Middletown transcript., 1917-09-08
j. S. WARSH|PS
CONVOY STEAMERS
Very Few American Merchant
men Being Sunk.
CURBING SUBMARINE MENACE
Depth Bomb With Which the American
Destroyers Are Equipped Be-
lieved To Have Accounted
For Several U-Boats

lngtOn.-Amer1can naval loICes
are conveying merchant craft across
the Atlantic, it was disclosed officially
at the Navy Department, and exam
ination of the records show that the
loss of conveyed ships by submarines
has averaged less than one-half Of one
per cent.
Details Of the convoy system are
withheld. 1t was stated, however that
American war vessels are regularly
escorting fleets of British, French or
other Allied merchantmen across, the
protection being supplemented when
the danger zone is reached by the de-
stroyers and other patrol craft.
Depth Bombs Effective.
American naval officials believe that
an effective system for checking the
submarine menace is being built up
gradually, but certainly. Many de-
vices and many methods enter into the
task. Among other things depth bombs
are proving effective. Official reports
indicate that American destroyers
have accounted for several U-boats
with these weapons. No announce
ment of such incidents will be made,
however unless absolute proof of the
fact is available.
No U-boat has been captured by the
Americans. 1t is the best Judgment
Of high officials, however, that several
have been sunk by Admiral Sims de-
stroyers, and they are more confident
than ever before, that the submarine
menace will be substantially abated
as the number of destroyers and other
craft available for the work is in
/ creased.
Reports from London that the sub
marines are working now farther at
sea than formerly were confirmed by
the Navy Department. It may be that
new boats CT greater size and better
| seakeeping qualities lend to this eX-
tension of the zone of activities, but
it is regarded as more probable that
the increased and increasing vigilance
| of the antisubmarine forces is mainly
| responsible.
Anti-Submarine Weapons.
The effect of the increasing patrol.
of the employment of airplanes and of
the addition of new devises to the anti
submarine weapons has been to force
the U-boats under water to a greater
and greater degree Their effectiveness
is limited in proportion. They cannot
run down a merchant ship of average
speed if kept under water. They can
stumble upon them. And all the time
they are under water they are con-
suming the stored power of their stor-
age batteries, decreasing their range
Of underwater action and compelling
them to come uD at night and lie idle
on the surface while their oil engines
are used to recharge the batteries.
The decision of the Navy Depart
ment to spend S250,000,000 on new de
stroyers and destroyer building facili
ties, approved by President Wilson, is
based On the effectiveness of the swift
fighting machines 2s proven by Ad
miral Sims forces Every effort tc
speed the new program as we'll as the
old will be made, and during the next
year the American destroyer force in
European waters probably can be
more than doubled. Destroyers now
under construction are being rushed to
completion, and reports on progres:
are satisfactory.
American experts have developed q
depth bomb for use against subma
rines that is deadly at considerable
range. The bomb, containing high ex
plosive, is dropped from a destroyer
over spot where the presence Of &
submerged U-boat is indicated 1t i:
timed to explode at a certain depth
If the explosion occurs below the U
boat and within a reasonable distanc,
the hull of the underwater craft can
not withstand the pressure but il
crushed like an egg shell.