The Romance of Modern Invention Part 11

"From the bow two-thirds of the way to the stern there is a flooring, beneath which are the storage batteries, the tank for the gasolene, and the tanks which are filled with water for submerging; in the last one-third of the boat the flooring drops away, and the s.p.a.ce is occupied by the propelling machinery.

"There are about a dozen openings in the boat, the chief being three Kingston valves, by means of which the submerging tanks are filled or emptied. Others admit water to pressure gauges, which regulate or show the depth of the vessel under water. There are twelve deadlights in the top and sides of the craft. To remain under water the boat must be kept in motion, unless an anchor is used.

"It can be steered to the surface by the diving rudders, or sent flying to the top through emptying the storage tanks. If it strikes bottom, or gets stuck in the mud, it can blow itself loose by means of its compressed air. It cannot be sunk unless pierced above the flooring. It has a speed capacity of from eight to ten knots either on the surface or under water.

"It can go 1500 miles on the surface without renewing its supply of gasolene. It can go fully forty knots under water without coming to the surface, and there is enough compressed air in the tanks to supply a crew with fresh air for thirty hours, if the air is not used for any other purpose, such as emptying the submerging tanks. It can dive to a depth of twenty feet in eight seconds.

"The interior is simply packed with machinery. As you climb down the turret you are confronted with it at once. There is a diminutive compa.s.s which must be avoided carefully by the feet. A pressure gauge is directly in front of the operator's eye as he stands in position.

There are speaking-tubes to various parts of the boat, and a signal-bell to the engine-room.

"As the operator's hands hang by his sides, he touches a wheel on the port side, by turning which he steers the little vessel, and one on the starboard side, by turning which he controls the diving machinery.

After the top is clamped down the operator can look out through plate-gla.s.s windows, about one inch wide and three inches long, which encircle the turret.

"So long as the boat is running on the surface these are valuable, giving a complete view of the surroundings if the water is smooth.

After the boat goes beneath the surface, these windows are useless; it is impossible to see through the water. Steering must be done by compa.s.s; until recently considered an impossible task in a submarine boat. A tiny electric light in the turret shows the operator the direction in which he is going, and reveals the markings on the depth gauges. If the boat should pa.s.s under an object, such as a ship, a perceptible shadow would be noticed through the deadlights, but that is all. The ability to see fishes swimming about in the water is a pleasant fiction.

"The only clear s.p.a.ce in the body of the boat is directly in front of the bench on which the man in the turret is standing. It is where the eighteen-inch torpedo-tube, and the eight and five-eighths inch aerial gun are loaded.

"Along the sides of this open s.p.a.ce are six compressed-air tanks, containing thirty cubic feet of air at a pressure of 2000 lbs. to a square inch. Near by is a smaller tank, containing three cubic feet of air at a fifty pounds pressure. A still smaller tank contains two cubic feet of air at a ten pounds pressure. These smaller tanks supply the compressed air which, with the smokeless powder, is used in discharging the projectiles from the boat.

"Directly behind the turret, up against the roof on the port side, is the little engine by which the vessel is steered; it is worked by compressed air. Fastened to the roof on the starboard side is the diving-engine, with discs that look as large as dinner-plates stood on end. These discs are diaphragms on which the water-pressure exerts an influence, counteracting certain springs which are set to keep the diving rudders at a given pitch, and thus insuring an immersion of an exact depth during a run.

"At one side is a cubic steel box--the air compressor; and directly in the centre of this part of the boat is a long pendulum, just as there is in the ordinary torpedo, which, by swinging backwards and forwards as the boat dives and rises, checks a tendency to go too far down, or to come up at too sharp an angle. On the floor are the levers which, when raised and moved in certain directions, fill or empty the submerging tanks. On every hand are valves and wheels and pipes in such apparent confusion as to turn a layman's head.

"There are also pumps in the boat, a ventilating apparatus, and a sounding contrivance, by means of which the channel is picked out when running under water. This sounding contrivance consists of a heavy weight attached to a piano wire pa.s.sing from a reel out through a stuffing-box in the bottom. There are also valves which release fresh air to the crew, although in ordinary runs of from one-half to one hour this is not necessary, the fresh air received from the various exhausts in the boat being sufficient to supply all necessities in that length of time."

Another submersible of somewhat different design is the production of the Swedish inventor, Mr. Nordenfelt. This boat is 9-1/2 metres in length, and has a displacement of sixty tons. Like the _Goubet_ it sinks only in a horizontal position, while the _Holland_ plunges downward at a slight angle. On the surface a steam-engine of 100 horse-power propels it, and when the funnel is closed down and the vessel submerges itself, the screws are still driven by superheated steam from the large reservoir of water boiling at high pressure which maintains a constant supply, three circulation pumps keeping this in touch with the boiler. The plunge is accomplished by means of two protected screws, and when they cease to move the reserve buoyancy of the boat brings it back to the surface. It is steered by a rudder which a pendulum regulates. The most modern of these boats is of English manufacture, built at Barrow, and tried in Southampton Water.

The vessels. .h.i.therto described should be termed submersible rather than submarine, as they are designed to usually proceed on the surface, and submerge themselves only for action when in sight of the enemy.

American ingenuity has produced an absolutely unique craft to which the name submarine may with real appropriateness be applied, for, sinking in water 100 feet deep, it can remain below and run upon three wheels along the bottom of the sea. This is the _Argonaut_, invented by Mr. Simon Lake of Baltimore, and its main portion consists of a steel framework of cylindrical form which is surmounted by a flat, hollow steel deck. During submersion the deck is filled with water and thus saved from being crushed by outside pressure as well as helping to sink the craft.

When moving on the surface it has the appearance of an ordinary ship, with its two light masts, a small conning-tower on which is the steering-wheel, bowsprit, ventilators, a derrick, suction-pump, and two anchors. A gasolene engine of special design is used for both surface and submerged cruising under ordinary circ.u.mstances, but in time of war storage batteries are available. An electric dynamo supplies light to the whole interior, including a 4000 candle-power searchlight in the extreme bow which illuminates the pathway while under water.

On the boat being stopped and the order given to submerge, the crew first throw out sounding lines to make sure of the depth. They then close down external openings, and retreat into the boat through the conning-tower, within which the helmsman takes his stand, continuing to steer as easily as when outside. The valves which fill the deck and submersion tanks are opened, and the _Argonaut_ drops gently to the floor of the ocean. The two apparent masts are in reality 3-inch iron pipes which rise thirty feet or more above the deck, and so long as no greater depth is attained, they supply the occupants with fresh air and let exhausted gases escape, but close automatically when the water reaches their top.

Once upon the bottom of the sea this versatile submarine begins its journey as a tricycle. It is furnished with a driving-wheel on either side, each of which is 6-1/2 feet in diameter and weighs 5000 lbs.; and is guided by a third wheel weighing 2000 lbs. journalled in the rudder. On a hard bottom or against a strong tide the wheels are most effective owing to their weight, but in pa.s.sing through soft sand or mud the screw propeller pushes the boat along, the driving-wheels running "loose." In this way she can travel through even waist-deep mud, the screw working more strongly than on the surface, because it has such a weight of water to help it, and she moves more easily uphill.

In construction the _Argonaut_ is shaped something like a huge cigar, her strong steel frames, s.p.a.ced twenty inches apart, being clad with steel plates 3/8-inch thick double riveted over them. Great strength is necessary to resist the pressure of superinc.u.mbent water, which at a depth of 100 feet amounts to 44 lbs. per square inch.

Originally she was built 36 feet long, but was subsequently lengthened by some 20 odd feet, and has 9 feet beam. She weighs fifty-seven tons when submerged. A false section of keel, 4000 lbs. in weight, can on emergency be instantly released from inside; and two downhaul weights, each of 1000 lbs., are used as an extra precaution for safety when sinking in deep water.

The interior is divided into various compartments, the living quarters consisting of the cabin, galley, operating chamber and engine-room.

There are also a division containing stores and telephone, the intermediate, and the divers' room. The "operating" room contains the levers, handwheels, and other mechanism by which the boat's movements are governed. A water gauge shows her exact depth below the surface; a dial on either side indicates any inclination from the horizontal.

Certain levers open the valves which admit water to the ballast-tanks in the hold; another releases the false keel; there is a cyclometer to register the wheel travelling, and other gauges mark the pressure of steam, speed of engines, &c.

A compa.s.s in the conning-tower enables the navigator to steer a true course whether above or below the surface. This conning-tower, only six feet high, rises above the centre of the living quarters, and is of steel with small windows in the upper part. Encircling it to about three-quarters of its height is a reservoir for gasolene, which feeds into a smaller tank within the boat for consumption. The compressed air is stored in two Mannesmann steel reservoirs which have been tested to a pressure of 4000 lbs. per square inch. This renews the air-supply for the crew when the _Argonaut_ is long below, and also enables the diving operations to be carried on.

The maximum speed at which the _Argonaut_ travels submerged is five knots an hour, and when she has arrived at her destination--say a sunken coal steamer--the working party pa.s.s into the "intermediate"

chamber, whose air-tight doors are then closed. A current of compressed air is then turned on until the air is equal in pressure to that in the divers' room. The doors of this close over india rubber to be air and water-tight; one communicates with the "intermediate," the other is a trap which opens downwards into the sea. Through three windows in the prow those remaining in the room can watch operations outside within a radius varying according to the clearness of the water. The divers a.s.sume their suits, to the helmets of which a telephone is attached, so arranged that they are able to talk to each other as well as to those in the boat. They are also provided with electric lamps, and a brilliant flood of light streams upon them from the bows of the vessel. The derrick can be used with ease under water, and the powerful suction-pump will "retrieve" coal from a submerged vessel into a barge above at the rate of sixty tons per hour.

It will thus be seen how valuable a boat of this kind may be for salvage operations, as well as for surveying the bottom of harbours, river mouths, sea coasts, and so on. In war time it can lay or examine submarine mines for harbour defence, or, if employed offensively, can enter the enemy's harbour with no chance of detection, and there destroy his mines or blow up his ships with perfect impunity.

To return the _Argonaut_ to the surface it is only necessary to force compressed air into the s.p.a.ce below the deck and the four tanks in the hold. Her buoyancy being thus gradually restored she rises slowly and steadily till she is again afloat upon the water, and steams for land.

We have now glanced briefly at some of the most interesting attempts--out of many dozens--to produce a practicable submarine vessel in bygone days; and have inquired more closely into the construction of several modern designs; among these the _Holland_ has received especial attention, as that is the model adopted by our Admiralty, and our own new boats only differ in detail from their American prototype. But before quitting this subject it will be well to consider what is required from the navigating engineer, and how far present invention has supplied the demand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The "Holland" Submarine in the last stages of submersion._]

The perfect submarine of fiction was introduced by Jules Verne, whose _Nautilus_ remains a masterpiece of scientific imagination. This marvellous vessel ploughed the seas with equal power and safety, whether on the surface or deeply sunk beneath the waves, bearing the pressure of many atmospheres. It would rest upon the ocean floor while its inmates, clad in diving suits, issued forth to stroll amid aquatic forests and scale marine mountains. It gathered fabulous treasures from pearl beds and sunken galleons; and could ram and sink an offending ship a thousand times its size without dinting or loosening a plate on its own hull. No weather deflected its compa.s.s, no movement disturbed its equilibrium. Its crew followed peacefully and cheerfully in their s.p.a.cious cabins a daily round of duties which electric power and automatic gear reduced to a minimum. Save for the misadventure of a shortened air-supply when exploring the Polar pack, and the clash of human pa.s.sions, Captain Nemo's guests would have voyaged in a floating paradise.

Compare with this entrancing creation the most practical vessels of actual experiment. They are small, blind craft, groping their way perilously when below the surface, the steel and electrical machinery sadly interfering with any trustworthy working of their compa.s.s, and the best form of periscope hitherto introduced forming a very imperfect subst.i.tute for ordinary vision.

Their speed, never very fast upon the surface, is reduced by submersion to that of the oldest and slowest gunboats. Their radius of action is also circ.u.mscribed--that is, they cannot carry supplies sufficient to go a long distance, deal with a hostile fleet, and then return to headquarters without replenishment.

Furthermore, there arise the nice questions of buoyancy combined with stability when afloat, of sinking quickly out of sight, and of keeping a correct balance under water. The equilibrium of such small vessels navigating between the surface and the bottom is extremely sensitive; even the movements to and fro of the crew are enough to imperil them.

To meet this difficulty the big water-ballast tanks, engines and acc.u.mulators are necessarily arranged at the bottom of the hull, and a pendulum working a helm automatically is introduced to keep it longitudinally stable.

To sink the boat, which is done by changing the angle of the propeller in the _Goubet_ and some others, and by means of horizontal rudders and vanes in the _Nordenfelt_ and _Holland_, it must first be most accurately balanced, bow and stern exactly in trim. Then the boat must be put into precise equilibrium with the water--_i.e._ must weigh just the amount of water displaced. For this its specific gravity must be nearly the same as that of the water (whether salt or fresh), and a small accident might upset all calculations. Collision, even with a large fish, could destroy the steering-gear, and a dent in the side would also tend to plunge it at once to destruction.

Did it escape these dangers and succeed in steering an accurate course to its goal, we have up to now little practical proof that the mere act of discharging its torpedo--though the weight of the missile is intended to be automatically replaced immediately it drops from the tube--may not suffice to send the vessel either to bottom or top of the sea. In the latter case it would be within the danger zone of its alarmed enemy and at his mercy, its slow speed (even if uninjured) leaving it little chance of successful flight.

But whatever the final result, one thing is certain, that--untried as it is--the possible contingency of a submarine attack is likely to shake the _morale_ of an aggressive fleet.

"When the first submarine torpedo-boat goes into action," says Mr.

Holland, "she will bring us face to face with the most perplexing problem ever met in warfare. She will present the unique spectacle, when used in attack, of a weapon against which there is no defence....

You can send nothing against the submarine boat, not even itself....

You cannot see under water, hence you cannot fight under water. Hence you cannot defend yourself against an attack under water except by running away."

This inventor is, however, an enthusiast about the future awaiting the submarine as a social factor. His boat has been tested by long voyages on and below water with complete success. The _Argonaut_ also upon one occasion travelled a thousand miles with five persons, and proved herself "habitable, seaworthy, and under perfect control."

Mr. Holland confidently antic.i.p.ates in the near future a Channel service of submerged boats run by automatic steering-gear upon cables stretched from coast to coast, and eloquently sums up its advantages.

The pa.s.sage would be always practicable, for ordinary interruptions such as fog and storms cannot affect the sea depths.

An even temperature would prevail summer and winter, the well-warmed and lighted boats being also free from smoke and spray.

No nauseating smells would proceed from the evenly-working electric engines. No motion cause sea-sickness, no collision be apprehended--as each line would run on its own cable, and at its own specified depth, a telephone keeping it in communication with sh.o.r.e.

In like manner a service might be plied over lake bottoms, or across the bed of wide rivers whose surface is bound in ice. Such is the submarine boat as. .h.i.therto conceived for peace or war--a daring project for the coming generation to justify.

ANIMATED PICTURES.

Has it ever occurred to the reader to ask himself why rain appears to fall in streaks though it arrives at earth in drops? Or why the glowing end of a charred stick produces fiery lines if waved about in the darkness? Common sense tells us the drop and the burning point cannot _be_ in two places at one and the same time. And yet apparently we are able to see both in many positions simultaneously.