658 



SUBMARINE BOATS. 



approached the 2 flags marking the beginning of 

 the mile. A few seconds before she reached them, 

 at 1.25 P. M., she made her dive, and then for more 

 than ten minutes nothing was seen but about 4 

 feet of the 12-foot mast she carries, with a tiny 

 red flag on top, as it pushed its way through the 

 water; turning at the mile in twenty seconds, she 

 began her return trip over the mile course at the 

 same depth and going as straight as if the helms- 

 man's head had been above the surface of the 

 water. Rising for thirty-five seconds just after 

 the mile-and-a-half mark was passed, Capt. Cable 

 took a peep at the flags marking the place where 

 the imaginary war-ship that he was to destroy 

 was placed. The porpoise-shaped nose of the lit- 



The amount of the penalty will be refunded if 

 the other submarine boats exceed the speed re- 

 quirements. 



Of the nations leading in the construction of 

 submarine boats at the close of 1902 France had 

 built or building 44, Great Britain 10, and the 

 United States 7. Norway has adopted the Hol- 

 land model, and the De Schelde Ship-Building 

 Company, of Flushing, has obtained from the 

 American owners the right to build Holland sub- 

 marine boats for the Netherlands and Dutch In- 

 dies for twenty-five years, including the use of all 

 existing and future patents issued to the Amer- 

 ican company. 



Portugal is negotiating for the Holland boat, 



ONE OP THE NEW BRITISH SUBMARINES PASSING NELSON'S FLAGSHIP, VICTORY, IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOR. 



tie boat came to the surface a few minutes later 

 for a second peep of thirty seconds, and the next 

 time her bow came up it was to fire the tor- 

 pedo. She pointed fairly between the 2 flags at 

 the end of the mile and about 100 feet away 

 when the torpedo shot out of its tube about 3 feet 

 below the water-line. For some reason the mech- 

 anism of the torpedo made it describe a course 

 to the left of the intended mark. That was no 

 fault of Capt. Cable or his crew, for they fired 

 the missile absolutely straight. Those who 

 watched it say that it would have struck a ship 

 even though ita flight had been somewhat erratic. 

 The board, in reporting, Dec. 1, 1902, on the 

 Adder, found that the vessel successfully met the 

 contract requirements and recommended its ac- 

 ceptance by the Government, though it recom- 

 mended further tests and some minor structural 

 changes. Jan. 10, 1903, it was announced that the 

 submarine torpedo-boat Adder had been accepted 

 by the Government, subject to a penalty of $960 

 for failure to comply with certain requirements. 



and several other governments have made appro- 

 priations for purchase and experiment. Of the 

 British boats, 5 are of the Adder-Moccasin type. 

 The first of these was launched in September, and 

 participated in the naval maneuvers at Ports- 

 mouth, and while the officers in charge maintain 

 the utmost reticence as to details, it is generally 

 understood that the tests were satisfactory. Nov. 

 25. 1902, a new type of boat, the joint invention 

 of Messrs. Viokers Sons & Maxim, who are also 

 building the Holland boats, received its unofficial 

 tests in the Irish Sea. In its speed records il i- 

 reported to have exceeded the first of the Holland 

 boats, though no figures have been given out. 

 It is also announced that a company has been 

 formed under the title of the British Submarine- 

 Boat Company which has acquired the patents 

 of the well-known French inventor M. Claude 

 Goubet, 2 submarines already built by him, and 

 all his inventions relating to submarine naviga- 

 tion. In addition, the company has secured Ili< 

 services of M. Goubet, his son, and another 



