Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-12-17
SENDING SUBMARINE BY RAIL.


Remarkable Feat Accomplished by In.
senious Yankee During Russo-Jap
War.
1t has been said that Germany pur-
poses ere long to transport number
of her submarines overland to Antwerp
in order to escape detection and pos
sib,e destruction in trip by sea from
Wilheimshaven down along the coast OF
Holland In other words, the under
water boat is to be both an overland
and a submarine instrument of war and
the peril of wider field of attack, thus
made certain through the medium OF
German and Belgian railways.
Thanks to Yankee initiative, the prac-
ticability of such performance Is well
established. In 1904, in the midst Of
the Russo-Japanese war, Simon Lake
sold to the Russian Government sub
marine which he had built here for the
purpose of obtaining recognition from
our Navy Department The domestic
authorities had frittered away time and
displayed more antagonism than encour-
agcment 30 this example of native en-
terprise. and the boat, proving her
worth to the Cars representatives, was
promptly bought and shipped to the
Baltic
That submarine was secretly placed
upon the deck of Scandinavian steam
er one foggy morning south of Staten
Island and started seward with some
questionable omissions in the freight
er's clearance papers. There was an
amusing and. for a time. hair-raising
reception in the Baltic when the cargo
was first sighted by the Russian tor
pedo boats on the watch. The Car 8
naval men thought they were nipping a
japanese plot in the bud and showed a
disposition to send the freighter and
their own submarine to the bottom
without ceremony.
Ultimately the Protector. for such
was Mr.. Lanes name for his boat.
Tca ched & onstaGt, and was put through
her PAGES above and below the water.
Then the Russian Ministry of Marine
decided that the best disposition they
renamed osetr. was to make her part
of the mobile defenses of Vladivostols,
Now. Nladivostol was a tri1ing matter
rail from Cronstadt or st. Petersburg
the former being the naval port of the
Russian capital. It was manifestly
plain to the naval officials that the
Osetr could not be sent by sea around
to the far-away Siberian port upon the
Pacific. Capture by the Japanese would
have been well-nigh a certainty. There
was but enc alternatiye-to transport
the boat by rail.
The Osetr represented a dead weight
of 1876 tons within the narrow limits OF
a length of only 81 feet. and this meant
more of a burden than the ordinary gon-
dola or fat car could stand. Just the
same, the vessel had to go overland
and il was up to Mr.. Lake to devise a
way. lie proved that his inventive re-
sourcefulness was equal to the occa-
sion.
The storage batteries in these under
water boats are wofully heavy, and so
too. are the sturdy TASKS into which
motive air is crowded at a. very high
pressure. BY taking out the electric
accumulators, the air TASKS and some
other inside fittings, removing the pro-
peliers. the rudders and other external
dppSTdluS, AZ WAS pOSSiDie " cut uOWi
the weight of the Osetr until she was
within the supporting, limits of a fiat
freight car. Then, resting in a suitable
cradle of strong timbers, the vessel was
made secure and held low enough to
pass under all of the bridges and
through the several tunnels along the
route from Cronstadt to Vladivostok
This was the blazing of the way for
other boats.
After the Osetr showed her military
capabilities the Russian Admiralty or
dered more Lake submarines, and speed
of delivery was one of the contract re-
quirements. There was no shipyard
available in Russia where the work
could be done quickly. Accordingly,
Mr.. Lakes company started the work
in a shipyard here, and the ves-
sells were rushed to certain stage
of completion. Then they were shipped
by sea to Libau. on the Baltic, and
there. in a hastily organized plant,
were given additional touches I'M
der the eyes of the imperial navaa au-
thorities. To facilitate transportation
from the United States and easier hand
ling on this side some Of the boats were
across the Atlantic
After reaching Libau such of the
boats as were destined for local service
in the Baltic were reassembled by rivet-
ing their halved hulls together. Then
they were put into the water. and in a
short while they were fully prepared
for their official trials and regular COM
missioning. The other boats. however,
intended for the defence of Vladivostok,
were, not Joined at Libau, but were put
in two sections upon separate freight
cars, and in this manner dispatched
overland faster than it was found pos
sihle to transport the pioneer Osetr.
After reaching their destination on the
Pacific these craft were made whole and
put overheard.
These submarines were shorter by a
goodly margin than the submersibles
now in the service Of Germany, and for
that reason offered fewer difficulties in
carriage by rail. But the manner in
,ybicb tho Ia Of NJ than, unro hona1aa