New-York tribune., 1901-04-15
THE SUBMARINE BOAT.
NAVAL AUTHORITIES AWAITING DE-
VELOPMENTS-THE HOLLAND AND
THE LAKE CRAFT-ADMIRAL
MELVILLE'S VIEWS.
MELVILLE'S VIEWS.
tBY TELEGRAPH TO THE rR1puHE.l

! itself that the action of the Board Construction
/ or the Navy Department, indorsed by Secretary
Long, in recommending halt in the constructor
! or submarine boats has been amply vindicateo IN
! the last six months In France where the SUD-
marine has the most friends. the Admiralty has
practically put the seal of condemnation on every
( type ii possesses by providing in the new
; budget for three boats of new and distinct type.
The German Admiralty has officially declared that
/ there has been some improvement in the cnar-
acter of the submarine craft but expresses tne
belief that the boats far built 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 submarines
/ as fighting machines that it is yet deemed
advisable TO make any experiments with them.
! The fancy of the general public has been caught
by the possibilities of subsurface navigation, and
the Navy Department therefore recognizes the fact
that exact progress in the development of the sub
marine should be made known to the people In
furtherance of this object Rear-Admiral Melville
| the Engineer in Chief has contributed a notable
monograph to THE North American Review" on
! the subject, which is attracting widespread COM
mendation. In this article Admiral Melville deals
in a conservative and judicial with the
many promises made by the inventors in the past
and the few performances secured by their ere
ations. While the Admiral always is slow in crit
icisfng unfavoraby any purely scientific work. he
does not hesitate to show that the development in
construction of the submarines has been very
SLOW pace, and that whatever progress has been
made has been due to the superior material
I
turned out by the machine tool. 1t is recognized
that the Admiral is only honest in his crit
icism but is exceedingly honorable in his analysis
of the submarine by pointing out its advantages
and disadvantages. 1t is Instructive therefore, TO
note that he unqualfedy asserts that If the sub
marine possesses even portion of the advantage
claimed by its advocates the number of battle
ships and armored cruisers under construction
should be decreased. In his assertion that
an incentive in the form of good bonus for speed
construction would cause submarines to be built in
three months there is the authority of who
ought to give expert opinion upon the subject.
The Admiral also maintains that the hulls are SIM
pie In character; that the auxiliaries installed
within them are nearly all of commercial nature,
and that there is nothing in their design which
should prevent them from being built by at least
fifty firms in the country. Admiral Melville is of
the opinion that every nation is acquainted with
the essential features OF every submarine boat and
that this comforting thought permits them TO ap-
preciate the fact that no rival naval power can
secure more than a slight temporary advantage
in the possession of submarine boats that have any
of the qualities of fighting machines. 1t has been
tersely said by one naval expert that submarine
boat company issues a better prospectus than a
balance sheet. 1t is probably for this reason that
official tests show that only slow secured
on the surface, and that speeds barely sufficient
to stem the tide are attained when the boats are
running submerged.
Within three months the seven boats now IN
course Of construction by the Holland Company
ought to be ready for official trials The tests
to speed, submersion and navigation will be
watched with the greatest interest In the naval
service. Until the data secured from these trials
are tabulated and conclusions are drawn. 1t Is not
likely that any boats will be recommended
The members OF the Board on Construction believe
that If these boats what their designers
tend they will be- then higher requirements
be exacted for any boats that may be authorized
IN the future. II the boats do come up to
specifications. then saving has been effected by
not overlooking the navy with many useless and in
efficient craft.
While the Holland people are building the six
boats of the Adder class and maintaining that
official trials will show that these are beyond
the experimental stage. the Navy Department Of
fcials are gratihed that new Richmond has ap-
peared in the field. and hereafter with the Lake
and Holland people rival bidders. there will
really be competition between inventors Hope
of ultimate success in the development of the craft
may be found to lie in the spirited rivalry that
will thus be created when inventor is pitted against
inventor and builder against builder.
FEATURES OF THE LAKE BOAT.
The Lake boat has features distinct from
the Holland, and 1t IS because there radical
differences in the two types that naval officials
best pleased. In the new boat the submersion IS
effected by deck controllers, which part the
vessels guard, while In the Holland the submersion
is regulated by the horizontal rudders In the Lake
the vessel is made more buoyant by automatic
drop keel, while in the Holland type the M
pensating tanks alone used for this purpose.
The Lake has twin screws. the Holland W.
With double steering be regulated.
while with single screws the machinery be
tlon. The new boat has two distinct features
however the value of which for naval purposes
innovations guide wheels placed amidships.
which can be dropped from a swinging arm from
he s6 keel m These M wheels not not only permit the pro
bed but designed also to prevent the boat from
being being i Injured ,,t9 by heavy ground swell When
that that the vessel cannot be swung off her by
diving room BY pumping a few inches OF pressure
air lock- the swinging door in the hull be
opened. The diver can then go outside the ship
and communicate with those within through tele-
phone. There are numerous other minor differ
ences OF detail between the two systems Before
question the new competitors viii probably have
OF the Adder type have shown on official tests. it
hope of winning and merting official recognition
The study that Admiral Melville has made of this
pressed his views are expected to eradicate much
OF OF the mystery that has surrounded the question.
marine. he is thought to have pointed that the
sents many novel phases for the naval strafegists
When the submarine passes beyond the expert
quire three types of boats. The first class would
be OF four hundred to five hundred tons or about
70 accompany the fighting squadron, and not only
keep off torpedo boat attacks. but possibly defend
submarines might be of the size of the Adder
primarily for harbor and coonia WGa'a defenee @
The third type would not exceed thirty tons, to be
its individual protection from torpedo attack When
doing duty singy.
close consderation TO this subject the n{rih
ton of Admiral Melville is likely to throw much
the promises of the submarine made in the 5ast
are likely TO become performances in the future.
GENERAL FUNSTON CRITICISED
d