The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-12-01
TRANSATLANTIC
RAIDS BY DIVERS
BEARS OUT SIMON
LAKES DREAM

Transatlantic summarizing has be-
come quite the thing in the British and
German navies. An American genius
, who gave Won Trpitz and his Euro
pean colleagues ideas about submarine
building-Simon I.ake--said years ago
, II would some day become a mere pas
time. 1t remained for John Bull and
the German admirals 10 show the world
that it could actually be done.
| In midsummer Of 1915 the world was
startled by the information that ten
4 submarines, starting from Montreal,
Canada, had threaded their way down
the 81. Lawrence and, conveyed by an
English cruiser, SKINNED across the At
lantic under their own power to Glib
raltar Some Of them continued with.
out stopping to the Dardanelles.
The feat was heralded as the most
remarkable accom- lishment in mari
time evolution. The submersibles were
really American boats. They had been
made in the yards of the Electric Boat
Company, at New London, Conn, be-
fore the war, the parts shipped piece
meal to the Vickers Company, Linn
tied, at Montreal, and there assembled.
1t was reported later that some of this
Rotilla had penetrated to the Baltic Sen
and that the German fighter Won
Moltke had been torpedoed by an
American made boat.
Simon Lakes Dream Consummated
Next in the chapter of transatlantic
submarine exploits came the German
freighter Deutschland bobbing up the
Chesapeake with a cargo of aniline
dyes. Here, too, was an initial con
summation Of the dream of Simon Lake
that huge freight submarines, would
some day span the waters linking, two
hemispheres and cireumventing5H}$k,
AIDES. 'Hk
Z Quite an interesting commentary on
the development Of submarine building
Z. lis afforded in the case of the American
submarine De, reported as having met
/. the U-53 and escorted her into New
port harbor. Built in 1909, the DE-
virtually is an obsolete type in the
American Navy today. Where the d.
is less than $50 feet long, the new
American submarines building and to
/ he built are to be $50 feet and even
longer. The Dc could almost be car
ried on the deck of the new United
States submarine Schley.
The U-53 is a sister ship to the ISL
which made a sensational trip from the
Y North Sea through the Straits of Gi
braltar to the Dardanelles last year
The ISL, after a trip which lastef
more than a month, locked at Constan
tinople during the first week in June
after sinking the British battleship
Majestic and Triumph.
e The U-5l was commanded by Captain
Hersing, who told of the perils of hi
:: trip and described the delicate sense
= Of hearing developed after constant hf'
t under the surface of the ocean. HI
i said that it was the invariable praetis
!. to submerge after firing the TORPEDO
and listen for the explosion. He add
ed: 1--WE have gained such experience
T. that we now can tell the kind of shil
7. above us by the turbine vibrations;
+ A letter published in a Berlin news
. paper told of the trip of the U-5l. il
It Captain HerSing was quoted as say
ing:
e Sank Two Warships In Two Days
h 1.-THE greater part Of our voyage W
. Travelled on the surface. When we GO
=, near the Straits of Gibraltar we met
,. British battleship and shortly after
ward a British cruiser Of larger type
n The night was very dark and, still
- travelling on the surface, we slippe
! through the straits without being dis
covered.
- alt was not until we were Outsid
% Of Gibraltar that a British cruiser CAV
n. us chase, but / gave orders to submcrG
70 and we thus escaped. Near the FrenC
NJ naval base at Biserta We sighted seN
"a eral French battleships and cruiser
II We employed the same tactics an
r. safely reached the Aegean Sea. The
If we began at once to work, and ear
in the morning of May % We tOrpedOe
the Triumph.
when we saw the ship approachin
IN we submerged. While under water "
he could distinctly hear the noise cause
d. by the propeller of a British destro.
e. err the moment the ship passed abON
r. us. shortly afterward we came to II
M. surface, fred a torpedo and submergt
p again and remained under water unit
nd we heard the explosion of the tOrped
es "TwO days later we discovered Il
no Majestic near the coast. I.ookiI
ne through the periscope, I saw the mi
ar on board the ship enjoying their lunc
De 81 hesitated a moment, thinking
give them time to finish their met
'ss But then l remembered l was here
JUS do my duty. l gave orders to fire t.
ny deadly torpedo. l had to do it. v
en- submerged again, and coming to t
~ surface after while eve saw the sh
bottom up.
,cO
'Ss Bunker Trade Is
e: s.: On the Increase