Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-04
SUBMARINE MAY BE NEXT
TARGET OF PEA E.MAKERS
Growing Effectiveness of Undersea Craft
Sure to Gain Notice of Disarma-
ment Advocates.

1 Is lar Is possible SclI-SuSbdulInk, SO
that long cruises could be made with
out undue hardship and with the maxi
mum Of comfort obtainable on q Sub
for both officers and crew. During
January and February Of this year the
board of inspection and survey Of the
Navy Department conducted the official
tests of Provincetown, Mass, the trials
consisting in running on the surface
| and submerged. for checking the speed
and operation Of Diesel engines and
main motors.
Va Goes Down 3lS Feet.
This newest pride Of the deep OF
Uncle Sans Navy has submerged to a
depth Of 31S feet on trial dives for test
| ing the strength Of the hull, and navas
officers say that this Is the greatest
depth reached up to this time by an
American submarine. The Vas keel
was laid on May !, 1925, under author
ization Of acts of Congress of August
20, 1915, and May %. 1924. She is the
| first Of the new-type large, seagoing
She was launched November 19, 1927.
and has a length over all of 381 feet,
| a maximum beam of 80 feet 7la inches,
| is equipped with Diesel engines Of $500
horsepower for surpface propulsion and
with electric motors for power when
submerged. Current is furnished by
storage batteries, charged by the engines
when running on the surface. The
! boat has two propeller shafts, carries
guns, torpedoes and mines and has a
complement of officers and 80 men.
Writing recently in the United States
Naval Institute Proceedings, Lieut..
Comdr. E. w. Burroughs, u. S. N, an
| authority on the submarine, said:
Since the World War, although there
have been a great many submarines
laid down or contemplated in almost all
maritime countries. no new, distinct
types have arisen. Innovations, such as
provision for carrying a small seaplane,
have been made and improvements in
operation and reliability have, of course,
been introduced, but nothing really new
has entered the field. .
THE question naturally arises wheth-
er or not the French 3,00O-ton subma-
rine will be the worlds largest or will
there be steady increase in size as
was the case with battleships prior to
the disarmament conference. =
Consider the advantages Nand dis
advantages of 2,500-ton or larger
about $500 tons. Large submarines
should be more seaworthy and able
to maintain a higher sustained speed
In heavy weather than the smaller
boats. but this difference will not
be very marked. Unless too much
weight and space are used to at
| tain very high speed, the larger boat
! will have a greater oil capacity, with its
attendant larger cruising radius. The
larger boats also should be able to carry
more torpedoeS mines and ammunition
and mount more and heavier guns with
out affecting the stability, while the gun
platforms would probably be slightly
steadier and drier.
Higher Cruising Ability.
"Of the above points which show adj
vantages for the large-type submarines
the most outstanding is increased crlis-
ing radius. Above certain point. how
ever, the determining factor in cruising
radius for submarines is the habitabil-
1ty rather than the fuel capacity. One
OF the longest cruises on record is that
OF the German U-155 "a l,5OO-ton
boaO in the Summer of 1917, which
lasted los days. This cruise was made
under rather favorable conditions, how
ever: as the weather was good during
most OF the time, while the nature of
her mission-commerce N'destroyine-al-
lowed her to replenish her larder from
captured vessels. A total of $500 sur
race miles and $40 submerged miles was
covered on this cruise. Gan interesting
point brought out in this cruise was
That during the whole period, including
passage from Germany around Scotland
to Azores and return. only one allied
NANCE an auxiliary cruiser, was
I'm the Washington Disarmament
Conference We practically eliminated
commerce destruction by submarines.
but even were it to be allowed, 1t is
almost certain that future wars will
see all commerce moving in convoys.
which would demand a submerged at
tack. In isolated cases Of contact with
single auxiliary or armed transport, a
4-inch or possibly a 5-inch gun should
be Suficient.
There are three main functions for
submarine, which are % to fire tor
pedoes submerged, az to lay mines
submerged, 49, to act as a scout. A
submarine should be submarine and
not q surface gunboat.
Large Type Not Ideal.
"There does not appear to be sufd-
cient value to the very large sub
marines over the medium size type to
warrant further expansion in dimen-
Sions. It would seem that the ideal
boat should be of ABOUT $500 tons sur
face displacement; Is knots speed, with
d CIuISluS IdOluS Oh lZ,UUU miles, TOUT
bow and two stern tubes and one
4-inch or 5-inch gun. It should be
possible to carry at least Is torpedoes
and possibly more. A mine laying type
could be constructed on the same
tonnage"
Former Brig. Gen. william Mitchell,
as assistant chief of the United States
Army Air Service, told the congress
sional air investigation committee in
1925 that he foresaw the day when the
Navy will probably develop into a SUBJ
marine service, forced beneath the
waves because of aircraft and because
the day of the surface ship as an
active instrument of warfare Is almost
over on account of its cost, on account
of the amount of effort you have to
put into it, combined with its great
vulnerability, and considered from the
standpoint of its greatly. decreased In
fluence on the highways of the sea-
Come what may, 1t seems that the
submarine Is In for an interesting time
Of 1t. The Hoover MacD Donald peace
guns are trained on the cruisers, and
the silent submarine is likely to receive
attention In the immediate future or IN
the 1881 Washington Arms Conference
az fhA latest