The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1915-11-27
new SHELL SINKS
BOATS UNDER SEA
Terrific Explosion Wrecks
Everything Within 100 Feet.
SUBMARINES GREATEST FOE

Secret Device Known as Conan Fuse
Has Fought German U Boats In
British Waters-Can Be Fired From
Cannon or Dropped From an Aero
plane.
A diving projectile. as effectively de-
strurtiye under the water as the shell
0f six inch field gun is Oh land. has
swept the seas clear Of German sub
marines for Great Britain and her al
aes. says u special correspondent Of the
Kew York World. writing from Paris.
Fer ut least two months, and probably
aOnSer. the British admiralty. by meaA
Of war craft and sea planes specially
equipped to hurl this new engine of
death. has hunted the u boats to theii
lairs or to the bottom Of the North sea
In revealing the existence Of this in
ventiOn the World provides the first au-
th9ritative explanation Of the lull III
Admiral Won TirpitZ's blockade Of the
British isles. The Conan fuse. as it -
AerIned officially. Is the British ad
mirllty'S most precious asset toda?
and its most closely guarded secret.
Certain Information about the device
is in the possession Of the Italian min
f6try OF marine. but probably not th'
details OF the recent Improvements
which have made it an absolutely sue
weapon.
The United States navy Departments
also knows a good deal about its gen
eral workings. How the facts nov
published for the first time reached thu
World correspondent obviously cannot
De fully disclosed. Suffice that all the
data have been confirmed by an Amer
Scan naval authority who has com
pieGe know ledge outside the British ad
uMiralty.
Invented by an lrishman-
The salient features of the Conan
fuse are aS follows:
1t was invented three years ago by
ann Irishman named Walter Conan.
whose home il in Dublin.
1t may be affixed to IL shell free
apom u rifed gun or howizter or to \
bomb dropped from an aeroplane.
In striking the water the projectile
OT which the Conan apparatus forms
part. dives and exploIes at any prede
termined depth UP to thirty feet be-
A~w the surface.
h eXplodeS within fifty feet Of the
vpWint at which 1t IL aimed.
Discharged from six inch gun, the
shock of its explosion under water is
sufficient to sink submarine (usually
my making it turn turtleI. shatter d
ships propeller. puncture an armor
belt or blow up mine field within
Sadius of 100 feet.
The principle on which Conan evOlv.
ed his fuse is that by the projection
OF wire into the tube water may be
induced to flow freely through very
narrow tube through which it would
not pass otherwise. Capillary action
apparently aids the water TO follow the
wire through the tube.
1t is understood that Conan has TAX
en- out Il patent i'll the United States
for pipes feeding gasoline to motor OF
aeroplane engines on this principle, the
value of such Il patent being the avoid
ance OF air locks.
The Conan fuse is used in cOnjunc
tioD with the British apparatus for de-
tecting the presence Of submarines by
means OF sound waves. Once the pres
ence of u submarine is known an aero
Dlane can be sent up TO locate the un-
deFsea boat and drop u bomb or signal
to surface vessel. Submarines under
the surface are plainly visible from
aeroplanes.
The problem which was hardest to
solve was that of making the all impor-
Gant tubes of the fuse adjustable TO
any depth Originally it had been nee
eSsary to cut the tubes in varying
lengths so they would become opera
tive at various depths. Since the be
ginning of the war. however. Conan
and his assistants have been able to
construct tubes which may be adjusted
almost us easily as the nose of a shell
and which act as exactly as any land
fuse
Explosion Felt on Shore.
AT one OF the experiments Il Conan
projectile. charged with thirty-ive
pounds of black powder. exploded with
force that was felt 500 meters away
On shore. 1t Is because of the incOm-
pressibility of water. which communi-
Gates concussion to neighborng OBJ
jects with undiminished force. that thr.
apparatus Is so dangerous to subma.
rines. Exploding within 100 feet OF q
submarine. for instance. 1t creates, even
without actually striking the craft, a
wave so mighty as to overturn and thus
sink it.