Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-11-03
A FALSE I'M
PRESTON ABOUT
The SUBMARINE.
United States Naval Of
ficials Overwhelmed
with Suggestions and
Wish to Correct the
Exaggerated Opinion
as to That Fighting
Machines Efficiency

Washington, Nov. Ever since the
sinking of the British cruiser Hawke
by the German submarine U-9 in the
North Sea, the Navy Department has
been deluged with letters containing
suggestions from individuals all over
the country for the improvement of
the submarine and for a great extern
sion of its usefulness. Satisfied that
most of the writer's of these communi-
cations had acquired an exaggerated
idea of the fighting abilities of the
| submarine and that there was very
| present danger of a serious interfer-
ence with the naval building program
| and perhaps an almost total suspen-
! sion of the construction of additional
| battelships If erroneous ideas obtain
common credence, the naval officials
have been trying to correct this i'm
preston. They have made it a point
| to reply to each of the letter writer's,
| setting out in detail the reasons why,
in the judgment of the department of
| ficials 1t would be disastrous to aban-
don other naval construction entirely
in favor of the submarine, and point
ing the limitations which surround
| these little boats.
These arguments have been reduced
to form in the following statement
which it may be said accurately repre-
sents the views of the technical Of
! ficers of the Navy in regard to the
hmerits of the submarine:
The land operations of the war
| have been so overwhelming; and the
naval conflicts so comparatively few
that the Importance of the sea opera
tons of the various nations is apt to
/ be lost sight of. 1t is the brilliant
feats which strike the eye, the dash of
| the British against Helgoland, the
destruction of three cruisers by a Ger
man submarine. rather than the slow
| bearing down by sheer weight of the
allied fleet against the whole Germa..
coast line.
so far the submarine has carried
| off the honbrs, and at the same time
has greatly disappointed it's admirers
/ in that it has not done more. 1t was
freely predicted before the war that
! the day of the dreadnought was
! passed; that the submarine would
drive it from the seas.
The destruction of the three Brit
! ish cruisers, Hogue, Cressy ana
! Aboukir, by the German submarine
! U-9. and later the sinking of the
Hawke by the same submarine was
taken as proof of the impotence IF
surface craft.
Nevertheless. the advocates of sub
marines are beginning to evidence
! signs of Impotence at the paucity of
results. They realize that there are
over two hundred submarines in the
navies of the warning nations, and so
| far only one has done anything. Not
| a dreadnought has even been men
/ aced. The cruisers which were struck
| were old. hastily commissioned with
naval reserve crews, two of them were
engaged in lowering boats and pick
| ing up the survivors of the first when
! they too were torpedoed.
The loss of these vessels has had
! no more effect on the result of the war
than the reported capture of a Ger
| man aeroplane by British sub
marine. No one would seriously ad-
vocate submarines as a proper weapon
| to use against aeroplanes, but it is
nevertheless reported that an aero
plane which had alighted on the water
was captured by submarine which
emerged close at hand.
The ideal conditions for sub
marine attack consist in finding the
enemy motionless in the water; then
and only then can the submarine hope
for success.
But even so the odds are against
the submarine if proper precautions
are taken, as is shown by the actions
of the allied sea forces which has been
Smelling the German flank for several
days. These vessels have been oper-
ating in very restricted area for
some time, certainly sufficiently long
for a group of submarines to proceed
against them from any German port
Their position has been known 20
everybody and it would appear an
ideal chance for few submarines TO
either destroy them or to drive them
off. But nothing of the sort has
happened. These ships have been left
unmolested to harass the German
| flank, to prevent their approach to the
| coast, and to enfilade their trenches
| for several miles inland. They are
small vessels of such low speed that
they could not escape from sub
marine is attacked.
|
mirers believe. it is inconceivable
why these vessels have been left to in
terfere so seriously With the major
operations Of the German army. The
| fact that they have been so I'M
molested on an open coast, testifies to
the power of the British fleet to pro-
tect itself against all forms of at
| tack.
THE war is only at its beginning
yet, and many lessons may be learned
| before it's finish, but SO far nothing
has occurred to encourage the belief
that the submarine is supreme; on the
contrary it is losing prestige daily.
Many factors tend to make the sub
| marine popular as a means of de-
| fense-the silence and mystery of its
movements, the tremendous power OF
| it's blows, the almost limited field for
Imagination among those who know
| least of it's powers and shortcomings,
the always human sympathy for the