Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1917 — HOW SUBMARINE DOES ITS WORK OF DESTRUCTION [ARTICLE]

HOW SUBMARINE DOES ITS WORK OF DESTRUCTION

Torpedoing of Ship Described From View Point of Attacker and Attacked. FREIGHTERS ARE EASY PREY Ingenious Instruments Make the Pointing of the Torpedo Very SimpleMissiles Usually Launched From ' Distance of Two Miles. New York. —Early in the great war the world was astounded by the “London, Official,” that three British scout cruisers —Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy —had been sunk by torpedoes. Later, a wave of wonder spread over the civilized world when Berlin announced that all three sinkings were the work of one submarine, the U-9, From that period of the war right up to the present time the operations ,of undersea fighters have held tlie interest of every follower of the gigantic events. Where will they lead? How does Germany keep it up? Why doesn’t England get after the Germans? These are questions asked continually. Others, which show the keen interest in submarines, are for information regarding them. What actually happens when -a submarine fires a torpedo? What is the usual distance between the subsea boat and its intended victim? Is she on the surface when making the attack ? •

A succession of events has made it possible for statements to be obtained of men and women on torpedoed steamships, and at least one officer on a German U-boat has been able to tell his story regarding such attacks. Every navy guards with great care 'lfs~submKnne “secrefs?" Um present war the United States navy department issued orders forbidding anyone to board its little fighters unless they be in navy or armed-with navy permits. The same situation obtained in foreign navies. Few books can be procured with the data that are of most interest. A reporter for the New York World, however, has obtained from the highest authority the facts that follow. Launched Two Miles Away. In the first place, no submarine gan launch Its torpedo with any hope of hitting the target unless the latter is «een by the man at the periscope. Therefore, it must be near the surface, so that observations can be made. Torpedoes have a range of 7,000 yards—about four land miles. As a general rule the German U-boats used in attacking merchant vessels launch their torpedoes from a distance of two miles. At that distance it is very difficult for anyone on the doomed vessel to observetheir periscope. - 151 -=■ Torpedoes rush through the water at a rate of from 28 to 40 knots an hour. The average speed figured in land miles is about 30 miles an hour: As the torpedo speeds through the water it makes a wake like a huge fish. In addition is the telltale wake of bubbles —caused by the exhaust from the compressed air chambers that give it momentum. Once the submarine is clear of her Harbor and on the high sea, where she is destined to operate, her commander must keep a keen watch for enemy craft. He remains on the surface as much as he can. his conning tower and small deck being jiist above water and bls periscope sticking up 15 or 20 feet further. This Is the normal cruising position. . When submerged the gasoline engines, must bq stopped and the submarine run by its electric batteries. No submarine can cruise under water for more t than about eight hours at a time withmit coming up 6r more air. If it be desired to rest on the bottom it may remain under a little longer without endangering the men on board. There are no submarines built that

can descend to a depth greater than 150 feet. Consequently there is very little resting on the bottom once they start on a cruise far out to sea. A submarine that wishes to dodge vessels afloat may sink and remain beneath the water until It figures that all dangeb is past. Her commander will know when fie has descended about eighty feet and he will remain there. He has delicate instruments aboard —sounding bells some call them —that convey to him the throb of a propeller. He can then cruise by compass to some other portion of the sea and there'take his chances Of being discovered when coming up. When rising to the surface for air and observation those on submarines in war time take chances. They have no way of learning the presence of some drifting trawler armed with a light gun that can destroy them. Nor can they know a torpedo-boat destroyer is waiting, ready with her sharp prow to ram them. Aviation has proved of great assistance in the hunt for submerged submarines. Observers in hydroplanes can “spot” the submarine even when submerged and warn torpedo boats of its presence. When the submarine has poked her periscope above water and those on board have noted the sea is clear she can rise. She remains at the cruising depth while searching for her prey or w’atching for the appearance of fighting ships, from which she will flee. She is defenseless and must be careful lest she be destroyed while trying to launch her torpedo. Therefore she is used principally as a commerce raider. If at the cruisingdepth HieJookout sights the smoke of some vessel the course Is changed, and when at the proper distance the submarine is sunk beneath the surface, only the periscope sticking up. - - “Noiselessly we slip- closer' nnrt closer in our exciting chase,” the commander of one of the U-bqats has related. “The main thing was that our periscope should not be observed so that the steamer would not change her course at the last moment and escape us. Very cautiously I stick just the tip of the periscope above the surface at intervals of a few minutes, take the position of the steamer in a second, and, like a flash, pull it down again. ‘This second was sufficient for me to see what I wanted to see. The steamer was to starboard and was heading at a good speed across our bows. To judge from the foaming waves which were thrown off from the bows I calculated that her spefed must be about sixteen knots.

• ■ Estimating Speed. “The hunter knows how important it# is to have a knowledge of the speed at which his prey is moving. He can Hie.-spee< v£loser when it is a wounded hare than when it is one which in flight at high speed rushes past. It was only necessary for me, therefore, to calculate the speed of the ship, for which a sailor has an experienced eye. I then plotted the exact angle we needed. 1 measured this by a scale which had been placed above the sights of the* periscope. Now I only had to let the steamer come along until it had reached the zero point on the ; periscope and fire the torpedo, which then must strike its mark. “You see, it is very simple. I estimate the speed of the boat, aim with the periscope, and fire at the right moment.” ..... Submarine commanders must calculate well the speed of the vessel at which they intend firing and figure exactly where it will be when the torpedo shall hit It. They have instruments for measuring the speed of the vessel. The commander who will be successful' In a surprise attack must prove correct tn his presumption that he has not been observed. The vessel must continue at Its usual speed. Then it Is merely' a mathematical problem, worked out with a $4,0U0

torpedo that goes through the ocbati just a few feet below the surface. Masters of merchantmen can escape torpedoes if they are seen soon enough to change their course. Speed and a quick answer to the helm are necessary for the successful submarine dodger. Constant lookout must be maintained for the submarines Submarines have greater speed than the average freighters. That Is why the latter are so easily overhauled and attacked by the deck guns with which the larger U-lmats are equipped. When Lusitania Was Torpedoed. When the Lusitania was torpedoed, just off of the Old Head of Kinsale, on the south coast of Ireland, on May 7, 1915, this Is what was observed by one of the passengers, J. H. Brooks of Bridgeport, Conn., when interviewed by the London correspondent of the World two days later: “At about-ten o’clock, ship's time, the fog lifted and our speed increased to about seventeen knots. At two o’clock I finished a light lunch and passed up on the boat deck and up the little stairway which leads to the hurricane deck. “As I reached the comer pf the Marconi house I looked out over the sea. It was calm as a lake and the sun was shining. Suddenly I saw the wake of a torpedo coming toward us, and then the torpedo itself. It was traveling, I estimate, about thirtyfive miles an hour. The torpedo, plainly visible about three feet below the surface, was, I should say, about twelve feet Jong. “I rushed to the side of the ship, leaned over the railing and looked to see it strike us. I realized at once the aim was perfect. My impressions, as I analyze them now, were most peculiar. My chief thought w*as how beautiful the deadly Instrument was as it skimmed along. “The torpedo was fired after the ship had passed the submarine. It struck us at an oblique angle just below where I- -was standing, directly opposite the forward funnel. “My first thought was that the funnel might fall; to escape this I jumped to the shelter of the Marconi house. I had taken three steps when the deluge of water hurled up by the explosive knocked me down and then there was A rain of debris which seemed to have been forced up through the decks.” The California. When the California was torpedoed on February 7 last, while off the north coast of Ireland, with a loss of 41 persons, two of whom were children born in Philadelphia, the bubbles in the wake of the torpedo were noticed by Captain Henderson just before the vessel was struck. ‘Tire on that spot!” he called through the speaking tube to the crew manning the 4.7-inch gun mounted aft. The steamship was struck before the gun could be trained, however. “It seemed fairly to lift the ship out of the water,” said one of the survivors. “Many of the passengers and crew were thrown from their feet, and, besides the five killed instantly, more than a score were injured by..fiying. splinters.”