The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-02-06

4 mahAnk WuHus5iul KeCcru IOA ~hvn
selves In the war sone. President
Henry r. Carse. OF the Electric Boat
Company, has received letters rom
some of the officers who took these
I, boats across the Atlantic and then
through the Mediterranean TO the
7 DardaneIls, praisfng the boats very
highly and giving some account OF
their operations. Lieutenant ". B.
7 Prize, who for services has reoesysd
the Distinguished Service Order and
! who has charge OF = ssat known rs
/ HI, in one letter tails Of tina opera
/ tons OF his boat IN ths res OF Mar
mora Lieutenant Piri& says:
II have Just spent fcur weeks In
( the Sea OF Marora ami haa zi.te an
interesting time, getting 1:iste good
haul. The boat behaved spsendiify---
bully. Am now here fMaita} Tor q
| little rest and rsfit."
In another letter he says:
They 1.-THE submarinss) gave no
! trouble coming across hes-e and I've
Just spent month In thu s&a OF Mar
/ mora and the way she slzod up 10
| the severe test was grand. We got
quite good bag and are all proud
| Of her"
In stin another letter. Lieutenant
Pirie says.
/ I'VE are the first submarine ia his
tory 10 lombard 4 place on shore UNI
| der Are think we were under fire
on an average of three times q day
and penetrated into all sorts Of places
and DESTROYED shipping.
| Destroyed Troop Trains.
I'VE even shslled railway and de-
stroyed two troop trains. We shelied
an embankment and blocked the fine.
then caught the trains 40 they came
along. IL was the funniest thing you
1 can imagine TO aee the train try 10
| hide between the trees. but we caught
| her and smashed her all to biaxes.
/ Three ammunition wagons blew up
/ with terrific explosions. The soldiers,
OF course, got out and took cover and
fred tons OF ammunition at us, but
/ We were out OF range. Aitogether
/ we sank one gunboat. Ave steamers
4 tone OF 1000 tcns1 and seventeen
/ large sailing ships and DESTROYED three
!, trains and one railway seru ban knaent.@
President Carse thinks that the
/ demonstration by these boats m actual
I warfar should be set at rest some OF
| the criticismS that have been made
about the American submarine IN this
country. Tho British boats which
were built under the Holland patents
/ are now receiving the ecid tAst OF wnr
and being tried as no other outside
those now operating In the war zone
| have been tried. SO far not one OF
/! the American built boats have been
| lost and the accidents that they have
| met with have been of such trivial
character they have been easily re-
Grating In the Meafterrapean and SIX
are in British waters ana the Baltic.
The pickers Company. Limited. ns
/ Montreal entered into contract with
/. tha En9lief Admiralty 10 huild ter
| submarines The boats we're huiit
from designs prepared by the Electric
Boat Company, and In accordance
with that ccmp&ny.s specifications.
The design = known in the campany's
1 lines and armament they follow very
closely to the United States boats OF
! tho Fl class. The chief differences be-
| tween the two lines Is In the engine
| The engines of s02-E are Of the four
cycle, heavy oil type. while those OF
the III class are Of tho twc-cycie.
Quick work Done.
The contract was signed on Decena-
4 ber IL. 1914, and although the Wick
terS plant was not fully equipped, the
plant itsslf being new one and not
fully completed the. first boat was &C
copied by the British Admiralty on
! May 20. 1918, ave months and twelve
/; days after signing the contract. The
/ tenth and last boat was accepted June
/ a.. six months and thirteen days after
SIGNING.
This rscord w~s due in = large
measure TO this simplicity OF design
and to the rugged and reliable natnre
Of tho mechanism. The first four
hcats left immediately for the
! DArdaneIlea and stopped At 81
Johns, the Azores. Gibraltar and
Malta. They made this trip OF 1000
miles under their own power manned
with crews that had first seen the
| boats less than thirty days before
starting on the long journey. The Of
lnceSs and men had had previous ex-
perience and were familiar with mot
/ only Brftish boats. but with those Of
| the allies and they expressed them
selves a. being highly pleased with
the design and construction OF tina
new boats on which the living quar-
ters were ample and comfortable fea-
lures that are nor to be found on thar
home built craft.
The voyage across the Atlantic was
4 a remarkable one and letters received
1 from tho ofiicers tell OF their exper-
fences Four days they ran through
| q thick fog. Later one boat INST with
| a slight accident and had tn rudder
disabled. This damage was repaired
! in mid ocean since their arrival In
the near east the boats have been
4 standing the acid test OF war and
4 have been lost ana not one vi the
! hay been lost and not one OF the
j other six that went to Hrittsh waters
4 and 10 the Baltic has had any more
/ than trivial mishaps, which have been
/ easily set right. In view of the re-
imarkable voyAge Of these boats 20
/ the Dardanelles the longest voyage for
I 4 submarine on record = few remarks
4 -S,.r..x ~ l..t- av.riv,An a. fsvxaS1v "a m ~,