Omaha daily bee., 1921-09-25
Sub ArmOf
Navy yWeak,
DENLY Says
Secretary Admits U. S. Ser.
iousIy Lacking in Recently
Developed Types Of
Undcrsea Craft.
Only 50 Fit for Service
BY ARTHUR SEARS HENNING.

Chicago Tribune-omsha Is~e Leased Wire.
Washington, Sept. 2i.-Secretary
OF the Navy Denby officially admit
ted today the serious deficiency Of
the submarine arm oil the navy.
which was exposed in detail by the
Tribune several months ago.
Convinced that an effort must be
made 10 provide effective submar-
ines OF the latest types, Mr.. DENLY
issued a formal statement, the con-
clus.on OF which follows:
"Cur navy today IS. seriously lack
ing in recently developed types o.
submarines. We have no mine lay
ing submarines. no fleet submarines,
except the three Y boats now under
construction, no submarines with
large calber guns, such as the
British NJ class. and what is most
important, no long radius cruiser
summaries. BE-.
Only so Fit For Service.
1T is considered highly import
ant 10 the national defense of this
country 10 construct at least three
each oi these types for experimental
and development purposes so that III
event OF national emergency we
will be in a position to continue the
construction OF the types most ne
cessary.
Confirming the Tribune's disclos-
ures that OF the l42 submarines built
or authorized built, only about 50
are fit for effective service, Secrc.
tary DENLY says: i
"The present submarine force OF
the navy consists of l42 submarines
OF all types and ages including those
authorized but still under construc-
ton.
Some Classes Obsolete.
The various classes OF submar-
ines are designated alphabetically,
commencing with the B-l, which is
the oldest submarine in service, hav-
ing been built during l90O-lo03. In
nearly all cases each successive class
was an Improvement en- the preced-
ing one as regards size. habitability
and radius of action. The submar-
ines of The B, D, E and F classes
and the four lake type N class are
considered obsolete and will shortly
be withdrawn from the service. The
Fl. X. L, NJ, and N classes, while I
not having very great radius OF ac-
ton, are considered suitable types
Tor coast defense.
py"Those OF the %, r and S classes
represent in each case an improve
n,ent with rgard tc size, habitabllity
and radius of action. their n,axiinun1
cruising radius varying from 6,UO to
10000 miles. ~
Divided Into Three Types.
"The S class is divided into three
types. namely the Holland type, the
lake tyne and the government type.
The latter is the first attempt OF the
government at submarine design and
construction. Only one submarine
of these types was originally author.
lied in order to determine standard
type for this size OF submarine, but
due to the entrance Of the United i
States into the world war additional
submarines OF the Holland type were
authorized before they could be
tried out in service. The engines OF
the Holland type submarines have
proven unreliable and unsatisfactory |
Is al present designed. with the re-
suit that the completion OF 81 OF our
.-boats is being delayed pending
changes to their main engines neces-
sarv to fulfill service requirements. 1
"The three submarines of the
class are fleet submarines with a de-
s;ened surface speed Of 20 knots an
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