The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-07-10


Nke United States, the Apache de-
1a to convoy the Fronteria outside
three mile limit They passed
- 10 us. And after they had got
ENe miles out the Apache huns
<ofN watching the Fronteria out OF
One of the most conspicuous things
6cut the Deutschland is her name
41nted in big gold letters about a
not high, in the form OF an arc
4xOund the anchor checks. Her peri
Mcope was drawn well inside long be-
1 &ore she sighted land. But her mast
Tor lights, which she carries just be-
IND the superstructure sticks mp
II 40nic fifteen feet above the level of
The water
Ar Odd Looking Vessel.
She has hand rail some two and
y halt TO three feet high above the
& 0eck for the protection OF the crew.
III This rail, the like OF which was never
N eeen on a war submarine. runs clear
u around her. Her deckhouse, too,
does not remind you so much OF the
Il 6erkhouse of the Monitor of Civil
n war fame as is the case with the
Il German war submarines II is more
like the bridge OF an ocean liner.
From the superstruCture 10 the bow
ia distance of about $50 feet the
Itself is very sharp. The slope Of
she deck toward the stern is much
II more gentle She has n speed OF
twelve knots and heavily laden as she
10 with her / .G00-ton cargo, she made
4 the trip in sixteen days having left
4 her German port on june 20.
The most interesting part of the
! boat is the periscope. When II is
u raised from its top. down TO the top
80 . Ax., ,ty,ty &c 4 1ssay 81
a some twenty feet That Is the dis
tance this new and defenselcss type Of
L submarine can duck under water TO
avoid its enemies without going totally
blind.
The receiving end" OF the
periscope IL IN the coming tower
which looks very small from the out
u side. but once you are inside Il seems
TO be large enough to hold Ave men.
L The eye pieces themselves, projecting
dark and cleaning from the spotlessly
white cylinder. look like guns trained
on you to Keep you out Of this holy
I OF holes Of the submarine. Close to
b each of them is the electric motor
used TO revoive it--for. flimsy as q
periscope seems TO the eve, II rs heavy
enough, they tell me, and tightly
fAstened so as 20 look nnfiinchingF
in the desired direction
Inc INSIDE OF the snip
The room below the coming tower
+. the navigating rooms quite as full
OF a wilderness Of complicated appar
= atus as shs:-!r-tha- ordinary German
L boat--~eXcept for one thing. The
nest is lacking The nest" IS tho
cradle in which the torpedoes sweet
IL repose while waiting 10 be rudeiy
awakened and sent spinning on their
deadly errand.
This room is where the steering Ia
done when the submarine Is running
submerged. The room back of tho
engine room is larger and more COM
plicated Here are two rows of the
famous Diesel engines, which run the
submarine on the surface.
TT IL due TO these engines that
there is so much profit in each trip
of a merchant submarine / was
told IF we had TO use petrol (gaso-
line) with the present scarcity OF
that product in Germany each trip
would come very high. but the only
fuel necessary for these motors IL
the heavy oil which Is a by-product
of the works where we manufacture
coal gas. and OF our oil refineries, y
In this room is a clutch-which 10
the inexperienced eye looks Ike any
other clutch But when II is explain
ed 10 you. you realize that II is a
thing OF romance thing without
which America could not have beer
discovered by the submarine route
The sc-called "accumulators' by
which the submarine ia driven wher
under water, have only enough cleo
trio energy 70 send the boat ahead
for ten hours or so. at top speed,
Clutch Energy Conscrver.
But thanks TO this clutch, these
accumulators can be rechareed by
being Joined up with the oil engines
This can be done when the submarine
Is on the surface. In this way It IL
possible 20 keep energy in these cleo
trio batteries which the submarine
needs whenever it wishes to trave
incog.
The most distinc tive feature about
the boat is the absence OF torpedo
= tubes. The modern tyre Of ARMED
German submarines has torpedo
tubes not only near the bow. but also
In the more recent models at the
stern and at tho bridge
These are completely absent from
this merchant submarine. making
clear It's owners contention that Il
ID bonafide merchant ship, and not
merely warship temporarily con-
verted to use as carrier Nor do
you see the ugly little hummock on
deck which marks the place whore
the disappearing gun OF the old
marine IL concealed or. 10 be nc
curAte, protected. for the hummock
prevented any real concealment The
more modern German submarines
are provided with three and a half
Inch guns such as the German de-
Stroyers use. and these are kept well
under cover below matches that are
hush with the deck But this boat
has no such gun. nor any ram on
which II could be raised to position
or any compressed air apparatus that
could do the work Of raising
In the interior you also miss the
mechanism and tackle used for nring
fcrpedoes, the breech blocks for load
ing. the reservoirs OF compressed air
which gives tho torpedoes their send
on and whe which control them.
Dyes IA~t-ad Of Torp~do~~.
You also look in vain for the maya
zine with reserve supply OF torpedoes
" The most recent type OF submarine
they had when left Germany a few
months ago was able to carry twenty
e reserve torpedoes without too much
difficulty. But here the spaces that
would have been occupied by those
swift and fatal mechanical fishes with
their deadly cargo Of trinitrol toIuen4