Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-23
DIVES LIKE A FISH
The Holland Subm arine Torpedo Boat
Fully Described.
The REMARKABLE CRAFT NOW HERE
viii Be Given a Trial Down the
Potomac.
QUEER AND INTERESTING

/ Resting on the surface of the water in
| the boat house slip at the Washington
navy yard is a queer-lookins cnntriyance
that resembles a big porpoise with blunt,
circular dorsal fin. 1t is the submarine boat.
| the Holland. which has created world
| wide interest in naval circles by her re
markable achievements. and which has
| been brought to Washington to further il
| lustrate her powers. A trial of the vessel
| will be made down the river over a meas
ured course Of a mile which is being flag
| ged today in the channel abreast of Fort
| Washington by Mr.. F. \. Verdi. the en-
| gineer of the Holland Torpedo Boat Com
| pany.
| If the Holland is singular in outside ap-
| pearance she is considerably more SO in
| side One enters the novel boat through
| the blunt dorsal fin, which is the coming
] tower as vel. Ii is eighteen inches in di-
| ameter and entrance through /; is very
| much like going down in a coal hole. for
| instance.
| Mass Of Machinery
| The coming tower is of bronze am inch
| thlck, and around its top are peep holes
| covered with place glass which allows the
! navigator TO make observations in all di-
recuons. a square box beneath the tower
| is utilized by the navigator to stand upon
| when the vessel is under way The interior
| elsewhere is Simply crowded with machin-
cry and there is plenty of it in the tower
| as well. Here is pressure gauge which is
directly in front of the operators eve; there
are speaking tubes to various parts of the
boat, and on either side are small wheels
one on the port side governing the steering
and that on the starboard side the driving
machinery.
-h,a1a A,,I,y Af ,,r
course, when the Holland is on the sur
| face, because when she is submerged it is
impossible to see through the water. Steer
ing is then done by compass.
The only clear place in the inside of the
boat is directly in front of the box on
which the turret man stands. This Is where
| the eighteen-inch torpedo tube and the
eight and eighteen-inch aerial guns are
| loaded One torpedo may be carried in the
tube, and two more in the open space DIT
\ the breech. The aerial guns breech is di-
| rectly above that of the torpedo tube.
| Whitehead torredoes are used, and each
| weighs about DO pounds, and carries as a
| charge 100 pounds of gun cotton.
In cnddy holes in the bow is room for
half 4 dozen OF these prOjectiles. The Hol-
lands gun can shoot Whitehead torpedo
| a mile, and the torpedo itself has a run
ning power of more than half mile with
| a velocity at the rate of thirty miles an
| hour
Compressed Air Equipment.
Along the sides are six compressed air
| tanks containing about thirty cubic feet
| of air at a pressure Of 1000 pounds to ;he
square inch. There are two smaller tanks
of air at a small pressure, and these are
used. together with smokeless powder 10
discharge the projectiles from the vessel.
Behind the turret is the machinery which
operates the boat. A small compressed air
engine up against the roof is the steering
contrivance. Also fastened to the roof =
the engine that controls the diving
ratus.
The engine room is further back There
are three switch boards which govern the
dynamos aboard of which there are three,
one of forty-tive horse power to propel the
boat; one Of ten horse power 10 compress
the air, and another of one and a half
horse power to provide the lights and assist
the ventilation. A trolley controller is used
TO speed the boat under water. and the en-
gIneer works 1t just motorman does
the switch on an electric car. In the bot
tom of the boat are storage batteries of
sixty cells, with a power of 100 volts.
The Holland is propelled on the surface
by gasoline engine, which is in the center
of the engine room, and under water by
electricity, the change from to the
other being made in four seconds.
Submergins Tanks.
Along the sides of the boat and on its
bottom tanks, which are filed with
water. These are the submerging tanks
When these are to be filled or ernptisd
man works two levers in the center of the
boat. The gauge shows when the boat is
sinking, and shows the depth it goes To
remain under water the boat must continue
In motion or be anchored. 1t can be sent
to the surface by the diving rudders or hur-
ried there faster by emptying the storage
tanks.
The Holland weighs sixty-three tons and
has displacement of seventy-four tons
She is about fifty-three feet long and in her
widest part about ten and quarter feet
in diameter. The frames of the vessel are
circles of steel. about a foot apart. On the
top is fiat superstructure, which affords a
walking platform. The steel plates which
cover the frame are from half to three
stern is an ordinary three-bladed propeller
and ordinary rudder, together with TWO
horizontal rudders, called diving rudders.
Confidence of the Crew.
Capt. Frank T. Cable. who is in command
of the Holland, has a crew of six men in
Guiding the famed sailor, Ninderman, who
is figure in arctic exploration, having been
a member of the Tigris, the Polaris and the
Jeanette expeditions. He laughed yester-
day when The Star reporter asked him if
the Holland was safe.
AS safe as anything can be- he replied
She Is just as good under water as she is
on top
equally confident of the Holland.
I'VE go under the water for forty
miles, said Capt Gable, without coming
to the surface, and We can dive twenty feet
in eight seconds
The diving engine of the Holland is pro-
vided with an automatic device to govern
the controlling valve diaphragm TO keen
the ship at constant desired depth a oen-
dulum device to maintain a horizontal po-
sltfon and apparatus to bring the ship from
an inclined or diving position to A HORRORS
tai position al a predetermined deDth this
being accomplished by reversing the diving
rudders to "A rising position during the ne
riod of diving at a time previous to reach
ing the desired depth.
The aerial gun is fired through an opening
In the bow three feet below the water
line. covered with Cap lifting upward
and operated by worm gearing inside the