The record-union., 1898-04-17

4
side rudders were used for sinking and
raising the boat when in notion Wa
ter ballast was also let in or pumped
out for these purposes.
/ THE FATE OF THE DAVID.
In February, 1864, one of these boats,
improved by having steam power to
work her propeller, submerged until her
small coming tower was nearly awash,
and carrying a torpedo of about one
hundred pounds of powder in a tin case
on the end of al ar.pfojecting from the
front of the boat, went down the river
and attacked the Union man-of- war
Housatonic lying quietly at anchor.
Upon contact percussion fuse IL the
head of the torpedo exploded the gun
powder, sending the Housatonic to the
bottom, but the David, owing to close
proximity was hoist with her own
petard" and all hands were lost
This boat and several others like her
were not strictly submarine, inasmuch
as they could be submerged only to the
level of the water, leaving smokestacks
and ventilators- exposed. Under cover
of darkness and in remote waters where
their presence was not expected they
managed to do damage as above indi
Gated
Since those days there have been many
attempts at submarine navigation and
considerable Roadway has been made.
1t may be accepted as fact that q sub
marine boat can be constructed of a
! fairly good speed when running under
water and which can be navigated and
lived in while submerged for a suffi-
GENTLY long time but the value of such
/ a boat for warlike purposes lies in the
ability of those within her to maneuver
| her under all possible conditions and to
| fire torpedoes from her. The boat must
/ be able to run fast on the surface to
| sink safely to any desired depth, and
| when SO sunk to have a fair rate of
speed and be perfectly manageable, all
the apparatus for discharging torpedoes
must be in order, and the boat must of
course be habitable for SO long q time
as she may be required to stay under
water. That a boat possessing these es-
sentials would be most valuable means
! of coast defence is granted, and further
it would be an inexpensive means.
MODERN SUBMARINE BOATS.
The most desirable qualities, there
fore, in a submarine torpedo boat are
speed, certainty of direction, invisible
! ity and safety from the enemy's fire
Many boats have been launched, many
more have been projected, in the hope
of meeting these requirements.
Some years ago the Navy Department
at Washington became interested in eX-
periments making abroad and by pri-
vate inventors in this country at build
ing submarine torpedo boats, SO cir
cular was published setting forth at
length what was needed Of such boat
and calling for bids. Among the plans
submitted were those of Lieutenant
| Hoogaard of the Danish navy. He pro-
posed to make use of electricity as a mo-
tive power when his boat was sub
merged, and steam power when travel
ing on the surface. Water ballast was
to be used to submerge, also on top of
the boat was a Superstructure to serve
as a sort of balance tank; to cause the
boat to rise a midship propeller, capa-
/ bic of giving vertical thrust, raised
the beat, when the superstructure let out
the water it held through sIuice gates.
/ The water in the double bottom could
be pumped out by hand or electricity.
/ The surface speed was estimated to
be fourteen knots; submerged, five and
a half knots for six hours. Whitehead
torpedoes were to be her weapons This
boat was not built.
| Before the Hogaarde boat design ap-
peared an American named Tuck built
I a submarine torpedo boat in which the
motive power was supplied by a four
teen-horse power Westinghouse engine.
The steam for operating this was stored
in soda condensing reservoirs. A bona
fide speed of eight knots is said to have
been made.
The French perhaps more than any
other people have entered systematical-
ly into the development of the subma-
rine boat, though for a time the Rus
slams worked hard at the subject. The
Goubet was the name of the first
French boat, launched about 1888. She
was 16 feet long, 81 feet beam and
about 6 feet deep. She was propelled
by electricity, supplied by storage bat
teries. Oxygen was supplied for breath
ing At her trial trip in 1891 the Gou-
bet ran about the harbor of Cherbourg
at a six-knot rate, going down and
rising at will She descended to Il
depth of sixteen feet under water and
remained there absolutely stationary
for a brief period; but eventually the
French navy reached the conclusion
that this particular Goubet was fail
ure. because under water she was I'M
comfortable.
NORDENFELDT BOATS.
Before the Goubet was completed and
tried the English Nordenfeldt boat APP
peared, 1913 feet long, in which the
principal features are steam propul-
sion submersion by two propellers,
good coal endurance and an armament
of Whitehead torpedoes. She was
quickly followed by others. These Nor
denfeldt boats have certainly per-
formed we'll in practice. One of than,
bought by the Turks in 1888, went
down below water, as intended; and
actually discharged her Whitehead tor
pedo Nordenfeldt, the inventor adj
vocates length, size and the use of
steam When diving he shuts off his
smokestacks and makes use of the
latent steam to drive the boat along.
One of his boats has travelled fourteen
miles by this means. But the use of
steam under water is Objectionable. It
is limited, dangerous and uncertain.
Turkey possesses two Nordenfeldt
submarine boats, each 400 feet long
and $50 tons displacement.
THE GYMNOTT AND ZEDE.
To return to French efforts, and es-
pecially to them as exemplified in the
Gymnoti, launched about 1891, an adj
mirable craft in many ways.
The Gymnoti is shaped like White
head torpedo, SO feet long 6 feet in dia-
meter and 100 tons displacement. She
is steered. propelled and lighted by