Evening star., 1915-04-11

Under water the submarine is al
ways blind. even when the brightest
light of the MONDAY sun shines verti-
cally into the ocean. 1t can see only
with Its periscope eye above the sur
face.
At night the periscope cannot see
Then the submarine ceases to be useful
as a submarine. 1t can act still, but
pedo boat
Two score destroyers, each OF thirty
knots. each armed with from four to
ten three-inch guns and rapfd-hrers
circled around the transports. Twice
as swift as the surface speed of the
swiftest submarine. armed overwhe'm-
ingly. they could defy surface attack. Il
They hemmed the darkened troop
ships round with great circle OF
searchlights, all thrown outward. that
mating the ocean for miles and Of blind
ing any who tried to approach. Nc
human eye looking into that glare
could have seen the transports, even
II the night had not shrouded them.
Still. these liners. with their tens OF
to be protected only by this bright vigil
lance. From each transport there pro-
5ected long steel booms. eleven to a
side. These held out a half-ton net OF
steel grommets- Stretched fore and
aft as taut as steam capstans could
haul 1t. this shirt of chain mail hung
far down into the sea to catch any tor
pedo that might come driving at the
keel
There was more protection than that.
1t would be day soon and then the sub
marines would be blind no longer. All
around the area chosen for the trans
ports to lie in, the fishing boats taken
from the sea-fslands were being towed
by destroyers. to drop their nets. Their
wooden buoys formed odd geometrical
outlines on the sea.
These thin things OF meshed twine.
made only to hold little. tnoffensive
fish. were suspended like submarine
fences, north and south and east and
west Of the field Of operations.
Thta such trivial things should be of
any avail against underwater craft
with death in their heads might well
have seemed absurd to a landsman.
tenant who commanded United States
submarine Ms, when he steered his
craft awash. out from behind Fishers
Island Sound at dawn. and looked east
ward through his glasses.ii
Ten miles away lay the transports.
quite motionless. beautifully assem- bled
as a target for him. At that distance
their masts and tunnels seemed hud-
died. He had vivid picture in his
mind. for an instant. 1t was a picture
of fat. slow sheep crowding together
with wolf among them.
But between them and his wolf lay
the net buoys. dotting all the surface.
some laboring artist to make a maze
The seawolg went slowly nearer.
With it's tanks full of water, 1t lay so
far submerged that the sea washed the
coaming around the manhole hatch.
The lieutenant was like a man wading
breast high in the ocean. It would be
hard to see him from any distance.
He studied the traceries of buoys.
There were spaces between them, that
betokened gaps in the fences. One
might find gap and go through.
But to find gap. the submarine must
raise her periscope above water and
look around. And here, sweeping in
cessantlv to and fro, like galloping
cavalry, were destroyers.ia
Could one dive and go through blind ?
The lieutenant knew the limitations of
could draw y-thousand-ton ship
into the abyss. but the woven twine
would laugh at torpedoes.
Its nose could cut through them like
torn ends would catch coming tower
and masts and periscope tubes. Even
if it tore away from them the
whir1 of the propeller remained to re-
new the danger. sucking the trailing
cords to itself and in one instant
switching them around and around the
spinning shaft
With the propeller blocked, the sub
marine must rise, for only with it's.
propeller thrusting and its horizontal
marine stay under. 1t submerges. not
by sinking, but by diving with main
strength.
Another rather vivid picture flashed
a picture. this time, of a wolf among
sheep. 1t was a picture of a sudden
enormous commotion among those quiet
net-buoys. as of something struggling
down below. and then of violent
surge as the tangled nets were carried
to the surface by helpless submarine,
held fast by the tails
A breeze arose with the rising sun
and the water roughened The sub
marine stopped. 1t could not meet
though it's buoyancy when it was
sealed was such that its propeller had
to thrust full speed to make it dive,
yet, with its matches open, 200 gallons
of water, far less than is contained in
single big wave. would send it down
like a tin canit
The commander held on as long as he
could. watching the whitening water in
the east. and watching the transports.
He saw that at a thousand Yards dis
tance around them Dust what he would
have chosen as neat torpedo range)
there lay little feet of gunboats, all
thrusting out booms With steel nets.
that made them look odd as II they
were hooped and wide skirted Dis
posed in an oval. they guarded the
transports with a second wall of steel
wire.
And overhead. soaring in spirals. never
flying far away. and always returning,
were three naval planes. The command
er of the Ms knew that they were wait
ing and watching for just one thing-the
shadow" of submerged submarineis
This enemy. plainly, was taking no
chances. The fleet had power and time.
1t bent them to one object-to land its
men safely. 1t would not engage the har-
bor defenses and SO open itself to the
risks of plunging fire and torpedo at
tack. 1t would not blockade harbors, and
so mako itself chosen mark for such
terrors as M-9.
Very scientifically, very thoughtfully.
had the enemy staked out the vital spot
at which he bad decided to strike Here,
facing each to each. almost like the sali-
ents of fortifcation, lay three harbor
TO- American submarines now in commission
do not carry more than one 3-inch rapd-fre
from which 1t Is elevated when the vessel Is
on the surface. Armaments Of destroyers are:
Ammen class. i've 3-inch rapid-hre .3O-caliber
rifles: Aylwin class. four 4-inch rapid-fire So
caliber rifles; Bainbridge class, two 3-inch
rifles and five 6-pounders rapid fire.
IL. Submarine wire entanglements are being
tse tor he re OF
sist cutting much more than twine can. 1t