El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-01-14
Terror Of The
U-BOat Is No
LOngerSOGrea
Not What People Thought
1t Was And Rather
Easily Conquered.
By FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.


] Washington. D. C, Jan. 14.-For a
while all who wanted to seem wise
were won't 10 remark that the SUBJ
I marine would revolutionize naval ar
{ chitecture." meaning thereby that it
would put heavy ships out OF the
! game. Next, along in early 1917, it
was about to "revolutionize" inter
national law. and make the blockade
an entirely different proposition. 1t
was also frequently referred to as a
new and startling menace to nations
with long coast lines to guard. like
! the United States. This view was es-
pecially popular about the time the
( Deutschland astonished the world by
appearing in Chesapeake bay.
Now that it's all over. where does
the U-boat stand among the agencies
/ Of modern Warfare2 How many OF its
! threats has it made goOd2
None OF them, in the opinion Of
some expert observers. Navy men
say that the U-boat. as a free agent
Of destruction. has been conquered
BY the depth bomb. the destroyer and
the mine As a terror Of the open
seas, II has gone under TO stay.
VIII Always Be Used.
On the other hand. II has made good
as unit OF the modern battle fleet.
and every navy in the future viii in
clude large cruising submarine
probably Of 1000 TO $500 tons burden
The smaller type has also made good
as a scouting and coast defence craft.
and the mine laying submarine is a
third variety that viii live.
But the spectacular career OF
the U-bOat rs commerce raider II
over At least, that is a view
widely held.
The submarine chaser is not men
toned among the agencies that beat
the submarine last year and viii hold
it down in the future. Henry Ford's
Eagle boats, as is quite generally
known and may soon be brought out
by a senate inquiry. never got to the
war at all The navy was waiting
for them. but the armistice was signed
before quantity production could be
attained
Eagle Boat UnfrIed.
What the Eagle boat could have
done is a question that viii probably
never be answered, but the first sub
marine chasers built in the United
States were not successful in chasing
submarines They were wooden boats /
equipped with Diesel engines, were
about 10 feet long and had a speed I
OF only 161s knots Although sur
prisingly seaworthy for their small
size. they were not suited for long
cruises and they did not have enough
speed TO catch and kill the modern
U-boat
The Eagle boat was designed 10 (
have the speed. the Availability and
the seaworthiness which the wooden ]
chasers lacked It was about geo ]
feet long and built OF steel.
The destroyer. using depth bombs /
in quantity. was the thing that beat J
the submarine. II was greatly aided /
by mines. and 10 some extent by nets /
The great mine field, laid largely by I
Americans. which extended from the Z
South Shetlands TO Norway. made Il z
exceedingly difficult and dangerous I
for the submarines to come south /
ward
Nets Not Effective.
Nets were not as effective as mines /.
because the later submarines all car /
ried net cutters. and were such big 4
heavy boats that no net could hold I
them, anyway The most effective /
nets we're those which were built 10 1
tear loose when a submarine hit one,
while at the same time a small bomb /
was fired by the impact. Both the /
explosion Of the bomb and the drag I
ging net revealed the presence OF the
submarine TO waiting patrols. and ]
destroyers then went in pursuit. 4
Besides the laying OF a large part |
OF the mine barrage. the Americans !
made an important contribution to the 4
science OF U-boat fighting in that I
they Initiated the practice OF carry 4
ing depth bombs in quantity. The 4
English destroyers commonly carried 1
only eight or ten bombs The Ameri- 4
cans began carrying 80 to 100. and /
using them with true American ex- I
travagance-
As is generally known. the depth ]
bomb is a powerful explosive she'll (
provided with n piston mechanism I
which is operated by the pressure OF |
the water. As the pressure Of water i
at any given depth is known. the I
- rr0 ~ a n
100 feet below the surface-the levels 4
between which the submarine usually
operates. These bombs were carried /
in cradles at the sterns OF the de- 7
stroyers. and could be released by 1
lever on the bridge The explosion
of a depth bomb is destructive at
great distance.
When a submarine is sighted by a .
destroyer. the U-boat. as soon as its /
crew is aware that il has been de-
tected. makes a crash" dive. which 4
means that It goes down almost in
stantly TO as great a depth as it dares.
The destroyer dashes at high speed 4
to the spot where the U-boat disap-
peared. and begins circling round and
round dropping depth bombs. II i
there are two destroyers. one takes
an inner circle and the other an outer
circle.
Little Chance OF Escape.
The chances that the submarine
= III escape Without udLiaee are aASn-
der II none Of the explosions are
close enough to smash IL, they may
yet loosen its plates so much that its
only hope is to come to the surface I
and surrender. So effective was this
method Of submarine warfare toward
the end Of the war that submarines
did not dare to approach ships con-
voyed by destrOyers.
The effectiveness OF the depth bomb
was increased stiH more by the use
Of what the navy men call the ~
gun" This IS a little mortar which
holds the depth bomb in a sort OF
prong at the end Of a piston, and
throws it a distance Of several hun
lred yards BY means OF this instru-
ment. the destroyer can hurl depth Z
bombs ahead Of II as IT rushes toward .
Pie spot where a periscope has been
sighted The "Y-gun" Is a British I
production.