The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-06-21
SUBMARINE WARFARE.
Terrible Possibilities of the Conflicts
OF the Future.
From the Washington Post.

lNGrOm the washington BOSt.
Spain at least is concerned about the
presence of the Holland and PlunEer
among our fighting vessels. 1t is re-
ported that Spain is seeking to acquire
possession of the Russian submarine
destroyer invented by Sergius Rok-
osfpky and now lying somewhere in
the waters of the cars domniOns,
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 effective when the time comes
for its use, by the fact that there are
others of a like nature in existence.
Should Spain acquire this boat the
dream of Jules Verne will be improved
| upon in a terrible manner, for the next
naval war may witness a fight beneath
| the waves, in which the combatantS
will be the submarine destroYers of the
hostile nations. 1t 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 it.
One feature OF such encounters. aw-
full to contemplate, is that no inklng
Of the fate that befell the boats would
ever come to the surface in the event
| Of an encounter proving fatal. Be-
| meath the surface of the water the
| hostile submarine craft would fight it
out with only the fishes as witnesses
of the duel, and should both be blown
up, as will be not unlikely where the
| weapons are so destructive and SO cas-
| s,i,, n
bottom without a ripple having ap-
pearcd above to inform the world
above Of the fate of the fighters. A
| submarine boats crew Will say good
| by to friends with the knowledge that
| they may never be heard of again af-
ter they dive beneath the waves on a
| hostile errand.
1t is difficult to imagine a more ter
rible encounter than this one. There
viii be none of the noise and grandeur
Of a battle under the conditions of a
! naval fight on the surface of the ocean.
| The crews of the submarine boats, shut
in a Theoretically sealed case. will hear
nothing and probably see little of the
effect of their onslaught on the enemy,
| There will be no cheers Of victory to
make dying less bitter to the fatally
wounded War will be robbed of all
| the pomp and ceremony with which
romance clothes it to the disgust of
those who have experienced its real
| tiles. Beneath the waves the submar-
inc duel will be a silent, swift and ter
rible encounter with escape from death
| depending on the hair-breadth chances
for all engaged i'm the fight.
In the submarine torpedo boat Hol-
land, the United States possesses, il
is probable, the most dangerous craft
of the sort in existence. What she
really can accomplish i'm the way of
damage only actual warfare will dem
onstrate. Sufficient is known, hOwev-
cr, to make the statement worthy of
consideration that she has created
more in the nature of genuine con-
sternation among the naval powers of
| Europe than anything Of the sort that
has come into existence. Then there
is the Plunger, which was completed
at Baltimore not so long ago. She will,
her inventor promises, perform Won
ders when she is given a chance tC
show what she can really do. Theory
is not the best basis in The world on
which to determine the usefulness of a
craft, but that is what the makers OF
the Holland ana the Plunger have 10
be content with in the main. One
thing is certain; So far as any one has
been able to ascertain, no one has a
submarine craft which is in the same
class as those owned by the United
| States,