The Colorado statesman. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1895-1961, 1915-07-24

IAHI England found itself the
lMNW preponderant naval power,
[teNM' but deficient In land mill
aTgHvN tary strength On the
MMW other hand, Germany held
the preponderance as a
land military power. but was no match
Tor Great Britain on the seas.
LORD Kitchener placed at the head
OF the military organization of Great
britain, set himself at the tremendous
TASK of raising a volunteer army of
not less than 100000 men.
In Germany. Grand Admiral Won
llrpitz, as head of the German naval
organization. took up the task of equal
lzing the great difference in strength
between the Germany navy and that
Of England. The solution of the prob
lem was not to build up dreadnaughts
and battle cruisers, as that would take
too long.
Lord Kitchener had promised to
nave his new army ready to land on
the continent within six months The
problem confronting Admiral Won Tir-
pltz was to meet this new attack on
sea before 1t could reach the chan
mel ports of France and Belgium. So
all Germany's effort, aside from main
tanning its land military strength, was
centered on submarines. The pro-
gram decided upon has never been
made public. All that is known is
that the great works of Krupp at
Essen and the naval yards at Dant-
sic have been kept working twenty
four hours day building submarines.
The success of the submarine in
the Irish sea and In the English chan
mel, following the declaration by Ger
many placing British waters In the
war area, would indicate that Admiral
Won Tirpitz had completed his plans.
Undoubtedly the submarine at the
present time is the one overshadowing
factor In the war. The Germans have
been reported to have number of
surprises up their sleeves. The one
most heralded has been the Zeppelin
airships. These, however. have so far
proved disappointing.
On the other hand, their submarines
have taken a tremendous toll from the
British navy.
The submarine is the one instru-
ment of warfare against which no de-
\ Tense exists. Attacks of the aeroplane
and the Zeppelin have been success
fully met. New high angle fire guns
have been invented by all the nations,
and number of air craft have been
brought to earth by them. So far,
however the German submarines have
escaped unscathed.
To the existence of Englands great
navy may be traced the invention of
the submarine. Its attack on the
American colonies during the Revolu-
ton brought forth what is generally
acknowledged to have been the first
successful underwater craft.
The invention is accredited to Da-
vid Bushnell, Yale student. All
to 1775, he worked steadily on vessel
that would sail under water When
the Revolutionary war broke out he
had ready submarine boat which,
on account of its shape, was called
the Turtle.
He was given chance at the Brit
ish feet under Admiral Lord Howe
while 1t was blockading New York
harbor. The strange submarine was
launched in New York, but owing to
the fact that Mr.. Bushnell could not
navigate the Turtle himself, as he had
not sufficient physical strength. he
was forced to turn 1t over to another
man. The Turtle was propelled by
hand and had a maximum speed of
two miles an hour.
Ezra Lee, the man chosen to make
the attack on the British flagship.
the Eagle, had little time to learn
how to operate the new craft. He sue
ceeded in getting the Turtle under
meath the Eagle. placing a torpedo
under the ships hull, nut was unable
to fasten 1t. as the Eagle was sheathed
with copper. The torpedo had a time
lock on 1t which caused 1t to explode
within thirty minutes. 1t was, how
ever, carried away from the hull of
the Eagle by the tide. and at the ap-
pointed time it exploded, sending up
huge column of water not far from
the British flagship. The failure of
the enterprise disguised the continent
tai authorities and the whole matter
ended in ridicule.
A quarter of a century later Robert
Fulton took the Bushnell invention
over to France and interested Napo-
leon / in 1t. He was given a try at
the British squadron off the coast of
France, but here again the craft failed
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