Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-11-24
DOOM OF WARSHIPS
SEEN IN LATEST OF
SUBMARINE TYPES
Dreadnoughts, Even of Most
Powerful Build, Cannot
Cope With Hidden Foe
Able to Take Long Cruise.
nu A NAVAL EXPERT

NEW YORK, Nov. 4.-The sinking Of
the British superdreadnought Audacious
by the explosion of a whitehead torpedo
fred from a submarine only confirms my
heretofore published statements that no
surface vessel can withstand the attack
of Whitehead torpedo or mine 1t also
proves that the maintenance OF close
blockade of one country's ports by an
other is impossible. It further proves
that IL will be impossible for England or
any other country longer to claim to be
,it1lstress of the seas" because subma-
rine boats are rapidly being developed
with sufficient radius of action to chase
and attack battleships on the high seas
1 think the report that the submarine
which sank the Audacious was accom-
panied by mother ship was an error. III
the Germans have In commission some OF
their 1912 or 1918 authorized class OF sub
marines they could readily have made
cruise as far as Lough Swilly and return
without a mother ship. Our latest boats
of about the same size have radius of
action Of over 5000 miles at n speed of
IL knots. a vessel Of this type would
therefore be able to steam from any of
the German ports and take UP a posi-
ton off any harbor or base which the
English might establish, either on the
English Channel or on the west coast of
England or Scotland.
II these vessels are fitted with anchors
so they could remain at anchor in a
buoyant condition. or with cushioned bot
tom wheels 80 they can lie at rest or
navigate on the bottom, they could have
reached Lough Swilly and have remained
on station for q month at a time IL neces
sary, awaiting opportunity to get within
sufficient close range to fire their torpe-
does.
| learned several months before war
was declared that Krupp had a large
number of Diesel engines under construc-
ton lover 6O), some of them of large size.
This would indicate that 80 or more sub
marines were then rapidly nearing COM
pletion.
therefore have no doubt that from
now on we will continue to hear of the
loss of England's capital ships unless
they withdraw them into land locked mar
bors or keep them far away from the
coast lines where they cannot be located
by the Germans.
The only thing England can do is 70 fit
her own submarines with bottom wheels,
anchor weights and mine detectors and
eVadlng apparatus and make good Win
ston Churchilps threat Ito dig the Ger
mans out" or keep off the German har-
bors and keep their capital ships also
bottled up.
1t appears the Germans. who are the
great national students OF new methods
of warfare, are rapidly getting into the
position TO carry out their desire as eX-
pressed to me by Admiral Won Tirpitz
several years ago at the time submitted
to them plans of the first cruiser type of
submarine. The Admiral told me that
they were more interested in boats for
offensive purposes against a foreign coun-
try than they were In the defensive class.
At that time the failure to get salts
factory engine prevented the construction
of such large vessels, but that difficulty is
being rapidly overcome, and l expect
within the next two years we will be able
to build submarines equaling or exceed
ing battleship speed and radius of action.