Omaha daily bee., 1915-10-03
BRITAIN CRUSHES
SUBSEA CAMPAIGN
English Navy Has Destroyed OF
Captured from Fifty to Seventy
Dachshunds.
ON TO SUBMARINES AT LAST

I
WASHINGTON, Oct. Great
Britain has discovered and put into
effective operation means of combat
ing the submarine, which, according
10 official reports to the United States
government, already have resulted in
loss estimated at between fifty and
seventy German submarines. The re-
ports declare that the British admir-
atty confidently believes it has
crushed the German undersea cam
paign.
New methods of offense and de-
Tense that may revolutionlze naval
warfare have been adopted, and high
] British naval officers are OF the opin
ion that unless the effectiveness Of
the submarine is increased 1t will no
longer constitute the menace that IL
has been to commerce and battle
fleets.
| Censor on the Job.
The British censorship has prevented
| the disclosure OF details concerning the
developments, but within the last three
weeks confidential reports to various
government departments from repre-
sentatives in European capitals of neu-
! trail as well as belligerent countries, have
confirmed the British admiralty's view
that an effective means of dealing with
the submarine has been found. These re-
ports are being closely scrutinized on
account of the bearing they may have
upon the naval policy OF the United
States. They reafflrm officers of the
navy In their conviction that the dread
nought still is the mainstay In warfare
on sea and tend to -dissipate the profound
impression created. by the spectacular and
for a long time apparently unsurpassed
operations OF the German u boats around
the, British IsleA
May Reach seventy.
According to the reports, destruction
or capture OF fifty submarines actually
had been reported several weeks ago,
and It was regarded as possible that the
number might have reached seventy. A
dinner was given recently in London
which, while not formal state affair.
was attended by high government Off
Gals, in celebration of the destruction of
the fiftieth underwater enemy. Reports
OF the dinner apparently were suppressed
by the censor in accordance with Great
Britain's policy OF keeping Germany in
doubt as to how. many of the boats have
been destroyed.
Although tho greatest secrecy is thrown
around the means employed the United
States government has information con-
corning the principal methods which
have been successful in meeting the Ger
man war zone campaign. A submarine
telephone has been developed by which 1t
is possible to detect the sound of the APP
preaching submarine from observation
boats or stations planted off shore and
connected. with points in mainland.
Huge Nets Stretched.
For the capturing of the craft whose
presence has not been detected or even
suspected. the governments reports de-
scribe how huge nets have been stretched
across the cbaynels through which the
submarines may be expected to attempt
to pass In open waters hear steamship
lanes or in the vicinity of warships. nets
suspended between floats have been
spread broadcast. Armed patrol boats
watch. and when the floats disappear
beneath the water, showing that sub
marine has become entangled, the patrols
congregate at the place. When the vic
TIM comes to the surface, as 1t inevitably
must to disentangle itself, it is destroyed
by gunfire or. captured.
a special type OF mine has been devised
that has proved particularly dangerous
to submarines approaching steamer lanes.
Must Return often.
The German methods Of supply ing sub
marines with oil and provisions. either at
sea or from concealed places along the
coasts of the British isles, have been
ferreted out and practically disposed Of
This compeis the boats to return 10 their
bases at more frequent intervals and
leaves them only a comparatively short
time In position and equipped for effect
i've duty.
Destroyert. the reports declare. become
expert In the game of submarine hunting.
and armed trawlers also have proved very
effective. on account of their speed and
ability to quickly get within easy range
of their victims. But the greatest single
factor, II Is said, has been a newly de-
signed and built fleet of small sea-goinE
motor boats, armed with one or two
three-inch guns. and possessing very high
speed. These boats swarm over suspected
eXpanses Of the waters and by an ef-
fectively-worlSed system OF patrol cover
almost every mile of the surface in chan
nels of commerce adjacent to Great
Britain.
Certain 10 he Detected,
AS a submarine must first rise to renew
it's air supply and recharge the storage
batteries by which it is propelled when
submerged. any In the territory covered
by the scouts Is almost certain to be d.
tected and destroyed. These small boats
have been built IN large numbers In Eng
land and It is reported that about so
OF them are being constructed in the