The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-30

! tanks by means of compressed air.
Twenty-tons Of water can be expelled
from the tanks in two minutes and the
boat viii come rushing to the top in a
big sweep. This method of coming up
VIII be used in time of, emergency. The
captain must learn when n how to
apply this method advantageouFly.
The other way Of coming up viii be
by the use of the diving rudders, tilt
ing them in exactly the opposite way
from that used in sending the boat
down.
1t Will probably be a simple matter
for the naval officers to learn how to use
either one of the ways of coming to the
top. 1t will rot be so easy a matter TO
use q combination of them. For KAN
pie, it is proposed that the captain shall
come to within a few feet of the surface
occasionally, when he is running sub
merged, so as TO have a look around and
to correct errors in his curse. When
he gets within a certain number of feet
Of the surface he thruStS up through
the water a Gamer lucida, which is
about six inches in diameter and about
four and one-half feet long. While he
is making observations by mirror the
pitch of the diving rudders must be
changed and the slightest deviation IN
depth must be watched lest the boat
rise to the surface quickly. 1t may be
necessary to AJAX use Of the down.
haul" screws, because the captain may
want 70 stop his craft as he looks
around The changes in the reserve
buoyancy of the boat, caused by the up
ward or downward tendency, are going
TO keep the commander busy. 1t will
take many weeks of practice to do
quickly that which will be required in
warfare.
So much for regulating the depth of
the craft. Steering in a straight line is
another matter. Mr.. Holland, in his
experiments, found that a compass was
useless under water. 1t would not do
in warfare to steer by guess work. One
might hit an antagonist in that way and
one might not. Mr.. Holland devised a
drag arrangement to correct errors in
steering under water. He found the
submarine boat must be set on its
course before it is sent down. Then
some arrangement, it was found, was
necessary to hold the rudder of the boat
stationary despite tidal and current in
huenceS- If the slightest change should
come in the steering under water the
captain of the craft would fail to glide
under the warship it intended to strike.
To ensure straight steering a triangular
drag was arranged which is to work au-
tomatically and keep the rudder fixed.
This drag is fixed above the shell of the
y alt WGll LOW dI0 llt SlGIl. Ii tue YES
sci Veers to n Side or the other the
drag sways to the opposite side and by
a simple lever arrangement turns the
rudder just far enough to bring the boat
on a straight line again. 1t is a simple
affair, but its inventor and the naval
board which investigated its worth de-
clare hat it will do the work effec-
lively.
1t was not until the storage electric
battery was perfected that submarine
navigation became practical. The use
of steam, of course. was out of the ques-
ton. Stored-up energy in the shape of
heat was one of the first methods of
propulsion proposed. That, it was found,
would accomplish little. The heat
would o become exhausted. Another
method suggested was the use of certain
chemical agencies whose force could be
released regularly and efficiently. This
was found to be Of little value. A boat
could be propelled only a short distance
by such means. With power exhausted
and with the necessity of coming to the
surface for air, such a craft would be at
the mercy Of the vessel it intended to
destroy. The storage battery solved the
problem. 1t would seem almost incredi-
bic that this craft, now building, could
go at least forty miles under water at
a speed of 8 knots an hour without COM
ing to the surface. but the experts agree
that such is possible. A thorough and
complete means of retreat in war is
thus ensured to the boat.
To the lay mind the submersion of
a craft would seem most difficult. The
experts say that is a simple and easy
task. Experiments for fully two hum
bred years have solved that problem.
The first man to make a success of