SUBMARINE NAVIGATION. 



161 



— killed doubtless not by drowning, though they must eventually 

 have been drowned, nor as it would seem by suffocation, though in the 

 end that would have followed; but probably by the concussion of their 

 own torpedo. 



The sublime heroism of these men is accentuated by the previous 

 history of the 'David' to which they entrusted their lives. In her trial 

 trip this boat sank for some unknown reason and her entire crew was 

 drowned. Lieutenant Payne, her commander, escaped as by a miracle 

 and succeeded in making his way to the surface. No sooner was the 

 boat recovered from the bottom than he offered to try again. A new 

 crew volunteered, and all went well for a time. But one night off Fort 

 Sumter the boat capsized and four only escaped. The next essay 

 was made under the lead of one of the men who had constructed the 

 boat. This time she sank again and all hands were drowned. It was 



Fig. 2. Goubet's Submarine Toepedo Boat. 



such a boat, with such a history, in which that gallant crew of the 17th 

 of February faced death and found it. North and South are united 

 to-day as never before. We are permitted to treasure the memory of 

 these brave men. They belonged to the same section as Hobson and 

 displayed the same sublime heroism at Charleston as did he and his 

 comrades at Santiago harbor. 



The close of the Civil War marks an era in the history of submarine 

 navigation. Previous to that time nearly all the boats were crudely 

 designed and crudely built. Moreover, the nature and magnitude of 

 the problems to be solved had not as yet been adequately understood. 

 Whatever practical success has been achieved since is due to the fact 

 that these problems have been thoughtfully and carefully studied, that 

 those who have studied them have been in general better equipped 

 therefor by education and training and have laid under requisition 

 all the wealth of modern mechanical and physical science. 



Of the many boats of this period, some of which have been quite 



VOL. LVIII 11 



