The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-10
SUBMARINES OF U. 5. NAVY ARE
 ID BE DOUBLED
At Least 30 New Undersea Fighters to Be Asked by General Board in Next
 Recommendations

Washington, July 9.-The next build-
 ing programme of the United States navy will include estimates for nearly ] double the number of submarines ap- propriated for by the last session of Congress From officials in close touch
 with the administrators plans for tie
 navy it was learned tonight that while the general board would wait until September before making it's recom- | mendations. at least 80 and probably
 more submarines certainly would be requested.
 Some naval officers of high rank who are being consulted think as many | as 90 aor T5 submarines would not be too many. but those who are taking into account the necessity for enlarg- ing other parts of the navy programme
 believe conservative estimate of the l number which eventually will be agreed upon Is about sO The last
 Congress in three sessions authorized 26 submarines and the United States has a total now of nearly 70 in com
 mission or building. Within two years the total. it is estimated, may be | brought up to 100 under-sea fighters Secretary Daniels, it is understood favors large building programme believing that in the development of the efficiency of the submarine arm lies the most important task of the navy today. The action of the last Congress in appropriating for 16 sub marines when only eight or more were asked for is believed to have given
 the secretary confidence that the next
 session of Congress would be even more generous in it's grant
 Wilson's Attitude Unknown While the attitude of President Will son on the question of submarine build ing is not definitely known as yet
 those who are familiar with his views on the navy in general formed since the outbreak of the European war will not be much surprised if he approves an extraordinarily large programme for the construction of underwater craft. The importance of the subma-
 rine for the United States, not so much in its offensive strength against enemy battleships and cruisers but for de- fense of lengthy coast lines is ap-
 
 derstood and he plans to examine closely the entire question in confer
 ences with Secretary Daniels before
 the estimates for 1917 are finally sub mitted
 Information is being gathered rap- idly abroad by the experts of the navy department concerning the latest im- provement in the underwater boats One lof the reasons why some Euro pean countries have been able to man. ufacture submarines rapidly has been because of their development of the industry of making internal combus ton oil burning engines. Experiments are being conducted by the navy for the use of electric batteries in pro- polling submarines for submerged op- erations and it is believed that when the general board is ready to make It's report next September the number of submarines recommended will de- pend almost entirely on the number of batteries and engines that can be sup piled.
 l. Greater efficiency than has been achieved by any foreign navy is con fdently predicted by high naval of icers for American submarines as a
 result of the new batteries which are to be introduced. Already Secretary Daniels has announced that all sub
 marines built will be equipped with one or more disappearing guns for sur face action. A school devoted entire ly to the training of officers and crews for submarines now is in operation. Developments Worked Out While the development of the sub marine is being worked out plans for the two superdreadnaughts provided for by the last Congress are being de- layed pending the results of experi- mcnts now in progress with defense sy1r tnr tar. nat, al said today that Rear Admiral Taylor,
 chief of the bureau of construction and repair was directing the series of ex periments. using armored caissons to represent 'battleships.
 It is said that the thickness of ar nor necessary to withstand the explo- sion of the most modern torpedoes and also the amount of hull subdivision required to keep a ship afloat after her bottom has been torn open by mine or torpedo are the problems upon which navy officers are working A point to be determined Is wheth- CT the new ships shall carry main bat teries of eight 1o-inch rifles or of IF 14-inch weapons each. The new 16- inch rifle, the largest ever designe for naval use, has proven entirely sat isfactory. it has been stated. although no details of it's performance have been made public. The big gun has a great CT range and striking force than the 15-inch weapons of the newest battle ships of foreign nations There is also, however, a tremendous increase in weight, making it necessary to reduce the number of guns carried.
 Some officers believe the present A. inch gun, which has range beyond the reach of vision at sea and tre- mendous hitting power, should be TO- tained for the new ships because 12 can be mounted on each ship as against eight 16-inch.