Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-27 | Page 38 | Great Port Guarded by Hydroairplanes

GREAT PORT GUARDED HYDROAIRPLANES Close Watch Kept for Submarines Sub-marines at American Naval Base in France. AMERICAN NAVAL BASE, France, Oct. 26. (By tho Associated Press.) Hydroairplanes constantly watch and guard this great American port and the American shipping approaching or entpr-ing entpr-ing It lo prevent attack by submarines. One of the planes lay on the water ready to start seaward as the Associated Press correspondent visited tho - harbor. It looked very light and filmy for this desperate des-perate work and its gray body gave it the appearance of a giant moth settled on the water. Overhead. 1000 feet up, swung a huge. lung-shaped balloon from the basket of which a naval officer and a sailor peered through marine glasses. "They are on the lookout for submarines," subma-rines," said the escort. "Their chief purpose is to report the whereabouts of a submarine, and the destroyers then do the rest in forcing it under water. Even if submarines arc off this port, they are practically helpless. If we can keep them under water. "It is only when they come to the surface sur-face that they can launch their torpedoes with full effect. Torpedoes fired when the craft Is under water may lack direction direc-tion to mako them dangerous. So that, after all, the problem for the destroyers Is to keep the submarines under water, as well as to destroy them." On shore scores of hydroairplanes were ranged In two vast hangars and there were sheds for the balloons. A big whaleback from the great lakes was off to port and to starboard was a massive freighter. "That is a strange ship,' said the escort. es-cort. "You will note she has no upper deck or cabins. The whole deck rolls back, like the roof of an open-air theater, and the deck becomes an enormous open hatch. It is like a huge open bowl, with no obstruction in lilting out the freight." The freight in this case was as curious as the rolling deck, for it consisted of thirty-three enormous Mogul locomotives, all set up and ready to move, and with their tenders coupled. With the deck rolled back, locomotives and tenders were picked up by giant cranes and swung around to the near-by quay. Very soon these same locomotives just out of the bowels of a ship, had steam up and were puffing off toward the front.