The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-12-01
CLOSE GUARD
KEPT ON SHIP
YARDSAT KEEL
THE GERMANS ARE TAKING NO
CHANCES ON HAVING THAT I'M
PORTANT CASE DESTROYED
BUILDING NEW CRAFT.


Hague, and London, Nov. 30.-A pair
of gray submarines lie alongside the
dock where the American sonderklasse
yachts were moored during their last
visit to Kiel. The warships anchored
in the ford wear paint and have their
tropedo nets rigged. A Red Cross flag
flies from the Imperial Yacht club.
The skylights in the shipyard build
ings have been blackened to prevent
lights from within being seen by hos
tile aviators, and placards in hotel
rooms bear the request that the shut
ters to the windows bee losed before
any light is displayed. AS further
precaution against attacks by air craft,
machine guns have been posted in in
conspicuous positions on the roofs of
the higher buildings and occasionally
sentinels may be seen on the roofs of
hig structures. Broad eXpanse of for
tifications and barbed wire entangle-
ments is traversed here and there
when one is driving on the outskirts.
These precautions have been taken
against any possible attack on the all
| important Kiel canal by air or land.
| otherwise the Kiel of these days of
warfare appears little different from
the Kie of ordinary times.
Everything Prepared.
His visit convinced the Associated
Press correspondent of the truth of an
earlier impression
That war for the German navy diff
fers from peace only in the existence
of an actual, instead of a prospective
enemy. The navy's normal of pre-
paredness was so high for example,
that virtually nothing remained to
be done to the battleships and cruis-
ers after the outbreak of war.
Some of the officers and men who
were questioned said they had seen
, the tips of Russian masts, but they
had seen nothing of war except the
strenuous outpost patrol duty in the
, wintry Baltic and North Sea waters.
But this work also is part of the Gus
tomary peace routine of the German
navy.
These men Enthusiastically are chat |
ing for a chance to meet the British |
navy and find it hard work to remain !
patient, but take into consideration
the strategies which govern the policy |
of the German fleet. They express lit |
tie bitterness toward the British, but
rather a desire to match strength with
a worthy opponent whom they always
have admired.
Submarines Nearing Completion.
A large number of submarines are
approaching completion or are in a
stage of construction. Several have
been put into commission since the
outbreak fthe war. All of these are
of the largest seagoing type. The Ger
mans claim that already they have
more of the big cruising type of sub
marines than have the British. Evi-
dence also is to be seen that Ger
many's mosquito fleet of torpedo boat
destroyers has been considerably
strengthened since the outbreak OF
the war in boats having speed of
thirty-siX knots. Details are not given
for obvious reasons. There have been
a considerable number of additions to
the capital ships also.
An interesting feature of the cores
pondent's visit was the inspection of
two submarines. One of these, Lieu
tenant Weddingen's famous U9 was
of the old type. The other was of the
latest type and had just been put into
commission. This latter style of sub
marine is able to keep to the sea as
long as the crew can stand the strain.
The problem of rescue in case of acci-
dent is solved by buoys fore and aft,
to which chains can be attached, and
a smaller buoy carrying telephone
and an electric light. A complete sys-
TEN of water-tight compartments gives
the crew a chance of life even when
quite a hole has been opened in the
shell.
The torpedo works have been almost
doubled in capacity since the begin
ming of the war, and they are now
turning cut more torpedoes than are
used so that the large war reserve is
increasing.
The Iron Clad, formerly called the
Oldenburg, was the only warship to
be seen in the harbor whose paint had
been marred She had been used for
target practice and now is being patch
ed up to give the jackies another op-
portunity to test their skill with guns
while they are waiting for anoppor-