The Washington times., 1905-09-10
INVENTOR LAKE
GOING TO GERMANY
Submarine Boat Expert to
Work for Kaiser.
HIS BOATS DO NOT DIVE
Tells How Some Recent Fatal Acct
dents Occurred on Vessels of
This Character.

~htS OSCuIiSQ On vessels CI
This Character.
Simon Lake, inventor of the sub
marine boat, is going TO Germany TO
manufacture submarines for the Kaiser.
ASKED 20 name the features in which
his type of boat is superior. he said:
Well. to begin with, / might point
out three or four accidents, the fatali-
ties of which run into dozens. while
there has never been an accident of any
kind to any of mine.
Recently the Russian submarine Del
iino went down and never came up OF
Its own accord. The twenty-three men
who We're in it lost their lives. The
British boats AS and Al both went down
and stayed down. There were twelve
persons in the Al. who lost their lives
] don't know the exact number in the
AS. but ali died. Then there Was the
French boat Farragut. in which thirteen
men died.
HIS Boats Do Not Dive.
''All of these boats were OF diving
type. The Lake boats do not dive, but
submerge. BY that / mean the Lake
boats go down with the bottoms and
decks horizontal. while the others dip
their noses when they sink
The Lake boats are equipped with
drop keel which weighs ten tons and
may be dropped from the boat by the
working OF a lever from the inside. Had
the Farragut and AL had drop keels
their crews would have been saved. In
both instances the crews lived for some
time after the boats sank and became
helpless.
The Lake boats can operate in shall
low water The others must have deep
water. because they need plenty OF
room TO dive in The Lake boats can
submerge and operate with but six
inches of water above the coming
tower BY means of the wheels with
which the Lake boats are equipped it
is possible for them TO run along the
bottom and be invisible when there Is
but few inches of water over them.
The Diving Idea.
THE diving idea has been known ever
since the first attempts at submarine
boat building. The success OF operat-
ing diving boat depends largely upon
the skill of the operator. The Lake
boats submerge by the a,d of hydro
planes. which are sheets of steel eight
feet long and fifteen inches wide. Two
of these are on each side of the for
ward part of the boat. When il is de-
sired to submerge the boat these hydro
planes are titled at an angle. the for
ward end being lower than those aft.
As the boat is propelled by its screw
these. inclined hydroplanes ut-into the
water and pull the boat down.
when 1t is desired to rise the hydro
planes ere titled so that the forward
ends are higher Then the boat rises
on the same principle as a kite before
the wind. OF course water Is let into
the compartments to reduce the boats
buoyancy before submerging. but the
hydroplanes afford a more ready con-
troll.
Went Down in 1877 I-2 Feet.
"At no time is the boat tilted, and it
is never necessary TO station the pas
sengers at certain places 70 preserve
the ballast. Recently, while operating
In foreign waters. / submerged TO the
depth of l371s feet. which is the deep
est any boat ever went Intentionally.
Water was let into the submerging
compartments and as We began to sink
the propeller was put in motion. We
did not sink straight down. but our
path was diagonal. However. our boat
was in q horizontal position BY man
ipulating the hydroplanes we could rise
or sink at will within certain zone
without taking in or pumping out water.
"Of course if We rise twenty feet by
means of the hydroplanes we must keep
going forward. or else we sink again,
but out advantage is that We can pump
our water out while VIE are rising.
Accidents Explained.
Nearly all the fatal accidents that
have happened 10 these boats have been
caused by their running their noses into
the mud and sticking fast. An accident
OF this kind is not likely TO happen to a
Lake boat. because il is as much q
cottom-runninS boat as II is a water
running one. And If any accident should
happen that prevented it from rising tC
the surface the crew would be saved by
means of the diving compartment with
which all Lake boats are equipped anC
which none OF the other types have.
by the diving compartment; divers
could leave the boat and remove any
outside Instructions. OF course, If the
boat were not deeper than fifty feet al
the crew who could swim could taxi
chances at swimming TO the surface
The greatest hardship in doing thi.
would be the pressure of the water or
the ears. However. we are not LOOKING
for accidents. as our boats are not bull
that way We are as much ~ home OF