Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-02-19

Abouklr, llogue and trr~~N were all sunk
within the space OF about an hour BY one
German submarine. the world maS given 4
startling demonstration ot the possibilities
of this type of underwater fighting craft.
In the subsequent fighting ~ sea these YES
sells have played such IN important part
AZ 10 give considerable justification 10 .Ad-
miral Sir Percy Scots prediction that
when submarines nave been fully developed
they will entirely di~place the great dread
naught~ that form the principal fighting
strength Of the navie~ If the present time.
During the five years preceding the war.
submarine fighting craft had been devcl-
oped 10 a high state Of efficiency. Among
the new vessels, ~ubmcr~iblc~ had almost
entirely superseded the original type that
bore the name Of submarine. For under
standing the character Of the fighting
craft that has come into such prominence
1T j necessary to distinguish between the
two tpyes of vessels. The original sub
marine was designed primarily to operate
under water and was far from being Il
seaworthy craft when running on the sur
face. These vessels were therefore valu-
able mainly for coast defense and for
operations within restricted limits IN con
nection with Il fleet Of war~hip~. The sub
mcrSiblc, while having all the underwater
efficiency Of the submarine. j. built 10
operate on the surface a. well. and J. prac-
tically a. -caworthy a. 4 destroyer. Such
vessels are capable Of making long VOYAGES
and nf t.E1u.r III. .fygu-sx. ,l....I..4l-
and not simply a. auxiliarie- to \ fleet of
warshipS. All the later vessels, while com
monty called submarines. are in fact sub
mcr~iblcs. The original submarines still III
service are used almost exclusively tor
coast defense.
The submarine j. shaped like Il cigar. \
cross section Al any point along the hull
being practically circular. IN the sub
mer>iblc this shape H. retained for the III
ner shell, but over this j. built 4 hull that
gives the aplcted vessel the shape Nh \
torpedo 1T. The inner she'll contains aIl
the working parts of the boat. while the
space between the two shells " utilized for
the water ballast compartments which.
when filled, overcome the buovancv IT tie
craft and cause II ~ INK ID amy desired
depth beneath the water. Tho interior VI
the ~ubmcr~iblc imrrc~~c~ one ~ beng \
thing 81 supreme nervous cacrgv with
every detail devoted 10 The accomplishment
Of Just one thing that of slipping IN close
10 the %encmy'> ship and sinking IL with \
torpedo. 81 completely J. the vessel flied
with machinery and equipment tor thi~
purpose that only very limited space can
he utilized for quartcring and feeding the
crew.
While the newer -uhmcr~ihlc~ are
equipped with tubes for firing torncdnc~
from the stern and even from the side. the
principal fighting equipment " al the bow.
Here are located either two Or four tor
pedo tubes. Unlike the guns ~ battle
ship, these tubes must b. aimed III the mark
by aiming the entire vessel. Each tube
closed by d trap door thar opens auto
maiically when the torpedo ~ fred ana
closes the instant the torpedo hao started
on it, Journey Of destruction. Back VII
the torpedo tubes l. 4 conAhartmcnt for
the storage ~ torpcdoe~ and III thi~ MI.
also sleeping quarters for the officers III
the vessel. Ia the deck above thi~ com
partmcnt j. a hatch for taking III the tor
pcdoe~. Next comes 4 compartment con
tanning one 81 the two electric storage bat
tcric> which furnish power for prupcliiua
the vessel when Il ~ under water. Back
81 tins. "a the center 90 the vessel. II thu
central operating compartment. from which
every movement ~ the vessel II controlled.
Next comc~ \ compartment containing the
second ~ct 90 storage batteries. then the
engine room and workshop. and finally the
compartment Id the stern containing thr
propclling and steering machinery. Tie
crew, which often numbers from 20 IL ~
men on 4 -uhmcr~ibIe. are usually quar-
tered ~ hummork- i'll tho compartments
containing the storage batteries.
OF all the equipment III submarine yes
seis the most important i, the pcri~cupc. \
simple device that serves a, the ewes III the
craft when Il l. running submerged. On
the latest ~ubmer-ible~ two II these in-tru-
ments are used, one beng fixed IL give y
view straight ahead and the other being w
mounted that II can hc turned III face ~
amy direction. Although serving such i
vital part N the operation of 4 submarine
the pcu~cope ~ exceedingly simple IN con
struction. The light enters the hood III the
pcrIscope horizontally. II then passes
through a priSmatic lens that dci4cct~ n
downward Al right angles INTO the vertical
shaft Of the peri~cope. Al the bottom III
the shaft i i second len- that again turns