The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-11-29

Submarine warfare is . very exact
and djfcp,t science. Besides The skill
81 captain, competent 'rst officers,
wireiss. operators snd artiIierynen,
engineers are needed Each mar too.
must he "seados Some et The
smaller submarines toss }3>e tubs when
they reach the ocean. and ouiy tough
ened sesnen csu stand The wear and
sear Hence the weeks and months
which are necessary to PUt the men
IN order before they leave home for
their FIRST excursion iu sea murder
Fut GERMANY has learned q great
zeal during two years OF hit-and miss
submarine campaigns When on
Tirpitz began fn 1915 he ordered his
snen TO work eff the coasts of England
Then so many submarines we're lost
il became dangerous and expensive
military operation. The allies bssa
% use great steel nets. both as traps
and as protection 10 wsrships, The
German ravy learned this Within "a
cry short time. and the military en-
@ineers v~re ordered t1 perfect q tor
aedo hich would go through r steel
ret The first invention was q torpedo
wi5h knives on the nose When the
rose ~ the ret there was 4 minor ex-
plesion The knives were sent through
rIe net permitting the torpedo to
continue en- its way Then the allies
ouhled the nets and two acts %
knivNs were attached 10 the German
'0rpedoes Blu. gradually the allies
employed nets as traps These were
anchored or dragged by fishing boats
Some submarines have gotten inside.
been iuggied around hut have escap-
ed. More perhaps. have heeh lost
this way.
SUCCESSFULLY BATTLING
THE I-BOAT
Then, when merchant ships began
10 carry armament. the periseopea
were shet away. so the nasy invented
= Sc called Anger periscope." thin
rod pipe with "a mirror at one end
This rod could he shoY ed out from the
ion Of The snhinarine and used for
observation purposes in case the big
perlscope vas destroyed, From time
10 tire there acre other inventions
-As the submarine feet grew the means
of communicating with each other
while submerged At sea we're perfect
I'd. Copper plates were fastened fore
and att en- tho outside OF submarines,
and ii was made possible for wireless
messages 70 be sent. through the water
Il distance Of ffty miles
A subm riuN cannot aim al ship
without some object AZ a sight so one
submarine often acted as sight for
me submarine dFipe the torpedo.
submarines which al first were ur-
srmed were later fitted with armor
plate and cannon were mounted on
deck. The biRgest submarines now
arry sz-luch gums.
@ l.ikF ~ methods Of, rutf1l2sE war
s-aFf. -4ss e.s {SsY5 .Y4f br,
and VIII be for = time successful,
,ernanTs submarine warfare today
IN much more successful than the
average person ~ealizes BN Decem-
ser 1915 fer instance the submarines
wore sinking = har million tons OF
ships q month. in January. 1871,
more than 500 0Gd ions vere destroy
- On February nearly 500 coo tons
we're lost The destruction Of ships
Heans "a cerresp ondtnr destruction Of
esrFoes. nf MANY hundreds Of thou
sands Of tons. When Germany decided
he latter part 81 January 10 begin
ruthless campaign German authorities
aiculated ther could sink an average
"a &9A. Gee taHs peg month and that
is Hiue months nearly coo 600 tons Of
shipping could he sent 10 the bottom
~ the ocean--then the allies would be
~obbed al the millions Of tons Of goods
which these ships could carry
la any military campaign one of the
biggest problems is the transportation
~ troops and supplies Germany dur
He tnjs way has had "a depend upon
Ner railroads he allies have depended
Hpon ships Germany looked ri her
owu military situation a436 saw the
allies could destroy as many railroad
@ars as Germany expected 10 sink
ships, Germany would hc broken NJ