New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-13
Not One u. s. Submarine
in Atlantic Is Efficient
Fleet Conditions Worse Now Than at Expose Eighteen
Months Ago-Oficers Discouraged at Continued
Perl-Bad Steel in Crankshafts-Batteries Weak
BY CUSHING STETSON.

Eighteen months ago The Tribune
aroused the country from its dream Of
tancied naval security By the an
nouncement that there were only seven
teen submarines altogether on this
coast, and that Of these only ono va.
able to dive. To-day again The Trib-
une, in the face OF the raids Of the
German U-53, is compelled to inform
the country that there i. not yet one
submarine on this coast capable of
rendering efficient service, and that, in
the opinion Of discouraged submarine
officers, conditions in the submarine
hotilla have gone, in the eighteen
months, from bad to worse.
II Is true that there mas been some
improvement. IN the material. But this
improvement consists, In the main. Of
things which still remain 70 be done
rather than in things actually accom-
plished. For example, a weakness OF
all the submarines as a class has been
the inferior steel OF which the crank
shafts are made. The crank shafts
are continually breaking, and fire.
quently causing the submarins on
which such breaks occur to be laid up
for months.
Batteries Also Defective
The crank shafts are to-day no Set
ter, bat plans have been made By
which a new variety is to be made and
tried al the New York yard. The old
battery troubles still persist The
entire division Of K-boats, four in all,
at the Boston yard, require an en-
tirely new set Of batteries, which must
be installed befors they can be fit for
service.
There Is no trained personnel. and
despite the entreaties Of Admiral
Grant, placed by Secretary Daniels
himself in charge Of the submarines
the Navy Department refuses to sup
ply one. Men for submarine duty are
still selected haphazard. A subma-
rine's business Is 20 FIRE torpedoes
Every torpedo must be tried on. before
being fred in order 70 see that IL will
90 straight when it leaves the tube
For this purpose highly trained men
are required.
The torpedoes must be frequently
taken apart, oiled, repaired and re-
assembled. There are no trained men
for this purpose. Admiral Grant rec
commended that a special barge be set
apart, with a selected crew Of expert
enced men, 70 do nothing but train
torpedoes. No attention whatever has
been paid 10 his recommen dation. Ac-
cordingly, one submarine commander
with mis- crew has been doing little else
than 20 train torpedoes for the rest OF
the feet, and necessarily with in
different success.
Undermanning Is Dangerous
The submarines are dangerously IN
dermanned. In one division. for ex'
ample, where ten machinists' mates
are the allowed complement for each
boat, there are only I'VE. As a result
these FIVE men have 20 work from 8 IN
the morning, watch and watch, till
in the afternoon. tending two engines
and again from in the afternoon till
midnight, charging the batteries.
Recommendation has been repeatedly
and urgently made to the department
that the mother ships nave a charging
plant aboard wherewitn the batteries
on the submarines can be charged.
This recommendation, again. has been
ignored.
The published photographs Of the
German submarine U-53 make clear
the fact that all the men aboard are
clad in warm leather uniforms. Men
in United States submarines are pro-
vided with cotton dungarees. which are
the cheapest uniform which can be