Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-11-25
PRESENT TYPE Of
]. s. SUB NJ A Rim {
MAY Be ABANDONED
Recent Navy Manoeuvres of At
lantic Fleet Show That Our
Submersibles Met with
Difficulties.

Washington, Nov. 22.-Abandonment Of
the present coast defense type submarine
in favor of larger seagoing submersibles
may be recommended by the navy depart
ment as a result Of lessons learned dur
Ing the recent manoeuvres of the Atlantic
fleet and unofficial information concern.
ing the size of underwater craft now in
service in Europe. There are indications,
1t was said that the United States is
tagging behind in submarine development
even with one one-thousand ton sub
mersible nearing completion and two of
300 tons soon to be ordered. Navy Off
Gals have been particularly impressed by
the apparent probability that submarine
Of approximately 80 tons ana meas uring
go feet in length has been engaged in the
warfare against allied merchantmen.
Reports on the fleet manocuvrcs, 1t has
just become known, tell graphic stories OF
tho difficulties encountered by the Il little
submarines attached to the BLUE" force
commanded by Admiral Fletcher and de-
Tending the coast against u theoretical
enemy. TIE boats were ut sea several
days and encountered continuous rough
weather. Whilo no unexpected mechan-
ical troubles were encountered, the per
sonnet of the vessels suffered extremely
from sea Sickness bad air. improper food
and the continual huffeting they received
In the pitching and rolling. To impair
ment Of the efficiency of the crews by sea
sickness alone many mino. mishaps to the
boats are said to be attributed.
The manceurres included the first at
tempt to employ She submarines, all of
the coast defense type and none displa cling
more than SEQ tons. at nearly Loo miles
OF shore. The general scheme of defense.
it is said. fixes that distance at sea as
the zone within which coast submar'n IS
should be able to operate in any weather
Should an enemy succeed in reaching
within a hundred miles or so of the coast
it is argued by some officers he would
be- able to guard his fighting force with
n screen Of mine eweepers, destroyers and
aeroplanes which would render the
chances Of attacking his capital ships very
uncertain. Far ct sea, however the screen
could not be maintained.
For the purposes Of the manoeuvres Adj
miral Fletcher placed his submarine in
reserve, ready to strike north or south as
the movements of the Red" hostile feet,
1.a0 miles of shore, might necessitate
One of the l. beats was unable 10 reach
its station as II would not steer properl?
in the rough weather The other II, bat
tened down tight for days at a time and
with water pouring over them day and
night, carried out their orders. Later the
"Blue" commander discovered that his
Rcd" enemy was sweeping to southwark
He ordered the submarines south to inter-
cept the feet. An indication of the trou-
bles encountered is given in the fact that
it took six hours to convey this order to
one Of the submersibles.
Finally the hctila started southwark
but was able to make less than half the
speed required to bring it to its appointed
station on time. Navigation was accom-
plished only by dead reckoning for with
their vessels closed UP tight and tumb!ins
atout in water the officers could not
verify their positions. They wer' iftv
miles or more out Of position at the con-
clusion of the trip, and the Ped" trans
ports and convoy swept through the
American soil,
While no definite recommendations have
been made the question for the value Of
a submarine as small as the present type
for coast defense work is being seriously
considered. There are more than seventy
boats of 500 tons or less displacement now
built or building for the navy.
The view has been presented. it is un-
derstood that with larger submarines the
difficulties of navigation at sea would
be reduced, greater speed could be at.
tanned, and the efficiency of the boats
for purposes such as that of TIL,
manoeuVres increased proportonately.