The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-12-12
IT'S NOT WISE TO
 BUILD TOO MANY
 SUBMARINES NOW
Best Type of Engine Not Yet Developed, Says Simon
 Lake, Inventor
True Interest of Naval De fense Will Be Observed
 By Building Slowly

Simon Lake, inventor of the Lake l submarine torpedo boat, in comment 1 ing today upon recent discussions of su bmarine construction before the House naval committee at Washing ton, and the attitude of the govern ment towards the u1der-sea craft, in an interview with the Bridge port l Evening Farmer today expressed al
 most optimistic view of the present craft owned by the United States and l the future.
 He predicted in substance that this country will be found to have as good submarine craft as any country in the
 world, not excluding Germany; that the submarine .sas a stbmarir1e,s has now been admitted by high navy of l fcia1s to function perfectly; that the construction of this type of craft In U- s. navy-yards will greatly benedtI both the government and the nanu- facturers, and that within a few years they will have engines which will overcome the present difficulties as to speed. | While. admitting that he had been retained in an advisory capacity to the government at the Portsmouth, N. H., yards which are now being turned into a submarine construction, plant he denied that such plant would be likely to curtIil the output of the Bridgeport plant, and intimated that the government would use nearly TO devices patented by him and now ern- ployed in the construction of boats built here. He Roresaw in the present navy plans a complete triumph for 1 the ideas he has long advocated. and l which had been Ignored in some in- stances by naval constructors
 To 9 certain extent combating the lsadvocates of a large submarine fleet, Simon Lake today deprecated the f hT1iIdjnr al boats at the present time, implying that the art of engine building had
 not progressed equally with that of submarine boats and that a large fleet at this time would be likely to thwart the best interests Of defensive Iswarfare.
 With the feats of the German sub marines Drought prominently to his
 notice MT. Lake declared that while I in his opinion the German craft were far superior to those Of the English, having dem onstrated that they could l trate the British mine fields. he point Led out that Germany had 27 Of these big sea-going submarines and the
 average of battleships sunk should l have been much greater. That Ger many is having trouble with her en- l zines was therefore certain. in the T mind Of the inventor. Asked how l Gernaanyss ships had made the voy-
 age Af LakeS 4dvanced the theory that while as fn the United States the lyesseIs were built under comparative I ly high speed specifications; the Ger
 man navy rules permitted these boats at all times run under slower speeds 1 than those specified in the trial tests, l in consequence of which the greatest engine efficiency was secured.
 Significantly comparing the subnar- inc to a watch the authority asked: | t.can it be expected that the ordinary I mechinic, however skilled, may re- .ipair the delicate mechanism of iwatch as we'll as the specialist who I works upon and adjusts it in the fac- 1 tory where it is made 2''
 ! It is upon this assumption that the building of U. s. navy factory Is
 Hooked upon in the eyes of this ex-> 1pert as a big stride in the perfection
 land better operation of the A1nert-
 lean submarine. With the improve ment which Is bound to come from
 greater knowledge of this type Of Il craft, it's efficiency will improve and la greater demand ensue, which will
 I naturally give the private plants Iarg-
 Ter opportunities to build and expand
 their business.
 I In spetaking of the engines neces- jsary for high speed, MT. Lake adduc-
 led that no country has yet got an en- l zine design that will work perfectly
 in a boat, though 1t does so in a. shop. ,I The engine as we'll as the batteries
 must be s'fool proof, and combine in
 Ia greatly Iessened space the speed and
 horse power that are found now only
 in structures of far greater bulk than
 can be used beneath the surface. Also
 I the pressure must be greatly reduced.
 IWhen it is realized that the cylinder
 tpressure upon an ordinary gasoline 4engfne in the automobfle is but 60 or 70 pounds and that in the Diesel engine .I the pressure is approximately 500 pounds to the square inch, it will readily be seen that to avoid acci- Il dents to the cylinder heads or in the bearings the most perfect adjustment, ,l handling and lubricants must be used. T While the government is at present
 Experimenting with a new type Of en-
 zine at the Brooklyn navy yard, 1t
 was asserted that engine builders in
 this country have not attempted to I develop an engine which would be
 Erlra ctical on high-sneed. slElrla aniraeez