or
stern, the boat is apt to take a more
or less marked inclination, which
makes it impossible for a, man to re
main in it with safety. Owing to its
mechanical construction the Goubet
rises or descendS without inclining to
the bow or stern and its oscillations
never displace its horizontal position
more than five or six centimetres.
The motive power given to the Gou-
bet is furnished by Schauschiff's cleo
trio battery. A small amount Of power
only is needed when the boat is COM
pletely submerged. The whole secret
of managing the Goubet lies in the
variations of its specific weight; once
submerged its weight is exactly equal
to the weight of the volume
os water which it displaces-that is to
say, its weight is nothing. 1t acts in
the water as a piece of cotton acts in
the air, tossed here and there at the
mercy of the slightest impulsion. This
explains why, with one or two-horse
power, swiftness of seven or eight
knots may be given to this mass Of
bronze, whose weight surpasses ten
tons. This is also why, in coming in
contact with an obstacle, it rebounds
like a rubber ball and does not lose
its shape
Two torpedoes are fastened under
the copper wings which are attached
to the huh. These torpedoes can be
discharged by very clever contriv-
ance by the person seated in the in
terror. 1t is also proposed to attach
q. steel rod to the vessel, working a
pair of large shears with which to cut
the wires of the enemy's torpedoes.
In shape the Goubet is round in the
middle and contcal at both ends II
is lighted interiorily by number of
portfolios in the hun. which are air
tight, by means Of panes of heavy
glass thirty milimetres in thickness.
AS it weighs but ten tons it can easily
be transported on a railroad truck or
between decks of a man-of-war or
packet boat.
RAPID-FTRE GUNS.
An idea of the deadly powers of one
of the new rapid-fire guns can be
gained from the fact that the new
Hotchi1iss machine gun fires ten shots
a second, or 500 shots a, minute, or &c.
600 shots an hour
Unlike most other machine guns, this
new weapon has but one barrel, and
all the bullets pass through it and all
the explosions take place in tine same
powder chamber At first thought it
would seem impossible to operate such
a gun without causing the chamber
and barrel to heat in very short
time to such a degree as to render
further firing impossible, but this
trouble has been overcome by an in
genius yet extremely simple arrange
ment, the essential features of which
are, that the barrel is permanently
fixed in the breach and that none Of
the moving parts is subjected to the
heat developed by the power gas.
In France the gun has been fired
rapidly for three hours. during which
time 100000 cartridges were discharged