New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-04
Water, Not War
ships, Chief Foe
of CT w o f
Steel 'BWbble.'
By WILLIAM MORRIS HOUGHToN.

|
w TATER is the submarines worst
M enemy. This does not except bat
W tleships, destroyers, submarine
mines. aeroplanes or any other Of
!. Instruments Of destruction by which man
,.s with indifferent success to protect him
= from his own invention. In substantial
:. Of which we have the word of Lieutenant
,-nander Claus Hansen. Germanys most
-eated submarine fighter, and the fate of
s,F4 on Honolulu-an imposing and up-to-
at-1ute combination.
TIRE is always danger from leak" is
Lgrnant Commander Hansen's laconic eX-
.ston. And navy men are practically I'M
r.-ous in the opinion that it was leak which
-asnted the F-4 from rising, not because it
a5led the boat, but because it disabled the
-w When one considers that Of all human
@,tyances the submarine has most to do
rh water, and that with all other kinds of
rats it is the boat and not the crew which
as FIRST puts out of business, the whole thing
|@nds hopelessly paradoxical and compli-
Ed. But an elementary lesson in the anat-
-y and operation of the mechanical whale
Fl ,ucidate the mystery.
70 begin with. the thing has a double bot
"a when floating on the surface and only a
81, one when submerged which, of course,
-iy eonfuses us the more until we learn
"a between the two bottoms is series OF
l1 The sea is let into these tanks when it
/ :ssired to submerge the craft, and, filled or
Ttaly so, they drag it under, just as water
snto the hold Of any ship will sink her. But
F Submarine, having a steel roof as strong
'a watertight as her hull, can regulate her
chng by the amount Of water she is willing
ake into her tanks.
f A HUNDRED YARDS DEPTH THE
PRESSURE IS DANGEROUS.
Nth her tanks full, however, she has only
1Is skin TO keep her dry, which increases
Ulnerabilty. And the deeper she dives
Eeater becomes the pressure on her plates.
'a'ing at the rate Of 44-1oo of pound per
'ds inch every foot she sinks. This means
~n the estimated depth of 800 feet, where
r. rests, the pressure on her plates is $40
PEI square inch, enough to start her leak
S'f. she without defect.
lN above the tanks full of salt water rest
%omarine's batteries for her propulsion
"a submerged The electrolyte used in
= batteries is sulphuric acid which, when
r'asd with SILT water, produces the deadly
~1e gas In case OF leak this gas spreads
"Snoat the boat but especially into the
: quarters OF the crew and into the CEN
"nrol compartment just above the bat
ana asphyxiates the crew before they
"as the boat to the surface Otherwise,
i, py blowing tn water out of her tanks
!, %"ns her diving rudder upward, they
v shooting to the top and making for
escape any serious consequences from
YAK Even should they hit bottom.
cshcult il not impossible to eject
s"er and impossible to continue the
',a0n Of the boat, the crew might remain
=" TWO or three days on their supply of
~, s'o air were it not for this gas which
Il ~e membranes of the nose and lungs
'U0ys Its victim in short order.
'SUMENT FROM THE TOMB OF
The HEROIC DEAD.
j ls rapid asphyxiation is preferable
~ 'Saoeation from lack of air if death
jss =. VI the other is inevitable. The pres
a
80 undoubtedly proved a blessing on
I &c.. eH occasions, as in the case of the
submarine No. 6, which sank while