SUBMARINE 



5603 



SUBMARINE 



makes a ship visible to a submarine for a dis- 

 tance of twenty-five miles. High masts and 

 smokestacks were eliminated, and the sides of 

 the vessel were disguised with a system of 



A BRITISH SUBMARINE 



The H-W, shown above, is similar in construc- 

 tion to the American type. This illustration of 

 a submarine in dry-dock presents a good view of 

 the exterior design. 



camouflage that is, painted a gray that makes 

 a ship invisible to a submarine until about a 

 mile distant. Ships were equipped with smoke 

 bombs, to be used in case the submarine came 

 close enough to be dangerous. These bombs 

 are dropped upon the water in the path of the 

 pursuing submarine, and on contact with the 

 water they begin to smolder, covering the sea 

 with a dense, heavy cloud that effectually con- 

 ceals the vessel. A system of increased flota- 

 tion was also devised, greatly diminishing the 

 liability of sinking. Submarine destroyers, small, 

 swift boats manned by a few men, were put 

 upon the seas in large numbers to carry on of- 

 fensive warfare. What are known as depth 

 bombs were invented to destroy submarines. 

 These can be shot from guns and they explode 

 with great violence at a designated depth in 

 the water. 



History. The submarine, like the aeroplane, 

 has been long a dream of man. The first ves- 



sel of the type is said to have been constructed 

 by a Dutch physicist, Cornelius van Drebbel, 

 who exhibited it in the Thames and even in- 

 vited King James to have a ride with him. 

 The boat was built of wood and propelled by 

 twelve rowers; little else is known about the 

 original submarine. 



The first submarine to be used in war was 

 built by a colonial, David Bushnell, during the 

 American Revolutionary War. Bushnell's craft, 

 like Van DrebbeFs, was propelled by oars. He 

 called it the Turtle. This boat was submerged 

 and brought under the hull of a British ship in 

 New York harbor, but the operator found it 



THE DEUTSCHLAND AND ITS MASTER 

 Captain Paul Koenig, "admiral of the under- 



seas," and the vessel in which he made two 



trips to America in 1916. 



impossible to drill through the ship's bottom 

 and had to abandon his craft. 



Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, 

 constructed the first cigar-shaped submarine 

 while he was living in France, and gave suc- 

 cessful exhibitions in the harbor of Brest, after- 

 wards taking his invention to England. This 

 submarine was known as the Nautilus a name 



