722 THE SUBMARINE BOAT. 



is in operation, for gasoline is a great searcher, and constant difficulty 

 will be found in keeping the joints tight. It ma} r be maintained that 

 it will be an easy matter to change crews. It will be a rather difficult 

 undertaking, for it requires a man of unusual nerve, skill, endurance, 

 and readiness of resource to operate the machinery of a submarine 

 boat for general work. In boats of the diving type the man at the 

 wheel must have experience, skill, pluck, and judgment, for the craft 

 will do very little porpoise-like work if you have anything but an 

 exceptional steersman. Any interchange of crews will have to take 

 place in the harbor, for the picket boats of the blockading squadron 

 would be on the alert to prevent such a transfer. 



On the official surface-endurance trial of the Holland, when the 

 conning-tower hatch was open during the entire run, one of the 

 causes assigned for requiring forty-eight hours to make a trip of 148 

 miles was the delay experienced in giving the crew necessary rest. 

 "When the hatches are closed and the storage battery is in use, noxious 

 fumes will collect from gasoline leaks and the exhalations of the crew, 

 as well as by chemical action in the battery cells. 



CHARACTER OF SUBMERGED TEST OF FULTON. 



It is true that a submerged test of the Fulton has been made, but 

 one ma}" ask, Was that test made under seagoing conditions ? By plug- 

 ging the gasoline tanks, by preventing chemical action in the cells, 

 and by taking other precautions the crew of a submarine might 

 remain under water a considerable time. In analyzing this perform- 

 ance the following facts are noticeable: The boat was sunk in 16 

 feet of water, the top of her conning tower being- about 6 feet below 

 the surface. The boat remained quietly at rest. Surely the same 

 work could be done in a diving bell. In fact much more severe con- 

 ditions are imposed in caisson work in the building of tunnels under 

 river beds. 



When submerged the Fulton has a displacement of 120 tons. In 

 this condition she has about 2,000 cubic feet of space which contains 

 only pure air. In addition she has L2 welded steel storage tanks with 

 a total capacity of 69 cubic feet, and the air is pumped into these tanks 

 up to a pressure of 2,000 pounds. Tin 1 air tanks under this pressure 

 actually hold about 130 tank volumes of air at atmospheric pressure. 

 In other words, there are 0,000 cubic feet of reserve air. With at 

 least 2,000 feet in the boat there is a total of 11,000 cubic feet to 

 draw upon. The eight men that constituted the crew of the boat had, 

 therefore, each about 1,400 cubic feet to draw upon. This would 

 mean a room about 10 feet high and 12 feet square for one to live in 

 for a period of fifteen hours. This, of course, is not any too much 

 space, but it is plenty for sanitary purposes. 



It should be taken into account that the gas exhalation is much 



