The Washington times., 1901-10-06
STRANGE SUBMARINE BOAT
New Type of Vessel Modelled for
the Navy Department.

Three PropeIIors VIII Drive ihe
| Weird Machine Twenty-Five Miles
nm Hour-Characteristic of the
Latest SubmergibIe Fighting Crnft
A new type of submergible boat is being
leNperimented with at Lewis Nixon's ship
yard at Elizabethport, N j., which. II IT
comes up to expectations, will be entirely
free from the drawbacks IN the subna-
rine boats of today. The models OF two
looats are being built now. and will soon
De tested to see what speed can be OBJ
tanned from them
These boats are 220 feet long by "a feet
beam. and their cross section is a very
peculiar one They have a round bott1rn.
the sides are round up to a few feet abcSe
| the water line, where they are pulled in
lqulckly to form what Is called the citadel,
which rises like an oblong box out of the
centre OF the ship. This citadel is arm
ored with six inches OF plate These oats
will be furnished with three engines.
working three screws and capable, OF
generating s.61J horsepower apiece and
able To drive the ship at a speed of TWEEN
ty-hve knots an hour. Steam will be .
piled by six boilers OF the Mosher typ,
and to work under a pressure OF about
800 pounds. The main feature Is that un-
ia normal water line, giving them a free
board of about seven feet When it is de-
sired to go into action they Will be sub
merged by letting water into ballast tanks
in the bottom of the ship. which will fhsR
float with a freeboard of only three feSr,
leaving Only the citadel above water The
| efficiency of the boat will not be affected
should a shot pass through this citadel.
| A remarkable specimen of the subma-
rine boat is the Porpvfse, which was
launched at Nixon's shipyard at
| the same time as the TORPEDO
boat Nicholson. The Porpoise Is the
third of five submarine boats ordered by
the Government. and the Nicholson is a
sister ship to the OBrien, now building.
The Porpoise is So feet long Her mid
ship section is that of a circle. u feet n
diameter. From the midship section the
boat gradually tapers both ways At the
centre of the boat Is PLACED the coming
tower, which is made of armor- plate four
inches thick. and from which the move
ments of the ship controlled. The
top of this tower is IAade so that 1t can
be opened and closed. Through this OPEN
ing the crew pass in an out OF the boat
There is also a superstructure which
serves as a working platform upon which
the crew can staLd when the boat is run
ming the surface of the water The
only armament carried Is a torpedo tube
placed forward from which a full-sized
Whitehead torpedo can be discharged un-
der water.
The boat 10 propelled when she is on the
surface by a 160-horsepower gas engine.
giving her a speed of eight knots an
hour. and when submerged by 70-horse-
power ele .tric motor which gets its cur
rent from storage batteries in the middle
of the ship and under the floor of what
constitutes the living room The rest OF
the machinery consists of a bilge pump,
used for discharging any water which
may enter the boat; an air compressor
to fill the storage tanks with compressed
air. which is used to operate the auxiliary
machinery, such as the steering and div
ing engine; an oil pump, and a small en-
gine forward. used to raise and lower the
cap placed over the end of the torpedo
tube.
The gas engine is directly connected to
the main shaft by means OF a friction
clutch, and the motor Is also connected to
the main shaft by gear wheels and fric-
ton clutch on the after end OF the motor;
| the forward end of the motor is connected
by gear wheels aand clutch to the gas
engine, so that when the ship is running
and at the same time, II needed. will run.
the motor. converting it into a dynamo.
which is then used to charge the storage
batteries.
Owing to the limited amount OF air
which is availabl> when the ship Is under
water II is impossible to use the gas en-
gine as a great deal of air Is needed to
promote combustion, so when submerged
the gas engine is thrown out of connec-
tion with the screw by means of fric-
tion clutch and the motor is thrown in by
its clutch and thus drives the ship
Air is stored IL tanks arranged along
the side of the ship under pressure of
1000 pounds. It is stored In the tanks
when the ship is on the surface by means
of an air compressor connected by gear
wheels to the main shaft and thrown in
and out by a clutch. The air is taken
from the 1000 pound tanks. and by means
Of reducing valves is reduced fifty pounds.
and stored in a tank forward and from
there used to operate the auxiliary ma
chinery The steering and diving engines
are operated by oil, supplied by an oil
pump. which is run by air. The method
of connecting this oil pump Is a curious
one and is done in the following manner:
Air Is supplied from the 50-pound tank
to a piston valve located upon the steer
ing and diving engine and operated by
lever in the coming tower By opening
the piston valve air is allowed to pass
through TO the oil pump, which Is driven
by this air. and which in turn drives the
steering and diving engines by pumping
oil through them.
On the sides and at the bottom there are
ballast tanks built into the ship. which
are used to help to submerge her. To do
this the ballast tanks are filed with wa
ter. These are capable of holding just
enough water to keep the boat awash
and leave her trifie more buoyant than
the water The boat being in this con-
dition. she is started ahead just on the
surface of the water. and when it is de-
sired to totally submerge her the diving
rudder is placed at a desired angle and
the pressure of the water against the
rudder causes her to dive and stay under.
The moment the machinery is stopped she
bobs up. or the same result can be at
tained by changing the angle of the rud-
der.
Ventilation Is obtained from the ex-
haust air from the different air machines
in different parts of the ship. by suitable
connections to the light pressure tanks .
over the engine. The exhaust from the
engine passes out through independent
water exhaust pipes
and finished at NiXons are taken to the
station on Long Island and given a
ries of tests to get them into perfect
working order, after which they will be
turned over to the United States Govern
ment-New York Commercial Advertiser
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