Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-10-07
TOOK A SUBMARINE TRIP.
The Long Journey of the Argonaut in
Chesapeake BAY.

Chesapeake Bay.
Simon Lakes submarine boat Argo-
naut recently returned to Baltimore
after an experimental trip of two
months down Chesapeake bay. The OBJ
ject of the trip was to show the practi-
cability of submarine boats of the Lake
type for various purposes, and Mr..
Lake went along to put the vessel
through various manoeuvres for maxi
ing a series of tests and to study the
varying conditions of the bottom. He
is entirely satisfied that submarine
navigation is now an assured success.
During the trip the Argonaut travelled
considerably over 1000 miles under her
own power On the surface of the water,
in all kinds of weather, likewise on all
sorts of bottoms. She travelled while
submerged over bottoms so soft that
the divers would sink into the mud
above their knees. At Hampton Roads
the currents were very strong and the
bottom quite rough and hilly; in other
places the bottom was composed of
very loose gravel, resembling shelled
corn. On another trip, about five
miles outside of Cape Henry, on the
bottom of the broad Atlantic, was
found an ideal bottom. 1t is COM
posed of fine, gray sand, so hard hat
one could hardly push a fishing spear
down into it.
1t is considered remarkable that a
new type of craft like the Argonaut
should have made such a long trip on
her maiden voyage without any mis-
haps of any consequence. Nothing oc-
Cured on the entire trip that was not
readily remedied by the crew. Several
wrecks were Investigated during the
trip, of which there are many N the
Chesapeake Bay, but they were princi-
pally coal-laden craft and of no great
value. With proper wreckage equip
ment the coal would pay handsomely
for its recovery. One sunken vessel
which was boarded had about 1000
tons of coal aboard and also some
valuable machinery. The crew dis
covered some timbers of a vessel said
to have been sunk forty years ago at
the mouth of the PatuXent River.
Some experiments were also made in
cable finding. Mir. Lake decided to lay
a cable across the channel leading into
the Patuxent River. The boat was
submerged and ran across and hauled
the cable into the divers compartment
with a hook about four and one-half
feet long. Mr.. Lake said there is no
doubt that submarine vessels of this
type could have been built that would
have enabled naval officers to enter the
harbor of Santiago without fear of
mines, and the siege and blockade in
stead of hanging on for the time it did
would, he thinks, have been over much
soor er and would nave saved millions
of dollars and many lives.
The Argonaut also proved it's capa-
bility for cutting mine cables. Mr.. Lake
says that the present system of pro-
tecting entrances to ports must become
obsolete. The ArgOnaut was not built
as a submarine torpedo boat or cable
cutter and has not the surface speed,
nor the desirable equipment for this
work. He added:
"While at Hampton Roads we were
visited by several naval officers, two
of whom had been engaged in cable
cutting in Cuban waters, and who ex-
pressed themselves, after inspecting the
Argonaut, as believing that vessels of
this type were just the thing for cut
ting cables aud destroying mine fields"
Bath Tubs for InvniIds.