New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-07-22
THE SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT.
A sINGULARLY SILENT FOE-BALLOONS
MAY DETECT IT. THOUGH.
A French Expert" in The London Mail.

A French Expert" in The London Mail
Experiments made in a good light AMI on a
smooth sea have resulted in fixing the distance
at which the submarine, running on the sur
face, would become visible at about !, ItD yards
To be on the safe side il has been decided in
practice to make it one mile This is. there
fore described as the maximum range Of Wis
bty.'
1t is thus obvious that beyond a distance of
one mile the submarine can navigate on the sur
face of the water without fear of being Ciscov-
cred TO approach any nearer 1t must sink be-
low the waves to insure safety.
But should it happen that in sinking the sub
marine is detected from its course, the COM
pass would net show the deviation providing
the vessel kept parallel to the course decided
upon. Therefore some time before arriving at
the distance decided upon the best for launch
ing the torpedo (2IO YARDS, the submarine VIII
come rapidly to the surface, verify correct its
position and then, again SubmerSing itself, it
Will move up to within go yards of its object
launch the torpedo and hastily retire not
ing to the surface again until quite mile away.
The one weak point in this man9uvre is the
return to the surface at a distance of four or
I'VE hundred Yards, that is TO say, within the
radius of visibility. If the very calm
the optical tube, or coming tower, could he en-
ployed up to within 800 yards At that distance,
however, the tube itself would begin to be Wis
IDLE to those on board the object of attack.
A more interesting case presents itself in an
attack a moving object-for example a war
vessel manRuvring in the open or changing it's
position in a squadron Then we have eNhi-
btiOn of somewhat more complicated tactics
The submarine must first of all estimate the
speed of the moving object. Calculating upon
TINS OASIS, II VIII then take course which Will
enable it to intersect that CT the warship at a
given point. This is a very common problem
in navigation and in artillery work, and one
that causes sailor little trouble. Difficulty,
however. may arise by the warShip modifying
its course its speed while the submarine is
submerged Therefore, besides coming to the
surface at the usual distance of 500 yards, the
submarine will have to repeat the mannuvre
at 30 yards just before launching the torpedo.
One curious fact must be noted in fixing the
military value of the submarine. 1t has been
asked, while admitting the invisiblity of the
submarine during naval operations. whether it
is not possible to be otherwise advised of it's ap-
Rroach and avoid attack. AS is well known, all
battleships are furnished with microphones,
which receive the sound of the waves and notify,
especially in the night time during fog, the
presence and approach of other vessels How
ever, while at a considerable distance the ap-
preach Of ships of even small tonnage is noti-
fled by the miCrophone, this apparatus remains
mute so far as the submarine is concerned. The
explanation Of this fact is to be found in the
absence Of oscillation from the submarines cleo
trio motor, the motion of which is a continuous
rotation and not the spaSmodic jerk of the ordi-
nary piston which so much affects the micro
phone.
1t has, however. been remarked that while
from the bridge of ship n submerged object
only be discovered when ii is quite near the
surface of the water, if observations taken
from q greater height the depth at which an
object may he perceived is greatly increased.
1t is therefore probable that the progress of
aernstatcs will before long have a considerable
effect in modifying the invisibility of the sub
marine Experiments made by means of cap
tive balloons attached to warships have ostab-
lished the important fact that at height Of two
or three hundred yards submerged objects can
be seen at depth of from thirty to forty yards
and at radius of more than two hundred Yards
around the balloon. The higher the balloon goes
the wider becomes its range of observation, and
naturally the greater the security of the aero
naut. 1t has been thought of adding the
equipment on every vessel balloon for the
purpose of keeping watch in the depths of
the surrounding sea, and il may well be believed
that if aerial navigation becomes prac lical
reality it will prove to be the most formidable
adversary of the submarine This is a posSi-
blity which requires to be noted.
At a distance of from seventy-five to eighty
five yards from the object of attack the explosion
of the torpedo is quite harmless to the subma-
rine and its crew. on account, however of the
great elasticity of water, which is an admirable
conductor of sound. the noise of the explosion
heard in the submarine and sometimes causes
the crew to experience temporary deafness.