SUBMARINE NAVIGATION. 237 



types are jiearly 150 feet long and of 4:20 tons displacement. The 

 cost of a French submarine designed in 1898 was about .£'2(»,000. 

 The estimated cost of the latest and largest vessels is about £70,000. 

 The French have pursued no continuous policy in this development, 

 but have alternated between vessels of comparatively large and others 

 of much smaller displacement. This course had much to recommend 

 it, no doubt, as it brought many accomplished naval architects into 

 competition; but the lack of a continuous and progressive policy has 

 resulted in dissatisfaction and difficulty, and this is frankly acknowl- 

 edged by French authorities. Two years elapsed after the date 

 when the French resolutely undertook the construction of submarines 

 before the British Admiralty ordered five vessels of the Holland type 

 from Messrs. Vickers, Maxim & Co., who had acquired the con- 

 cession for the use of the Holland Company's patents. These first 

 vessels in essentials were repetitions of the type which had been tried 

 and officially approved by the authorities of the United States Navy. 

 It was agreed that all improvements made by the Holland Company 

 should be at the service of the British Admiralty through the Eng- 

 lish concessionaires. In this manner the royal navy at once acquired 

 advantages attaching to the long experience and great skill of Mr. 

 Holland, and with that advantage there was associated the possibility 

 of utilizing their own technical resources and those of Messrs. Vick- 

 ers, Maxim & Co. For five years a continuous policy has been fol- 

 lowed in the development of our submarines, all of which have been 

 constructed at Barrow-in-Furness. There has been a great develop- 

 ment in size, speed, and general efficiency, resulting necessarily in 

 correspondingly greater cost per vessel. Information of an official 

 and authoritative character relating to submarines is freely published 

 in France and the United States, but for British submarines corre- 

 sponding official information is scanty. It has for years been the rule 

 to give in the navy estimates full particulars of dimensions and costs 

 for all other classes of British war ships, but for submarines a policy 

 of secrecy is adopted that is most unreasonable and unnecessary. 



From the best sources of information accessible it appears that the 

 growth in size, with a correspondingly increased cost, has been even 

 more rapid here than in France. Our first five submarines are 63 feet 

 in length, 120 tons in displacement, with gasoline engines of 1()0 horse- 

 power for surface propulsion, giving a speed of 8 to 9 knots. The 

 electric motors for submerged j^ropulsion are estimated to give a 

 speed of about 7 knots. The contract price for each vessel in the 

 United States was about £34,000, and that is about the price paid for 

 our earliest vessels. The latest type of which particulars are avail- 

 able are said to be about 150 feet in length, 300 tons in displacement, 

 and with gasolene engines of 850 horsepower for surface i)ropulsion, 

 giving a surface speed of 13 knots and a radius of action of 500 miles. 



