The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-11
Despite Activity of u Boats Writer
Points Out That She Has Swept
Oceans Clear of Enemy Ships

lection. coast defence (250 to 500 tons)
and the projected so%akeeping or feet
submarine Il 200 tons). Some OF these
boats carry bow torpedo tubeS only.
some bow and stern tubes, and others
external deck tubes also.
The hun OF the two former classes
Is circular in cross section at the
middle. tapering to ellipses at bow and
stern. The test depth for modern
designs is usually $50 feet. In
manpuvring. however, IL accident &C.
ours at 100 feet or more the chance OF
rising to safety il slim
The time required for u%nrigglng to
slbmergc averages about five minutes.
\ running dive from the awash con
dition may be made in from 80 seconds
to 2'a minutes. The lost C-2a. which
was until recently the last word in
German construction. displaced about
1000 tons, had speed on the surface
of eighteen knots and submerged OF
ten and a surface cruising radius Of
1000 miles. She was equipped with
four torpedo tubes. two fourteen
FOUNDER guns and two high angle one
FOUNDER guns FOR rcpelling aircraft.
In general modern submarines can run
at maximum speed submerged for
about ono hour and for twenty-foir
hours at one-third that speed.
In clear weather the submerged
submarine n see a large ship eight
miles away through its periscope, a
collapsible vertical tube fitted with
lenses and prisms. which gives the
.Ay, ,.n al.r ,g.... Ill tL.t $1,000
"A telescope on the surface. She can
both speak and hear-for distances
varying, according to conditions. from
one to eight miles-through the
Fessenden oscillator. a vibrating
diaphragm fitted in each bow. which
either transmits sound waves to or
receives <,em from the surrounding
water. The vibrations OF these
diaphragms are gathered by the micro
phone and conveyed TO the telephone
receiver in the coming tower, or vice
versa.
The vessel 10 steered by the gyro-
scopic compass. which. by eliminating
the sluggishness and deviation Of the
magnetic needle, has opened the Seven
Seas to these boats. Large SUBJ
marines OF recent construction have
Sleeping accommodations, steam heat
electric cookers and re~frigerators for
fresh food.
The dimness OF twilight and dawn,
fog and the rough surface of a choppy
sea all favor submarine attack. Even
in other conditions the boat can
scarcely be distinguished five or six
miles away. Apparently the sub
$3.50 .4.4 l---FI 80 E
success with so accurate a projcctile
as the torpedo. II its aim We're no,
frequently defective.
fake the question OF sight and dis
lance: If a tangent to the curved
surface Of the sea be assumed to
sweep around from the top of a peri
scope with the maximum exposure OF
twenty feet i will describe "A sea hori-
ION having a radius Of 10000 yards,
which Is thus the limit of the sub
marines vision. At this distance a
d~readnoueht IS 20 II but n dot filing
one degrce-l-3G0th-of to horizon.
To find and fire n such n spccE makes
long rang" work very unreliable and
also decidedly costly with torpedoes
at $1,000 or more each. So the sub
marine is perforce n close quarters
fighter at a torpedo range of not more
than 1000 yards.
When the enemy Is sighted. six
miles or more away, the submarine
commander takes his bearings. with
draws his per!sCopr and by the Gyro-
SCOPE compass steers an accurate
course 20 within torpedo range. pref.
crahly 800 yards, Then the perlscops
* exposed Just enough for aiming and
the torpedo is fired.
The latter is aimed by pointing the
boat, which is the torpedo gun. Fol
"A moving target and with torpedoes
capable 81 angle fire the angle he.
tween the torpedo's path and the line
between rhe boat and its target Is Sc,
ny the torpedo director, an automatic
instrument.
The chief difficulty IN aiming lies ir
The fact that while the submarine