Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-01
WILL SHE SURPRISE?
DONs ARE NEGOTIATING FOR RUS
SIAN SUBMARINE DESTROYER.
OFFSET OUR HOLLAND AND PLUkGER
This May Mean That Submarine war
fare VIII lie Added to the TerrOrs
of Conflict With Spain-Appalling
to Contemplate.
CCorrespondcnce OF the DIspatch.)

correspondence OF the Dispatch)
WASHINGTON, April 23-"Those who
talk so lightly Of war" remarked sage
veteran of the United States navy who
had spent a good deal Of his time coop
ed up in the narrow confines OF a tor
nedo-boats interior, "can know little
OF the terrors, expected and impossible
10 foresee. that await the naval men in
a future war" Probably this veteran
had in mind the submarine terrors that
are going TO figure in the next naval
contest. Certain It IS that the experts
of the European nayies are fully alive
TO the fact that their boosted steel-pro-
teoted, topedo-equipped floating forts
are of little avail against the boat that
steals up beneath the waves and, whhe
hidden out of sight. sends bolt into the
vitals of the battleship or cruiser, and
sinks her without those aboard know
ing the nature OF the enemy before
whose attack they SO down.
Spain, at least, is concerned about
the presence Of the Holland and plunger
among the lSullil5 NtSoCAo t-4s'N SA'~
will nave To grapple with. 1t is re-
ported that Spain is seeking to acquire
possession of the Russian submarine
destroyer invented by Sergius Rokostky,
and now lying somewhere in the waters
of the Cars dominiOns, with the most
particular care taken TO guard her
against the prying eyes Of foreign SPIES
for fear that this trump card OF the
Russian navy be rendered less euectlNe
when the time comes for Its use, Dy the
fact that there are others OF ike ma
ture In existence. Should Spain acquire
this boat, the dream of Jules Verne Will
be improved upon III terrible manner,
for the next naval war may witness a
fight beneath the waves, in which the
combatants will be the submarine de-
stroyers OF the hostile nations. Ii
would certainly be the strangest battle
of the century, and almost Impossible
TO invest with more terrors than the
mere fact OF the fighting being all
carried on beneath the waves can give
IL.
The submarine boats will be the most
destructive fighting monsters that ever
invaded Father NeDtune's territory.
The Russian boat that Spain is report
ed 10 be after has proved a successful
more is known about her by the naval
experts of foreign nations than the
Russian Government would like to
admit.
II is known that the Russian boat Is
about fifty feet long, and that the IN
terror is taken up almost entirely win
the operating mechanism. The only
norton of the boat above the water
when she travels will be the small con-
ming tower In which the commander
stands. The means OF propulsion Is q
naphtha or gasoline engine operating
an ordinary small screw propeller. When
in motion vertical rudders VIII enect
the lateral direction OF the craft. On
each side OF the centre line ana lot
ward of the propeller are two hori-
zontaI rudders. These rudders are PIVOT
ed and regulate the depth OF the risins
and diving of the boat. When IL Is ue-
sired that the vessel shall dive ,he
rear edges of the rudders are pushed
downwaId This causes the stern 10
move inward and the bow do"h"aru'
and the diving follows.
II Is understood that the armament
Of the submarine-boat Is as toiiows'