Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-13
SUBMARINE PERIL
IS FADING AWAY
Destroyer Fleet, Depth Bombs
and Listening Devices Beat
ing Tirpitz's U-Boat Terrors.

! German submarines and mines To the
maritime commerce of tho Allies ~ be-
coming less week by week The m
| provcment IS duo chiefly to the deVel-
opinont of the listening devices and the
dcpth bombs carried ON the swift NOV
| ing dcstrovers The hydrophone is tho
most useful invention That has been
discovered by the navy in it's antI-sub-
marine crusade and IL IL being mn
| proved upon all the time
| Whom a I-hnat il spotted from aloit
| nv ono of tho alert observers ~ the sea-
planes which wing their light over the
! North Sra and tho waters around the
british Isles. he signals the position to
the nearest DESTROYER Directly he rrts
this information her commander stoams
nj full speed III the direction Indicated
until ho can hear tho submarine plug
ping along under water The destroyer
/, follows the l-hoat for hours II nccns-
sary until IN, commander thinks he
| has uot the ruomv ~ the right position
for hit and thcn' lets 90 the bomb,
which can - regulated to explode NJ
-, 80. 60. 81 feet or any depth under the
surface. aud will destroy anything within
! "A radius -; 100 wards
/ loss krrrs rtcE WIN CONSTRUCTIONS.
While the number of enemy under
|
month i not given ont for publication
| ii IS known that II equals the cunstruc-
/ t,on of submarines IN Germany The
| greatest blow to German hopes If de-
stroYing the commerce of tho Allies on
/ tho ocean lies IN the convoy system
which IS RAPIDLY approaching poriec-
| fiou Whom tho plan oi cscnriing trans
| ports and supply ships right across The
| Atlantic ~ large fip.stS was first tried out
| thcro was considerable delay on account
! nf difference ~ speed pf the various ships
| If which u was composed
he speed ~ rnuvuv u naturally
. that nf the slnwpst vessel and ~ many
instances liners THAT could average
| fourteen In slNtrru knots wcte ~ com
| t,anv nf Steamships fls capable #
| maintaining ten knots under the most
| favorable circumstances ~urno vessels
were eighty five DAYS un round vuN-
apc between England AMI tmorioa and
anchored as man, az fortv FIVE tunes
IN Is many places during that porrod
Between France and America ronvnYs
ucr, oven slower and IN enu1o instances
american steamships were lii dass ~
the round voyage
Natural, this has all tended. with tho
reIlroad .ong'stinu ~ Amcrlra and lack
of coal to increase dclat ~ shipping
men and supplies t. the war znne The
situation IN january vas So bad that
callicre hal To ho sent ont from England
So tmcrica IL coal slupa and got them to
zoa
81 the present tune conveys arc all
classified according to apend and
fact transport can make = round trip
ia thirty dave while the slower cla7R IT
suppl, SHIPS duff across tho ocean Al
a stead, stx ~ seven knot gait
The number Of Butsh and tnetican
,lostroror= has increased rapidly and
Is still dolnes,o. 80 that There afc plenty
of those essential watchlngs If the aca
to make tho passage IT convoVs aeroess
ghe Atlantlc and North sea ecourc The
greatest percentage of LOSSES i, sub
marlncs sIncp Jan has been IN tho
Mediterranean and this IS now beng
reduced bv increasing the number ri
dcstroVcrs IN those waters W sub
marine commander Will rlek attack on
q convoy Which Is protected ou all four
sidoz 4, dcstroycrs and frequently ae-
companicd hy scaplancs clrclng over
head in advance
pUsrRoYERs GRr ,rFer rnr
Naval experts arc confident that when
there arc sufficient dcstroNcrs % escort
III convoys rcfluircd to transport troops
end munitions from America t" Ing
land and France tho submarine peril
viii hc practically at an cud This stage
should hc reached hv August " tho
present tlmc the boats watch and
want for vessels which are alone and
probably on their way tn rendezvous
and rarely attack . convoy
The sinking Of vessels IN the Irish
Spa has been due to the fact that the
water there IS muddy and not too deep.
and submarine can lie on the bottom
and come up at night Quite recently.
in two Instances. when steamship, were
torpedoed IN the Irish sea- de~troycrS
blew one I boat to pieces with a depth
charge and damaged the other one So
seriously before she could slbmergo
that tho commander surrendered with
his crew
Pilots If scaplancs and airplanes
who fy over the waters around the
British Isles have reported numbers Of
submarines which were sunk months
ago and are lying on the bottom of the
Channel and North Sea
TRAPS PERIL TO U-BoArs
In addition 10 dcstrovcrs and patrol
boats which scour tht surface IN every
direction. there are all kinds Of traps
and obstacles placed under water which
make the passage of Dover Straits and
exit from Ilclgoland Blight a very com
pllcated problem for t'-boat com
mandcr To solve Hundreds Of mlne
swccpcrs. manned by fishermen and
sailors from the merchant service are
NJ work day and night making the ocean
lanes safe for steamships belonging to
the Allies and neutral nations Their
crews have become adopts in the art Of
finding and exploding German mines
hidden below the surface
During the year ending this month Of
April more than 1000 mines. which cost
ST 900 each TO construct, wcre exploded
or captured by the British mine
sweeper The loss Of mine swecpcrs
was very small IN comparison. In ono
instance a mine sweeper found a Ger
man mine drifting in the North Sea- and
toWed it over well in toward the mouth
OF E.lbe under cover Of fog After pump
ing il mp the crew set the mine twenty
feet below the surface, and twelve hours
later it was struck by German steam
ship bound for Gothcnberg from Bremen,
and the vessel and her cargo Of iron
ore went to the bottom
MORE AND MORE HAZARDOUS
The increasing hazard against subma-