The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-10-26

where within one hundred feet OF the
submarine, either destroyed 1t entirely
or so injured it that 1t usually had
to come to the surface and surrender.
The story of the invention of the
depth charge makes clear the part
which it was intended to play in anti
submarine warfare. Admiral Jellicoe
told him the story when asked him
who really invented this annihilating
missile.
mo man in particular" he said. TT
came into existence almost spontan-
eously. in response to pressing need.
Gunfire can destroy submarines when
they are on the surface, but it can ac-
complish nothing against them when
submerged. This fact made 1t ex-
tremely difficult to sink them in the
early days of the war. One day when
the Grand Fleet was cruising In the
North Sea, a submarine fired a tor
pedo at one of the cruisers. The
cruiser saw the periscope and the
wake of the torpedo, and had little
difficulty in so manoeuvering as to
avoid being struck. She then went
full speed to the spot from which the
| submarine had fired it's torpedo in
the hope of ramming 1t. But. by the
| time she arrived. the submarine had
passed over her without doing harm.
Yet the officers and crew could see
the submerged hull; there the enemy
| lay in full view of her pursuers, yet
perfectly safe! The officers reported
the incident to me in the presence Of
Admiral Madden, second in command.
| Wouldn't it have been fine" said
| Madden, "if they had had on board a
mine so designed that, when dropped
[overboard, it would have exploded
when 1t reached the depth at which
the submarine was lying"
| That remark" continued Admiral
lJellicoe, gave us the germinal idea Of
the depth charge. I asked the Admir-
atty to get to work and produce a
mine that would act in the way that
Admiral Madden had suggested 1t
proved to be very simple to construct
IAN ordinary steel cylinder filled with
TINT; this was fitted with a simple
firing appliance which was set off
by the pressure of the water, and
lcould be so adjusted that IL would
iexplode the charge at any depth de-
sired. This apparatus was so simple
and so necessary that we at once be-
gan to manufacture it."
The depth charge looked like the
innocent domestic ash can, and that
WAS the name by which 1t became
Ipopularly known. Each destroyer
Eventually carried twenty or thirty at
the stern: a mere pull on a lever
would make one drop into the water
Many destroyers also carried strange
looking howitzers, made in the shape
of a Y, from which two ash cans
could be hurled fifty yards or more
from each side of the vessel. The
explosion when it ensued within one
hundred feet / have mentioned was
usually fatal to the submarine would
drive the plates inward, sometimes
making a leak SO large that the YES
sci would sink almost instantaneously.
At a somewhat greater distance II
sometimes causes a leak of such seri-
Gus, proportions that the submarine
would be forced to blow her ballast
tanks, come to the surface and sur
lrender. Even when the depth charge
exploded considerably more than a
hundred feet away. the result might
be equally disastrous. for the con-
lcussion might distort the hull and
damage the horizontal rudders, max
ing it impossible to steer. or II might
SO injure the essential machinery that
the submarine would be rendered help
less. Sometimes the lights went out,
leaving a crew cropping in blackness
necessary parts were shaken from
their fastenings; and in such a case
the commander had his choice of two
alternatives. one to be crushed by the
pressure of the water, and the other
to blow his tanks. come to the sur
face and surrender. It is no reflection
upon the courage of the submarine
commanders to say that. in this en-
lbarrassing situation. they usually pre-
ferred to throw themselves upon the
mercy of the enemy rather than to
be smashed or die a lingering and
agonizing death under the water Even
when the explosion took place at a
distance so great that the submarine
was not seriously damaged. the ex-
Iperience was highly discomforting
lone for the crew.