THE SUBMARINE BOAT 



731 



shallow water, and that an accompanying- tug- got hold of her storn 

 and puUod her nose ont of the mud, the boat would have been lost. 



^■OK\VA^■ I'KOl'OSES To lUULD ONK. 



The Norwegian Government proposes to build one boat of the 

 Holland type. This matter was referred to a board of na\'al experts. 

 A minority of the ])oard insisted that the present development of the 

 craft did not warrant its introduction into the naval service. The 

 technical journals of Europe state a majority of the board based their 

 conclusion upon the fact that the United States Government had 

 settled upon an approved type, and that Norwa}' should expei'iment 

 with this design. 



SUBMARINE CONSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The United States has one submarine boat in commission. This 

 boat was built four 3'ears ago. Seven other boats are in process of 

 construction. 



The names, dates of contract, and contract time of completion of 

 these eight vessels are as follows: 



No. 



Holland . 



Adder 



Grampus . 

 Moccasin 



Pike 



Porpoise . 

 Shark . . . . 

 Plunger . . 



Date of 

 contract. 



Con tract 

 time. 



Months. 



A.ug. 25, 1900 



do 



do 



do 



do 



do 



Nov. 19,1900 



Should have been 

 completed. 



In commission. 

 April, 1901. 



Do. 

 May, 1901. 



Do. 

 June, 1901. 

 Julv, 1901. 

 August, 1901. 



DELAY IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOLLAND BOATS EVIDENCE OF FACT 

 THAT BOATS OF THIS TYPE ARE NOT BEYOND THE EXPERIMENTAL 

 STAGE. 



It is pertinent to ask what has ])een the cause of this delay. If the 

 boats are beyond the experimental stage, then rapid construction would 

 have resulted very ad\'antageously to the Holland Company. In fact 

 if the boats had been completed, and had satisfactorily met official 

 requirements, Congress would probably have authorized a considerable 

 number. It was this delay in delivering boats that caused many 

 Senators and Representatives to be convinced that the craft are still 

 in an experimental stage. 



Before completing these seven boats for the Government, the Hol- 

 land Company have on their own account constructed the Fiflfo/i. It 

 was this trial horse, the Fulton^ which sunk in Peconic Bay early in the 

 winter, and which came to grief several months later at the Delaware 

 Breakwater. Since the British naval authorities, as well as our own 

 naval experts, are looking forward to the results of the official trials 

 of the boats contracted for about two years ago, it seems strange that 



