The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-20
SIMON LAKE TELLS HOW THE EVEN KEEL
 TYPE OF SUBMARINE ENTERS HARBORS GUARDED BY FLEETS AND MINE FIELDS

earth. The submarine automobile has one great advantage over the surface type in it's ability to mount steep grades or go over Instructions, be- cause the vessel is so nearly bouyant that she will mount any obstruction she can get her bow over.
 My early experience proved to me that a submarine could not be Satis- factori1y submerged in shallow, rough water by the same method Of control as was found to be satisfactory in deeper water, flor the reason that the vessel would pump up and down with the rise and fall of the sea- Neither could the vessel lie at rest on the bot tom as the lift of the ground swell in bad weather was sufficient, even with 3. conside deraible negative bSIoyancy, to cause the vessel to pound so badly that the storage battery plates would fbe destroyed in a. few minutes I, therefore, suspended the wheels on swinging arms and applied a cushion ing cylinder. The hull of the vessel was then free to move up and down, synchronizing with the lift of the ground swell and at the same time the weight of the wheels kept the sHHb- marine close to the bottom and able to keep her position while at rest or to be navfgated over the bottom at any speed desired.
 Most of our Atlantic coast, Long Is- la11ds and Chesapeake Bay water beds
 
 depths. Tn other countries have nay igsted over rocky bottoms filled with giant boulders A rough bottom limits the speed at which it is advisable to travel but I have never seen 2. bot tom so rough that it could not be read fly navigated.
 Lake boats, fitted with bottom wheels have, in a. competitive test abroad, entered land locked and for-tf- fed harbors without discovery, where the entrance from the sea has been, through a. torbuoJ1s channel. All other vessels, except the one fitted with bot tom wheels, were discovered long be- fore reaching the outer Notifications, because it was necessary for them to, show their per1scopes to sight their way. They struck the sides of the dredgsed ehaLneb which caused them to broach and be discovered, because they had to maintain a. conaparatively high speed to be kept under control Tn fests carried out in Russia. the boat fitted with bottom wheels wheeled along in the channel at slow speed and stopped and backed to change course at will The revolutions of the bottom wheels gave the distance trav- eIed, the naanometer gave the depth aud the compress the proper direction; IeonsequentIy with a correct chart ss the bottom in entering harbors is very much easier than on the surface, un- Hess the channels are we'll buoyed.
 Most mines. as at present installed, are either of the observation or con tact type; the observation mines are fired usually from shore stations when 1.-the enemy is seen to be over them, while the contact mine is anchored a few feet beneath the surface and is either exploded by contact with the surface of the vessels bottom or by l the agitation caused by the rush of | sel. The European belligerents have put out contact mines to protect their l.capitaI ships from the submarines. The I dread of these mines is holding the
 submarines outside Of the mined areas and the mines are. therefore. ef- l fective. None Of the British vessels
 are fitted with bottom wheels and div i ing eompartme and they must be
 nayigated at such speed to keep sub- S merged control that they would ex-
 plode a contact mine if either the 5. mine or it's anchor rope was touched l This also applies to some of my later
 boats as the bottom wheels have been l omitted to meet the demand for great 1 CT speed on the surface and submerg- 1 am inclined to the belief that this 1 has been more or less of a. mistake because the bottom wheeled submar- inc can go to and ttdig'i the enemy 1 out of it's base in addition to hunting 1 the big surface craft of the enemy on
 the high seas.
 Il With the bottom wheels. navigation
 can be conducted so carefully over
 the bottom that inspection of the
 course can be made. if desired. foot
 by foot. as progress is made. and al
 mines can be avoided.
 I The diagranulatic sketches illustrate
 the Lake method of operation in cut
 ting cables, evading mines. piantipa or passing under chains. cables and
 nets that may be stretched across the entrances of the harbors. to effec- 1 lively stop the progress of surface
 vessels and submarines and fitted witf
 bottom wheels.
 ] If the commander of a subInarins
 recognizes that the first princfpIe o,
 successful submarine raiding is tt
 never betray his position by exposins
 his periscope while under way whez within sight of the enemy, his vesse
 becomes fnvulnerabIe because it is in
 visible; for no one can attack an un | known, invisible object. The sub
 marine vessel is then invincible be cause all the science Of naval archi lecture has mot thus far been able t,
 devise a protection against the min and torpedo.
 The suggestion has been made tha battleships might be kept from de struction by the use of armor place, on the bottom, as well as on the side of the shipa or that a ship might b infinitely subdfvfded so that she woul, remain afioat even if torpedoed. MT
 R. H. M Robinson, who. as a nava l constructor in the United States Navy . had charge Of the design of all ou ] modern battleships, up to and includ ing the '.Pennsylvania,' '' is the au thority for the statement that ex tensive experiments have been mad . in this country which sho wthat. ul to now, it seems impossible to provid adequate protection to a capital shi ? against torpedoes or mines by eithe : armoring the bottom or subdividin the hull.
 :. PAINS IN BACK AND HIPs