Evening journal., 1905-06-23
SUBMARINE FOG SIGNAL
Device to Warn Ocean Liners
of Danger.
SUCCESSFUL TEST ON GERMAN SHIP
Man on the Bridge of the KAISER
wilhelm der Crosse Heard Tin
king of Bells Through the Water
For AfiIes-Three Big German ships
Fitted with the New Apparatus.

WIN AAN ANNNN
A system Of submarine signaling
which, according to the officers Of the
North German Lloyd liner Kaiser VIII
helm der Crosse, which recently ar
rived at New York. is destined greatly
to minimize the dangers Of fog and
mist to ocean liners when they are
nearing shore has been fitted TO the
three great North German llners-Kai-
ser Wilhelm H., Kronprinz Wilhelm
and Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse-says
the New York Times. The apparatus,
which the Kaiser Wilhelm officers de-
clare has proved n complete success.
consists OF a small tank filed with a
special solution of greater density than
water, which is attached to the inner
skin Of the liners hull and which con-
tains a microphone or transmitter
From the microphone a wire extends
to the bridge, where the officer on duty
with an ordinary receiver is enabled
to hear distinctly submarine bells at
tached to the hulls Of lightships miles
away.
Second officer Rabien of the Kaiser
Wilhelm der Crosse discussed this ap-
paratus. Mr.. Rabien was on the bridge
as the liner left the German shore and
again was on duty when the great ship
neared the lightships Off Nantucket,
Fire island and Sandy Hook.
Every ships hull" said Mr.. Ra-
bien, 'ls practically a drum. Sound
vibrations in the water travel at four
times the speed they do in the air and
can be heard for miles whether they be
caused by the action Of the screws of
a steamer or the ringing Of a bell
For instance, without any special
apparatus at all sailors working on
the hoor Of a schooner can detect the
sound made by the screws Of a liner
miles away. Now, the problem OF
which the apparatus on this ship Is
the outcome has been to collect these
sound waves as they strike the ships
hull and then convey them to the Off
Ger OF the bridge.
''To do this a small tank-smaIlel
than a mans hats attached to the in
ner side Of the skin of the liner. Thi,
tank Is filed with a chemical solution
denser than water, which contains tn,
mircophOne. There are two of thes,
/ tanks on the Kaiser Wilhelm de-
/ Crosse, both forward. and to each OF
| them is attached a wire which leads
directly to the bridge above. At the
end of each wire Is an ordinary tele
| phone receiver, which, when the linel
nears shore and the weather is foggy
the officer on duty keeps constantly L
/ his ears. There is a switch provided
by which you can shut off either the
/ starboard or port microphone, and th'
officer holding the instrument is ena
bled to hear bells struck beneath The
water several miles distant.
"The noises made by the engines oi
the liner when she is travelling at grea
speed do not seriously affect the work
ing Of the instruments, while when She
is in a fog and naturally travelling a
a reduced speed this obstacle is prac
tically obviated, the result being tha
the officer holding the receiver car
judge almost exactly the distance h'
is from the warning bells. He can ais,
tell exactly the direction from whicl
the sounds come, two advantages tina
( submarine signaling has over wireless
telegraphy.
There is no doubt that in the devel
opment and application Of this system
lies the solution Of the problem Of nav
igation in the densest OF fogs. b!
means Of a numerical code not Onl!
can warning, but information as we'll
be conveyed with great accuracy. FO
instance, on the voyage that ended a
New York on Tuesday (May 30) l wa
on the bridge when the Kaiser cleare,
German waters and again was Their
as she neared the American mainland
When four miles distant from tn
mouth Of the river Weser I plainl!
made out the signals conveyed from
the lightship there.
"As we neared Nantucket l had thI
receivers to my ears, and when W,
were about four miles distant from tn
lightship off that place I caught the sig
nal slxty-six--six bells, a pause an'
then six more bells-the Nantucke
llghtship code signal When we wer'
about the same distance from the Fir,
island light 1 caught the signal sixty
eight, the code number Of that place
and again as we approached Sand!
Hook the Sandy Hook code number
ffty-one, rang Just as clearly and plain
ly.
"By the use Of this system Of sub
marine bells the whole coast between
New York and Boston sends out warn
ings for miles, and there seems no ex
cuse why the same conditions shoul'
not obtain along the coasts Of all ma
tlons. Another use these bells can b.
put TO. In my mind, is in naval warfare
especially with reference 10 the ap
proach Of submarine torpedo craft.
would be the easiest thing in the worl,
TO keep track OF their movements, an,
the danger OF their landing a telling
blow would be reduced TO a minimum
Great Britain, Germany and Italy hav
taken up the system. which they are IN
stalllng along their coasts. while Il
Canada the ST. Lawrence Is guarde'
with the bells from the Atlantic &
Quebec"