Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-05-02
Great Fleet of Small, Swift
Ships, Armed With Rapid
Fire Guns, Would Be Needed
if Big U-BoatS Crossed the
Atlantic
BY JONAS PLArT

NEW YORK, April 29.-What kim OF
reception would a fleet of super-sub-
marines get if they crossed the At
lantic and struck at American shipping
such thing as might very well nap
pen if the United States and Germany
90 to war?
In our present state of unprepared-
ness there would be a period of terror,
when American vessels would hasten
to the shelter of the first friendly port
and even our largest ships of war would
have to seek cover.
But the submarine is not invincible,
as this war has shown! The same sci
ence that devised the deadly submersi-
BILE warship has been busy for the last
Two years designing means for its de-
structioni
Throughout the whole history of
naval warfare, every new engine of war
fare has neen heralded as unconquerable
when it first appeared. Armor plate,
which could net be crushed by the old
cannon ball, was soon discounted by
the armor-piercing shell; the Monitor,
which at first seemed the forerunner
Of the dominant type of fighting ships,
gave way before more seaworthy craft;
the torpedo boat, which was to have sent
heap, was thrown into the discard by
the torpedo boat destroyer, and now the
submarine faces half a dozen dangerous
enemies-the answer Of science to a ter
rihle necessity!
ONE DANGEROUS ENEMY.
One of the enemies of the submarine
was already in existence when this war
started.
The torpedo boat destroyer stands to-
day as the most perilous enemy for
submarine to encounter. Armed with
more rapid-fire guns than any super
submarine can carry and with a speed
sufficient number of destroyers can play
havoc with the most highly organized
submarine blockade"
From the very beginning OF Germany's
submarine warfare against British ship
ping the destroyer and even the almost
obsolete torpedo boat have been the
chief protection against the great under
sea cruisers of the kaiser's navy.
With a speed of from % to S5 miles
an hour these craft are sure means
of destruction for any submarine they
could find.
The United States also possesses
torpedo boats and destroyers, but the
fleet that we could send to sea against
submarine invaders is little more than
one-fifth the size of Great Britain's.
NEEDED GREATER DEFENSE.
Even with its enormous f1otilla of
destroyers, England found itself far
from safe and other means had to be
devised for guarding the coast waters
and harbors.
One of the best of these was the en-
ployment of small, swift motorboats
armed with light guns. Hundreds of
int
and today many yacht owners are COM
manding their own little vessels in the
U-boat patrol
In this country there is already on
foot a movement to form such a private
" owned fleet, but not one of the pro-
posed patrol boats has as yet been
launched Half a dozen will take the
water some time this summer and to-
gether with other yachts will maneuver
with the reserve Atlantic fleet.
To guard the entrance of every har-
Dor in the British Isles great nets have
been stretched supported by glass buoys,
invisible to the submarine commanders.
Scores Of U-boats have been caught in
this way The United States possesses
no such nets. but they can be manufac-
tured rapidly.
HARD TO FIND.
The chief difficulty in fighting sub
marines is to locate them. Once a sub
marine is found there are many ways
to dispose Of ii.
Prof r. A. Fessenden. of Boston. a
former associate of Edison, has invented
a submerged signal devise which is now
being used in Europe and which would
most certainly be applied here for the
detection of U-boats.
This could be attached to all vessels
and could be used by patrol boats at all
harbor entrances. The Fessenden alarm
signal sounds a warning long before the
Submarine is within striking distance.
The aeroplane would also play an i'm
portant part in locating submarines. An
aero pilot can see a submarine from the
sky when the U-boat is we'll beneath the
surface and warn a patrol boat to fol-
low il and finish the job.