Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 188, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1915 — REALLY IS CRUISER [ARTICLE]

REALLY IS CRUISER

Latest German Submarine Is Formidable Fighter. Carries 4-lnch Quick Firing Gun Which Fires 31-Pound Projectile Which Will Penetrate Ten Inches of Iron at Close Range. London. —That the latest German submarines are practically submerged light cruisers and carry guns which make them fully as formidable in offensive as vessels of the latter class, is the statement made by a leading English authority on naval nfatters. “When the war broke out,” he said, “Germany, like the other sea powers, had a certain number of submarines that carried guns. These, however, were small weapons. The caliber of the piece and the way in which it was mounted made it ineffective for such purposes as sinking a ship. Really, these submarine weapons, whether placed outside the boat or on a rising carriage, were little more than experiments. “Germany is now using much larger submarines, and these are armed with a four-inch quick-firing gun, which bears about the same relation to the earlier submarine weapons that the 17inch howltzqj does to the ordinary field pieces. "In addition to introducing this big gun into their submarines, the Germans have mounted it in a very ingenious manner. Gun, platform, etc., are carried snugly inside the boat while she is cruising, and the method of bringing it into action is very quick and efficient. Two men take their seats on the elevator platform beside the gun. A pull on a lever and the platform shoots up, carrying the gun with it. “As it rises from the boat the gun lifts off a hatchway, which • automatically forms a protective shield for the gun and the men who work it. One of these men trains the weapon around to whatever direction is required, while the other elevates or depresses, and also fires it. Another pull of the lever, and down drops the gun again, the hatchway closes automatically above it, and the subniarine is ready to dive. “For attacking merchant vessels this four-inch gun comes much cheaper than torpedoes would, and in some ways it is more effective. A torpedo costs thousands of dollars, and it may miss its mark. Scores of German tor-

pedoes have done so. But a round for a four-inch gun costs little and if the first shot fails a second can be sent quickly after it. “Besides this, the gun has a long range. It fires a 31-pound projectile with sufficient velocity to penetrate ten inches of iron at close range, which means that the shell will carry a long way, and it is more difficult for a ship to escape from a submarine thus armed than from one using torpedoes only, particularly so as the Germans have adopted for use in their submarines a torpedo that has a short range, but carries an unusually powerful charge of explosive.”