The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-11-18
WILL CROSS OCEAN
GIANT FLEET SUBMARINE MARKS
AMERICAN NAVAL EPOCH.
BUILT FOR OFFENSIVE

BUILT FOR OFFENSIVE
New Craft Designed for Our Fleet
May Reyolutionize Warfare at Sea
Submarine to be Six Times Larg.
er Than Present Vessels of That
Type With Speed Of Battleships.
There was keen interest in naval
and diplomatic circles in Washington
in announcing the completion of plans
and specifications by the American
navy department for new type Of
war vessel to be technically designat-
ed feet submarine. The construction
of this new and powerful vessel is a
part Of the governments plan for in
creasing the general efficiency OF the
navy.
Official confirmation of every es- I
sential detail Of the dispatch regard
ing the submarine was obtained from
Secretary Daniels and Rear Admiral
Richard N. Watt, chief Of the bureau
of construction and repair, under
whose direction the drawingssfor the
new type of war craft were prepared.
with the permission of Secretary
Daniels, in response, to inquiries from
newspaper correspondents, Admiral
Watt replied categorically to series
Of questions, and in his responses,
made in the presence of Secretary
Daniels, Admiral Watt confirmed the
published facts regarding the charac-
teristics of the new submarine. as
well as the fact that bids for its con-.
struction would be opened on Deeem-
Der Is.
Admiral Watt admitted that the
feet submarine would be new type
Of war craft, that it would be double
the size of any other submarine yet
built or designed for the American
navy, that it would be sea-keeping,
feet-going submarine of more than
20 knots speed, intended for ofSen-
sive attack~in coltradistinction to the
existing type of coast-going subma-
rines, which are designed primarily
for naval defense.
1t was made plain by Admiral Watt
that the feature of the specifications
was not the mere size OF the new feet
submarine, but the fact that it would
provide for an entirely new type Of
naval war craft. 1t is designed 70 be
the biggest and fastest underwater
craft in the world, but the fact that
| it will be able to go anywhere the
American battleship feet goes, In
stead of hugging the coasts, that it
may cross the Atlantic Ocean under
its own power, something no other
submarine has yet done, and can go
| to the middle of the Atlantic to at
tack an enemy's warships and still
have the ability to return to its base
on the American coast line, makes the
proposed feet submarine radical de-
parture in naval construction.
Congress has appropriated s4,460.-
600 for the construction of eight or
more new submarines, Of which one
will be Of this new type. After sub
tracing s1,25e,000, the estimated
cost of the feet submarine, the navy
will have about s3,210,000 with
which to build the other seven or
eight coast defense submarines which
congress authorized when it quietly
provided funds for this new type OF
craft. This means that the other
seven or eight submarines for which
bids will be opened on December 15
will cost about $450,000 each, and a
comparison Of this with the sum Of.
| S1,250,000 that is to be spent In
building the monster new submarine
is Of itself evidence that the new yes-
sci will be fully double the size Of the
old ones.
The American navy has never at
tempted to send submarine across
the Atlantic Ocean under its own
power, and would not dream of send
ing the coast defense submarines
from an American port to the Philip
pines. The few submarines in the
Philippines were transported there
on the decks Of warships Nor has
any foreign power sent any of its sub
marines across any of the big oceans.
TIE fact is that no submarine ever
has crossed the Atlantic or Pacific ex-
cept on the deck of another ship, and
none is in existence that would be
risked on such voyage.
The feet submarine will be expect
ed to go wherever the battleship fleet
may go; to cover as much distance as
a dreadnought, and maintain the
same speed as heavy battleship. It
will be expected to go from New York
to Liverpool or to Gibraltar under its
own power Under forced draught
our battleship fleet is expected to
make 20 or q nautical miles an hour.
Unless a submarine were able to do
the same thing it could not accom-
pany fleet, because the speed Of
feet is determined by the speed of its
slowest unit. Our present submarines
make ii knots on the surface.
The German U-9 displaces about
ESQ tons, and 500 tons is about the
limit of size necessary for coast de-
fense submarines. The new feet SUBJ
marine will displace 1000 tons and
will be six times the size OF the Ger
man U-9. The mission Of the feet
submarine will be primarily to attack
the enemy's battleships Of the first
line on the high seas.
1t may either be sent out to the
far reaches Of the ocean alone to
search for dreadnoughts and sink
them, or it may be sent out with a
battleship feet to aid in destroying
the enemy's dreadnoughts.
What the influence of the complete
success of fleet submarine, highly
developed and built in large numbers
for offensive attacks will be upon the
future Of the dreadnought and super
dreadnought is as yet problematical,
but it is bound to exert a marked in