The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1907-07-18
lake BOAT does we'll
AT NEWPORT TESTS
Bridgeport Boat Beats the
World in Powers of En-
durance and Sub
mergence.

Although the Lake, the Bridgeport
submarine boat which participated in
the tests at Newport, was an obsolete
type four years old, the unofficial re-
port of the board which conducted the
tests shows the Lake to be far ahead
of her chief competitor, the Holland
type Octopus, in the submergence tri-
ais, while the speed of the brand-new
Octopus, ready to be turned over to
the navy, was way ahead Of that of
the Lake. Both boats exceeded ex-
pectations in turning, reversing and
endurance test
The Lake broke the worlds record In
going down to a depth of 135 feet.
Everyone agrees that submarine tor
pedo boat should be able to hit mark
in order to be effective. The unofficial
report says: 1.-THE Octopus on May IA
was subjected to maneuvering trials
and to torpedo-firing tests. The torpe-
does were fired as the boat was about
to dive to a depth Of twenty feet.
Trouble with the tubes prevented the
discharge of the remaining two torpe-
does. The Octopus resu@ed her trials
on May 20 for torpedo practice. She
carried four torpedoes and fred three
at a space of 500 feet, supposed to
represent the waterline of hattleship
at a range of 500 yards. The torpedoes
were fired while the boat was running
submerged at full speed, taking obser-
vations by the periscope. The first
torpedo from the port tube ran straight
to the target and then turned a sharp
angle to the right. The second torpedo
struck in the starboard tube; the third
went straight, but carried only 500
yards"
On May 81 the Lake had her sub
merged speed trial and maneuvering
test. On the submerged run, propelled
by motors alone, she made an average
speed Of So knots. Semi-submerged-
that Is, with her coming tower only
half above water-she made rs knots.
In anchoring trials the Lake anchored
in is fathoms of water with the bow
anchor and 20 ifathoms of rope in use.
Up anchor was made in minutes Is
seconds; with the stern anchor and IS
fathoms Of line she made the maneu-
vers in / minute A seconds.
Torpedo tests were made by the Lake
on May %. She emptied her three
tubes in less than three minutes, aim
ing at S00-foot target. Observations
of the target for the first two shots
was made through the periscope while
the Lake was submerger; for the third
shot observation was made from the
coming tower, The first shot left the
starboard tube all right, but the start
ing lever Of the torpedo failed to work
The second shot from the port tube
reached the target The Lake then
started to turn in order to fire from her
stern tube, but the torpedo was dis
charged prematurely and made only
short run.
A worlds record for depth of sub
mergence with crew aboard was
made by the Lake on May 20, when she
previous to this was 1870 feet, made by
a French submarine. The Lake dis
mantled her outside steering gear seal
ed, and dropped to a depth of 20 feet
in II minutes 10 seconds. From the
beginning of this maneuver until her
coming tower disappeared under water
the time was minutes Is seconds.
Time was taken on successive returns
to the surface from various depths,
with differences of only few seconds.
On the deep submergence dive of 1876
feet to the bottom of Narragansett bay
the Lake was invisible for about five
minutes The drop from a 20-feet depth
to the bottom of the bay was made in
minutes As seconds. The boat rose
from the bottom to the surface In l
minute 96 seconds. At depth Of 1856
feet the water pressure on the shell
of the boat was over 50 pounds to the
square inch, or a total of nearly LOO
tons. No leaks developed and the
boats machinery stood the strain per-
fectly. The devices for emptying the
water tanks were effective at that
great depth.
The exhibition Of the Lakes powers
of mining and countermining lasteo
several hours, during which the boat
travelled over the bed Of the bay at
various depths, using her bottom wheels
or buffers to prevent humping Through
the diving door Of the boat imitation
mines were laid in the sea and then
allowed to reach surface They came
into view and were seen on the sur
face, by members of the board, while
the submarine was entirely hidden.
While graphing for a cable on the bot
tom Of the bay the Lake was lost to
view by those on the surface for over
an hour. During this exhibition the
Lake also demonstrated its ability to
operate in extremely shallow water and
to approach the shore without the risk
Of harm.