Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-18
WILL WORK WONDERS
The New French Submarines
and Submergibles.
MENACE TO ENGLAND
SOME OF THE WONDERFUL
THINGS THEY HAVE DONE.
These Little Boats That Operate Under
Water Can Down the Biggest
Battle Ships.
MENACE TO ENGLAND
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
PARIS. April 8. 1903
As the French transatlantic liner La
| Champagne was approaching the port OF
Havre on her last in voyage. an unexpected
| and mysterious projectile whizzed across
| her bows.
| The liner slowed up instantly and officers
and passengers stared in the direction of
| the report, from which now came hail.
A thing that looked like a whale was close
| on them.
who are you?" came megaphonic
voice in good French.
THE French transatlantic ship La Cham
pagne," replied the captain.
Pass. French ship" growled the apoca-
lyptic voice. Had you been an enemy, you
would have persisted without warning!'
| Passengers, officers and seamen continued
to stare at the whale-like object. More and
more 1t Rugged the water. Little by little
its height above the waves decreased
1T is sinking!" cried a passenger. And
few minutes later it disappeared beneath
the sea.
The captain of La Champagne smiled su-
perior when asked what it might mean.
1T must be one of our navy's submergf-
bles,' he said. 1T is the first time that
such quasi-public demonstration of their
power has been made. 1t was far out at
sea for submarine, was it not?"
1t certainly was far out at for sub
marine, and that is the point. The other
nations have long been aware of the gen
eral superiority of the French marine in
this new arm; but reliable details have
been lacking. The sea-going demonstra-
ton gives one Of prime Importance, and
thanks to the guarded condolences of an
employee in Paris I am in possession Of
mr. ind To he 1or
lines of a momentous secret of the French
marine"
First the whale-like thing that hailed
the transatlantic liner was the Espandon
one of the newest of the terrible submergi-
bles, completed in November, 1901, and not
put in commission until a year later.
have heard the names Of three others of the
same type and dimensions. They are the
Sirene, the Triton and the Silure.
Secondly, the submarines are quite an
other story. And
Thirdly, when France goes to war with
England one of these days, 1t is declared
that there will be the very deuce to pay!
A Menace to Great Britain.
Nov. what will become Of the proud
domination of Great Britain, when the belt
of iron and Steel her historic barrier shall
be at the mercy of surprises, when the
work of centuries and the force Of millions
shall be annihilated by a few French
divers? One day also Troy shall fall, the
holy city. and Priam and his invincible
people!'
So cries the French deputy Lucien Mile
voye. surnamed the Eucalyptus, from the
waving grace of his uplifted arms in ora
tory. So hopes the entire French people,
not excluding naval officers.
1t has not been long thus The subma-
rines had up to recent date 1.-The block of
the superior officers against them; and the
submergibles. now suddenly no longer their
rivals. emerged from the disfavor of the
great but yesterday. How comes 1t, then
the fight for them SO Unexpectedly and
against some of the fondest prejudices Of
the naval mind2
The secret of Admiral Aube's success
which is the secret of the naval estimates
and of the activity in French construction
yards. is to be found In newly discovered
adaptability of the smaller submarines to
the old and disused maritime war practice
OF privateering and the willingness Of the
etat-major to reconsider the stipulation Of
the congress Of Paris against 1t when the
! time shall come to do SO.
When at the end of the Crimean war in
1855, this congress sat in Paris, Great Brit
ain, friend and ally of the French. could
ask what she pleased Of this generous peo-
pie Prof1ting by the fact. she asked and
obtained this clause against priyateerinp
Perfide Albion! Well did she realize that
the interests of her merchant marine. the
worlds carrier, made the bargain ludicrous-
~ One-SlQeQ!
Things Have Changed.
At the time. it is true, it looked like CIV
Ing up something already lost In 1856 the
rise OF steam navigation promised to de-
stroy the corsair's business, anyhow Pri-
watering would be practical only so long
as privateers could hold the sea indefinitely
In swift sailing vessels. Steamships must
renew their coal at short intervals: the
French priyateers would be signaled one
by one In the ports to which they had re-
paired; and 1t would be easy for the cruis-
ers of Great Britain to lay for them. So
for almost fifty years it seemed to the
French that In yielding up. the most impor-
tant feature of their consistent naval pol
Icy for centuries they had but paid dec
oratve and gratuitouB tribute to humanity.
But look at what the French are being
the changes on { the argument. In 1853
France gave up without recompense her
most formidable naval weapon while con-
ceding to Great Britain the cure Of the lat
vateers In the single year 1889 take 1900
English merchant vessels on the high seasf
Did not even the humane Vauban write
to Louis XIV: I'VE must always and In
every manner favor privateeringP' Are not
the names Of Duguay-Trouin. Forbtp,
Points and Jean Bart forever glorious?
And the French privateers that swept
British commerce from the ocean during
of the sublime Surcouf in the first years of
the French republic? The United States,
Mexico and Spain refused to sign and have
since consistently proclaimed their right to
issue letters of marque and reprisal They
did we'll!
The most curious detail, however, in this
remaking of French opinion is found I'M
der the caption "Corsaire' in the all-pop-
| ular and still uncompleted New Larousse
Encyclopedia" beginning. it does, with
| the quotation from an eighteenth century
expert: I'm France it is among the pri-
| vateers that the marine counts its greatest
| men," and constituting as whole what
| you might call the privateering argument
for tender consciences.
Secret Of the French Marine.
In a word. the privateering outlook has
again changed. Admiral Aube ten years
ago perceived 1t in the possibilities of these
small submarines. Since that time he has
| quietly used the whole force of his author
| ity in that direction; and now at last he
| has his colleagues with hint
Here you have 1.-THE Secret of the French
| Marine" in it's bare outline. The new sub
| marines OF the type Of the Gymnote are of
| such small dimensions that French trans
| atlantic liner or other swift boat in COM
mission a privateer can carry two OF
| them suspended at her sides.