The Elbert County tribune., 1919-09-12

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f7HATEvER plans Germany may oe
IgTWVYs making for the next war" If in truth
kAM/ | she is or ever will be capable of car
WY rying them out, it Is certain that the
w submarine will play part In lsr
schemes
M eT2 M Tie submarine is dead. The u
NeEvMSIM boat peril has vanished forever. never
AttEyktXV to be resurrected
NSyt3XW The collapse of submarine warfare
IkrWMlI during the closing months of the Eu-
VUkbW ropenn conflict and the prediction that
W Its resumption may never be seriously
fesired again. the result of the invention In
the United States of "A wonderful listening device,
submarine detector. which very close to
driving the Hun submersble from the ocean, and
would have done so. in the opinion of naval ex-
ptrts, had the continued through another
s1n.ner.
the navy department formed special board to
develop ways and means for combating the U-boat
peril then growing to alarming proportions.
This board consisted largely of officers from the
bureau of steam engineering. OF which Rear Adj
nral r. S. Griffin is chief. 1t called to its assist
ance In an advisory capacity many noted engineers
md scientists from industrial concerns, including
the General Electric company. represented by Dr.
W. II. Whitney, director of that companys re-
search laboratories
Commander G. S. Mcdowell u. s. N. served as
executive secretary of the board. while the other
advisory members Col. f. b. Jewett of the
Western Electric company. and Prof. II. A MILL
kan of the University of Chicago
Development headquarters established at
New London. Conn. The General Electric COM
pany in conjunction with the Submarine Signal
company of Boston started experimental field
station ut Nahant, Mass, and later joined by
experts from the Western Electric company
Out OF the activities of these two groups of
scientists there was developed the American
listening device, an instrument which proved to be
able successfully to detect submarines while SUBJ
merged within range of anywhere between 3 and
- miles
Even with the signing of the peace treaty little
can yet be known of the details of this device. 1t
Is however. instrument using the principle of
sound-wave transmission through water In
and startling way and it depends for Its di.
rectiongetting qualities the peculiar and little
understood faculty of the human to detect the
direction of sound by the shifting of sound from
one to the other the instrument
voved
AS soon as the device considered practical
the General Electric company undertook its man
ufacture large scale In Lynn. Mass, develop
ing three kinds of listeners: One which hung
overheard from the deck of submarine chasers. an
other which could be trailed off the stern and a
third which protruded through the hull of the
vessel. American destroyers chasers and subma-
rnes mt once equipped with the instrument.
When the submarine detector had been turned
out in sufficient quantity. the navy department be-
lieved that the allies should get the benefit of the
invention at once. special service party. in
charge of Capt. r. H. Leigh of the bureau of steam
engineering. formed to take samples of the
apparatus abroad and test 1t under actual condi-
tions before the British admiralty. The instru-
ment was likewise demonstrated to the French
and Italian navies. The party consisted. besides
Captain Leigh, of Lieutenant Carter, U. S. N, En-
sign Welch u. S. N II. F., six enlisted men. c. L.
Eveleth, c. F. Scott and L. p. Collins OF the Cen
eral Electric company, representing the Nahant
group and w. L. Nelson of the Western Electric
company. who connected with wireless devel-
opment. They sailed November % 1917. and
joined the British grand fleet at Scapa Flow In
the Orkney islands during the first week of the
following month.
The admiralty and the supreme council
shortly afterward adopted the American device
and from that time submarine patrol work was
revolutionized
Defensive tactcs which had been employed
since 1914 were now longer the sole. reliance.
The wnr was carried into the enemy's territory.
Fighting ships instead of patrolng the steam
shp lanes looking for stray sub to poke its