The evening times., 1901-04-16
USE OF SUBMARINE BOATS
Naval Authorities in Doubt as to
Their Value.

Admiral NeIviIIc's Views Concern
ing the Construction of the YES
seIs-A Comparison of the Two
Types of Fighting Machines
The navy is CongratuIating itself that
the action Of the Board on Construction
/ Of the Navy Department, endorsed by
Secretary Long. in recommending Il halt
in the construction of submaT4NS boats
has been amply indicated in the last SIX
| months. In France. where the subma-
Tine has the most friends, the admiralty
has practically put the seal of COndemna-
ton on every type it now possesses by
providing in the nov budget Cor three
( boats of a new and distinct type. The
German Admiralty has officially declared
that there has been some improvement in
the character of the submarine craft, but
! expresses the belief that the boats so far
built are as useless as ever. At no time,
( however, has Germany ceased to watch
the progress of construction but it has SO
! little faith in the worth OF existing sub
marines as fighting machines that it Is not
/ yet deemed advisable to make any expert
nents with them
The fancy of the general public has been
/ caught by the possibilities of sub-surface
navigation and the Navy Department
/ therefore lecOgnizes the fact that exact
progress in the development of the sub
/ marine should be made known to the peo-
pie In furtherauce of this object Rear
Admiral Melville. the Engineer in Chief.
/ has contributed monograph to the
| North American Review on the subject.
which is attracting widespread attention
1 In this article Admiral Melville deals in
a conservative and judicial manner with
the many promises made by the inventors
| IN the past and the few performances Sc
! cured by their creations
While the Admiral always g slow in
crIticisins unfavorabIy any purely scfen-
] tile work. he does not hesitate to show
/ that The development in construction of
the submarines has been at a very slow
! pace, and that whatever progress has
! been made has been due to the superior
material now available and the improved
auxiliaries that can be turned out 10y the
machine tool. He unqualifiedly asserts
that if the submarine possesses even a
! portion Of the advantages claimed by its
/ advocates the number Of battIeships and
/ aTmored cruisers under construction
/ should be decreased
/ Within three months the seven boats
( now III course OF construction by the HOI-
( land Company ought 10 be ready for Off
/ cial trials. The tests as to speed sub
I TnerSIOn- and navigation VIII De watched
/ with the Srea test interest in the naval
! service. Until the data secured from
! these trials are tabuiated and conclusions
/ are drawn. 1t is not likely that any more
/ boats viii be recommended. The mem
berS Of the Board Construction believe
I that if these boats are what their de
4 sisners contend they VIII be then higher
! requirements can be eXaCted for any
/ boats that may be authorized in the fu-
( tuTe. II the boats do not come UP to
/ specifications. then saving has been ef-
/ Iccted by not Overlooking the navy with
many useless and Inefficient craft
While the Holland people arc building
! the six boats Of the Adder class and are
! maintaining that official trials viii show
! that these beats are beyond the expert
] mental stage. the Navy Department off,
( Gals are gT2tlfied that new Richmond
I has appeared in the field and hereafter.
with the Lake and Holland people as ri
/ val bidders, there viii really be . compe-
/ Jiticn between inventors Hope Of Ulti-
| mate success IN the development of the
/ craft may he found TO lie IL the spirited
/ rivalry that win thus be created when
( builder against bHiider
/ The new Lake boat has features distinct
/ from the Holland. and II is because there
{ are radical differences in the two types
! that naval officials are best pleased. In
/ the new boat the submersipn IS Effected
/ BY deck controllers which form part of
/ the vessels guard. while in the Holland
! the sIbmeTsiOu is regulated by the hari-
zoftal rudders- In the Lake The vessel
keel, while in the Holland type the com
/ pefsating tanks are used for this purpose
The Lake has twin screws. the Hollan nd
one screw with double screws steering
ran be regulated. while with single screws
the machinery can be made more com
/ pact and accessible for examination. The
new boat has two distinct features how
ever. the value Of which for naval Bur-
poses only official tests can determine
J The first of these innovations are guide
y heels placed 2IaIcshIps. which can be
! dropped from q swinging arm from the
keel. These wfleesS not only permit tho
/ propulsion Of the vessel on the s,srfs,f.. -
AFfa 4 f-r4
( prevent the boat from being Injured by a
! heavy ground swell When r:Slna, these
guide wheels for propulsion it is said that
/ the vessel cannot De swung of her course
/ by local currents
/ The second distinctive feature Is diving
I room BY pumping few inches Of press
/ HTe Of air into this room which is entered
/ through an air lock the swinging door Of
/ Inc nun can be opened The diver can
! then go outside the ship and communicate
! with those within through a telephone
/ There are numerous ether minor differ
/ enc%s Of detail between the two s-sterl3s-
! Before Congress has time 10 take Up The
( petitOrs VIII pTl=i oily have a submarine
/ boat constructc-, end IN case the boat
! possesses as many military advantages as
craft OF the Adder type have shown on
! Official tests, It viii be offered - the
| Navy Department in the hope Of winning
and meriting ofi,.iaI recognition
| The study that Admiral Melville has
made Of this subject and the cI-aruess
/ with which he has expressed his views
t are expected to eradicate much Of the
| mystery that has surrounded the ques-
/ ton Ia showing thar the submarine can
/ not fight submarine. he Is thought TO
/ have pointed out that the development of
J submarine boat construction presents
many novel phases for the naval strate-
glsts- " hen the submarine passes be
/ yOnd the experimental stage it is likely
/ that the navy may require three types Of
/ boats. The first class would be OF 400 to
! 500 tons, or about the size Of The torpedo
! boat destroyers-this type TO accompany
TCtaf
off torpedo boat attacks. but possibly de-
/ fend against other submarine boats. The
second type Of submarines might be of
! the size Of the Adder. about I5J tons. and
| would be used primarily for harbor and
colonial defeECe. The third type would
not exceed thirty tons. 10 be carried on
/ the decks Of the modern battlrship for its
/ individual protection 3Tz5m torpedo attack
when doing duty SIugly-
BALTIMORE TOBACCO TRADE.
Increase in business SHOW by an