Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-12-10
By REAR ADMIRAL 0. scHLIEPER
(From the Illustrirte zeitungD

Leipzig, Germany.-Without exag-
geration we can safely say that never
in the history of naval warfare has
such a tiny entity as U-9 achieved
such remarkable success. 1t is not at
all the intention of the navy to make
much of the affair; but in all sober
ness it must be conceded that Capt.
Lieut.. Otto Weddingen and his brave
companions accomplished doughty
act on September %. We see three
English mighty armored cruisers
crumple up and sink to the bottom or
the ocean in a short time, IN few
brief minutes, carrying to death hun
dreds of splendid lives. 1t was done
in less time than it takes to tell by
boat" which had not even thirty per-
sons aboard.
How is such thing possible? How
can catastrophe take place in such
an inf1nitesimal period Of time? Well,
whoever knows anything at all about
the size and strength of our torpedo
heads can get fair idea Of the magn1-
tude of the explosion which took place
under the bulls of our enemy's cruis-
ers.
When a magazine is struck o. when
several watertight compartments are
shattered the water pours into the YES
sci like a mountain. Then, If there IS
time, mighty demands are made upon
the doors of the other compartments,
upon the entire equipment, upon care
full handling of the entire apparatus.
The future will show whether care
lessness or lack of training and drills
fastened the sinking of these three
large cruisers.
Worth of Submarine.
All this has nothing to do with the
courageous, plucky deed of U-9. The
result is there; it could not be more
complete. Here we see exemplihed
the full fighting capacity Of subma-
rine. 1t is able in broad daylight to
approach closely, within range Of the
vessels, and to sink one leviathan af-
ter the other. And all this without
being injured itself.
AS is known, all that is visible Of
submarine is its periscope, attached to
which is a tiny mirror in which the
commandant observes the enemy and
through which he is enabled to direct
the torpedo. The body Of the vessel
is not visible, and if necessary the
boat can travel to lower depth so
that the periscope also is submerged.
The submarine remains unframed,
while, as in the case of U-9, the yes
sells which have received their death
blow seek in wild chaos to keep afloat,
and their men-in this case fifteen
hundred-are doomed to death. The
invisibiIity Of the submarine, and the
comparative safety with which it per
forms it's deadly work were the fac
tors which were brilliantly demon
strated on the morning of September
%.
It is self-evident that such results
will not be obtained in every instance
with submarines, as desirable as this
would be for our vessels. But this
tremendous success proves that our
material, personnel and manner Of at
tack are on the right track. For what
was desired Of this weapon-a seago-
ing boat, with a large radius Of action,
which can travel independently of 9th
er vessels or harbors-has been splen-
didly effected.
Let Others Experiment.
1t was not easy to evolve such
boat. We did not pay any attention to
the jubiIant cries of our western
neighbors to the effect that they had
in commission a fiotilla Of perfect sub
marines, nor did the larger number
owned by the English navy trouble US.
W.