New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-02
SUBMARINE CHASERS
Only Oil Driven Vessels of loO-Foot L..,s
Are Suited to on. Shore P.t,ol
o the Editor of The Tribune.

Whlch ooaIS patt"I Tor submarines ara ~.
fully realized by many of the pstrio,. ~,
enthusiastic power-boat men who. we'll.
ingly and gallantly, are Offering their % 49,,
80 foot dores and launches.
would like to state that from sueh ~.
nation that ! have been allowed 70 oh,,,.
without infringing upon naval secret, -.
corning the operation OF the motorbos, -,
marine chasers of Great Britain. also .. a.
operations Of the dozens of motor y..,.
and motor boats now used around thu g..
of England for various purposes. il ann.
that boats under l0O-foot length are o. u,,'
use for other than inshore and outside h..
Dor work, for which, OF course. there ara.
Vulnerable valuable and important du,;..
which small craft can efficiently undsr,.l.
Submarines have now learned to oper,,. :,
distances from between 20 and 200 mile, =.
shore, and Furthermore often operate in -.
heaviest weather, under which condi,i,..
boats of under lOO-foot length would b. =,
little value.
For the actual work Of scouting and ch.,.
ing submarines at sea what are mos, mead.
are fast boats of from 100 10 1870 IA,
length, fitted with internal combustion a,
gines, preferably of heavy oil type. Sea.
worthness is Of more importance ,h,,
speed, and a speed of between IS and o
knots is quite sufficient. It must be born.
in mind that in order to form an eree.,,.
submarine patrol these boats may nav. :.
stay out one hundred miles at sea in s,or-
and calm from one TO three weeks at Tin.
for month after month, with only brief n.
tervsls in port. At meeting OF yachtr,
men yesterday afternoon Mr.. Franklin D
Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary Of the NAN.
stated that generally speaking motor zach.
of under 40 feet would not be- OF any uw
and that large boats would be required 70,
distances up to 400 miles off shore
friend of mine is a sub-lieutensn. N
charge of one of the s6-foot motor lsunch,.
which were shipped from Bayonne to Eng
land, and he points out that small boats
have a number of disadvantages, particulars
in heavy weather, as not only do they lose
their speed, but are very wet, and have IN,
ouentlv to put in for repairs; also the or.
GERS and crew require longer periods Of rel,
to recover from the severe exposure, and be
says that if there is any error it should h
on the larger size
This sub-lieutenant previously was q naval
architect, and had considerable experience
with motor craft. and the size Of vessel
which he considers the smallest capable o,
carrying out a fairly effective submarine pa.
troll service is a boat Of 100 feet in Length,
driven By two high speed heavy oil engines
Of 300 bhp. each. which would give
speed of about 20 knots. Such boats would
be capable Of cruising considerable dis.
lance out at sea and staying for long periods
without the crew suffering too much from
exposure.
Il must be remembered that in the event OF
war this submarine patrol may have 70 o'
carried on for several years, and such bOsi'
that are built now should be strong enoug'
to withstand at least from one to two year
constant work at sea.
Personally / think that every encourage
ment should be given to yachtsmen TO trsi
with the fleet, but believe the uses Of thsf
boats. except in the case of large craft vii
be limited to patrolling fairly sheltered
waters or inland navigation.
ANY submarine chasing craft built By oT
Navy Department should not be less tha
100 feet in length, and ! am positive mS
tho two boats now building for the United
States Navy. which are about 10 and 50 isr
in length. respectively, will be found to
totally inadequate for the purpose OF ehs'
ING submarines in the open sea, as it is hare
" likely that submarines of an enemy VIII
operate close in shore. but rather will spsel
our merchant feet fifty 10 three hundree
miles out at sea. They will have their u'e'
Of course. but It will not he chasing sue
marines.
was told last week by The captain o.
British ship. who has seen many Of me w
patrol motor boats built IN this counuy "
work along the British coast, that II mas o'''
necessary 70 remove the guns from "'',
boats. and il would be interesting to sn0"
such is actually the case. It would scc's,'
for the success OF the present uermsn CIV
marine campaign.
The first submarine cheslhs - 80,
built was the Mercury II, eO-ioo'er ~ 49,
twelve years ago C9O5j by larro"s, ~,
for the British government Her ess'.Li,
engines total 800 bhp, ana on the
fetal naval trials drove her a. t"enV.sn
knots. Exactly what she was built io'
never made clear. but after a peroa o. =
action she was attached in 1917 70 'ne ~.
marine Aotilla and was used IN maupu"
At that time the Admiralty prepared
extensive scheme for the use Of motor ~.
but in the usual official style the prolee. =,
pigeon-holed. When the war broke on.
documents were unesrthcd the red ~pe
and the present Royal Volunteer NaVsi
serve established. to which HUNDREDS OF p.
ish power yschtsmen belong ana are
most valuable service 20 their COUNTY,
policing home waters. ,,
Let us build hundreds o. submarine 20
boats but let US build them big enough
seaworthy enough 10 make them eHe'I
the case Of submarine raid upon OUT 70"
chant fleet. A..
T. ORCHARD Isle. a. " 10 MS''
New York. Feb. p, 1917.