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Show - I ' - " ffilB!lP r . .wriTi ' , - ' Navy Department Active In Developing New Methods of Fighting the German Submarine Small Boats Are Better Than Large Ones Nets Protect the English Grand Fleet. kkkS rv.nrriiiif . 1018. 'lue International Syndicate (Passed by Censor.) C- HERE ARE PEOPLE who aro of tho belief that somo powerful power-ful and Ingenious weapon of warfare will bo invented which will end submarine activities suddenly ggH. and Irrevocably. "Such an invention would revolu-H' revolu-H' tlonlzo warfare. Students of history ggH and war are aware that never, through all the ages, havo there been such in-ggHl in-ggHl f ventlons, and It Is safe to say thero ggHlj f never will be." said Commander J. A. ggKij ' Furer. Commander Purer has studied Hj fl . tho combatting of submarines earc-H earc-H fully, and, moreover he has designed submarine chasers for the United I States Navy; so naturally ho speaks with authority. Process A Gr-.idii.il One ggH'j Tho now machines and latest meth- ni ous practiced aro the outgrowth of tho old. This holds true In a world 1 i'i 0f war as well as in a world of peace. I r Both machines and methods must be j mct by gradually developing new ln- il struments and moro advanced means Hj i 0f defense. Again, as weapons bc- II come more and moro effectlvo other ,j modes of offense aVo bound to como 1 '! to tho fore. Note, for Instance, tho evolution il of tho gun. From the crude, antl- jl j quated blunderbuss has slowly evolved i ' tho efficient Browning gun, which ; deals out death with appalling rapidity Today there aro many methods of making life thoroughly miserable for j the submarine, but it is entirely un- likely that any one lnention will appear ap-pear which ran be relied upon to put I that wily boat completely out of tho I game. The most that can bo hoped is to present a spoclallzed and more ' selective means of offense and defence de-fence In dealing with theso monsters tnat menace tho Atlantic. Hubmorgcd submarines are difficult to locate and more sensitive devices for tl.o purpose of detection are constantly being studied by the Navy Department. These means of detection aro dependent de-pendent on aeroplanes and u sufficient number of craft operating on the sur face of submarine infested waters. Besides Be-sides aircraft, destroyers and patrol boats, tho U-boats are fought more or los directly by means of depth bombs, hostile submarines, rapld-nro guns on merchant ships, enormous nets made of steel chains, and diving shells Among all there the submarine-chaser and the destroyer play prominent parts Small Boats Arc Prcfcrablo In fighting the submarines tho Department De-partment Is of iho opinion that It Is wLser to have a largo number of small boats than a small number of large boats. Hence, tho popularity of tho submarine-chaser. Since a U-boat can so quickly lose itself beneath tho waters wa-ters of the Atlantic It stands to reason that a largo number of small swiftly-moving swiftly-moving surface craft Is necessary to hunt it down. Tests and experience havo proved that the chaser Is fitted for this task. Many naval authorities contend that the destroyer is an Ideal boat for vanquishing van-quishing the U-boat Both the speed 2nd seaworthiness of the destroyers pj " " ' aro unquestionable, and it is capable of carrying powerful guns. It Is said that facilities for the build- I Ing of destroyers havo been brought to such a high point of efficiency that I today the government is building moro , , of these boats than any other nation had before tho war Before new les lOBi in speed had been mastered 1( 'took about two ears to bring a de-j stroyer to completion. But a short . time ago tho Mare Island Navy Yard laid the keel of one. and four months I later tho destroyer was practically fin- lshcd. This was. of course, a prize record breaker, but It is quite possible , to construct one in a third of tho time I it used to take Havo Thwarted The Slippery Submarine The story is told of a destroyer, built on tho Pacific coast, that made tho run from a Pacific port south to I tho Panama Canal, ea9t through the ' Canal and thence to an Atlantic porf j In ten and a half days. Slnco the United States entered tho war these I boats havo successfully convoyed merchant mer-chant vessels and transports across the Atlantic innumerable times, and on every hand have thwarted the slippery slip-pery submarines. At the Fame tlmo tho destroyer has its limitations and indubitable disad vantages. Besides making great demands de-mands on tho industrial resources of the nation. It takes a considerably longer tlmo to build a first class destroyer de-stroyer lhan to build other boots which imperil tho submarine. So after aft-er discussion and debate the Navy concluded con-cluded that a large pumber of small boats would accomplish qulto tho same thing as a few destroyor9. Consequently tho Navy designed a craft which, while not bearing the essential es-sential characteristics of the destroyer, destroy-er, Is quite 'adequate to perform all that Is required of It. So today the Navy Is building with al! possible oelerity U-boat chafers. Seaworthl ncss and speed are two posltlvo re qulsltes Any boat that is unnblo to stay out Is entirely Incapable of keeping keep-ing on the trail of tho tricky submarine. sub-marine. Furthermore. It must be continually con-tinually on tho alert for the foe. swift to follow a fleeing enemy that has either submerged or kept on the surface; sur-face; and, If surprised, the submarine chaser must know that It can successfully success-fully elude Its dangerous enem. To tho government's delight this typo of chaser has proved itself remarkably re-markably seaworthy Indeed. It is much more seaworthy than larger vessels. The explanation of this lies in tho fact that tho boat's length is 'exactly right for tho wave length I which It encounters at sea; rcslstanco I and consequent stress and strain la thus very appreciably diminished. Rapldlt OI Construction Fssentinl Competition has been keen between government ship-builders and they ; have worked at a furious pace in order 1 to see which ono of them could turn out subchasers fastest. The New York Navy Yard has the distinction of hav-I hav-I lng launched the first submarine-chaser. submarine-chaser. It was floating on tho water just five weeks after the keel was laid Now Orleans has also won fresh hon-1 hon-1 ors for herself slnco her ship builders havo shown themselves to excel In rapidity of conitructlon. SubmarJne-chastera cost the government govern-ment approximately $S0.000 each. ' They are 110 feet In length and havo la draft of nearly four feet. Dlsplace-' Dlsplace-' ment Is in the neighborhood of 68 ; tons. Each boat Is equipped with i three gasoline engines and has a speed , of seventeen knots an hour. "It Is Impossible to place on so small a beat anything larger than a small gun." observed Commander j 1 Furer, "because of the recoil stresses, j On wooden boats it Is Impossible to provide sufficient strength to absorb larger stresses." It Is because of this that the Navy ( Department decided to build, In addition addi-tion to boats of wood, boats of steel. Inasmuch as Iho supply of steel li I limited It would be Impossible to provide pro-vide the desired number of boats j without resorting to wood also. It was further determined that it would not be faslbIo to call on the regular . I shipbuilders for these steel boats as that would seriously incapacitate them for constructing the number of destroyers and other boats contracted for. l.nglncs By The fTundrcds It has been something of a problem for the Navy Dopartment to distribute -on t rn nt r KllH fl apt urllA rmilrl riiMiint. ly get their boats with full equipment out on time Only one concern found that It could produce tho necessary number of engines in the time designated. desig-nated. For Instance, with three gasoline gaso-line engines to every submarine-chaser submarine-chaser proper, and with orders for so many chasers, hundreds of engines wero required. These were provided and a record won, for never In the history of tho country was such a number of high powered gasollno en g!nc" turned out within tho period of ono short year. The airplane Is a big factor In com hatting the submarine. It makes a most excellent scout and has been successful In detecting tho U-boat. Aeroplanes and destroyers or submarine-chasers work together advantageously. advan-tageously. Tho plane can fly to any distance above tho water that Is required re-quired inorder to glimpse a submarine, and immediately It can flash a signal to the boat with which It Is working In case a submarine is sighted. The hydroaeroplane Is tho best for use about large bodies of wafer These grncoful crafts of the air keep constantly con-stantly in movement about the waters which hold the fleet. Doubtless submarines sub-marines have made stealthy efforts to hurl an attack on somo of tho United States warships and have been frustrated frus-trated by the e er-watchful plane I above Three thousand feet In the Jl ' air makes It possible for an observer , from a seaplane to command a vision i of the waters beneath him over a fifty mile radius. On exceptionally clear days he can, with binoculars, see ai- 'I most twice that distance. A submH-ine can be seen by these i scouts running fifty feet beneath th 'surface of the ocean. This, however" , Is In clear waters which havo a light I bed as is found In the vicinity of tho " I i West Indies. As a rule aircraft vision penetrates to a depth of about twenty feet, and there are places in the North Sea where a submarlno can only he detected when near the surface. neprn oomos do tbclr part In men-lacing men-lacing the submarine Until recently depth bombs have been the most valuable val-uable projectile used against the submerged sub-merged submarine Caught, Once in The ct The Grand Fleet of England is pro-i pro-i tected from submarines by means of huge steel nets. Those neta surround Iho British Fleot completely and make It very dangerous business for tbo U-i U-i boats to move about In the neighborhood. neighbor-hood. The Britisher Is alert nl?ht ; and day for signs of the foo and hai j to aid him superior olectrlc lookouts too. A hostile boat la discovered very j shortly after It has entered the net; and unless a miracle occurs, It Is a I doomed submarlno Tho ends of a great steel circle are drawn slowly to-g to-g ether and tho British quietly ualt ' j Eventually ;ho enemy is obliged to ) como to tho surfaco to look about I This Is the patient Britisher's opportunity oppor-tunity and tho submarine has the 1 choice of qulot surrender, or complete i destruction for British guns are but wailing a .signal to fire. Occasionally tho submarine makes a dash for lib-erty lib-erty but this is fatal and, even If It c escapes demolition from vicious gum. ( i It sooner or later discovers that It has . fallen Into a trap from which escape 9 i Is Impossible, (I |
