SUBMARINE VESSELS 



an attack by the submarine. This preparation con- 

 sisted in surrounding her with protecting booms of 

 logs, supporting strong netting, and held a distance 

 from the hull by spars. In fact all possible means 

 short of actually building a wall about the Argus were 

 taken to defeat the attack. It is probable that the 

 brig, when her preparations for defense were com- 

 pleted, would have been invulnerable even to a modem 

 torpedo, and it is not surprising, therefore, that Ful- 

 ton's attack upon her utterly failed. 



Commenting upon this failure and the means taken 

 by the authorities to protect the Argus, Fulton signifi- 

 cantly remarked that the very fact that a war vessel 

 was obliged to make use of such means to protect her- 

 self against a system of attack then in its infancy, 

 spoke volumes for the possibilities of this method of 

 attacking when it should be more fully developed. 



But although this failure to destroy the Argus caused 

 Congress to withdraw its aid for future experiments in 

 submarine warfare, Fulton himself never lost faith in 

 the importance of his work. Even after his successful 

 invention of the steamboat, for surface navigation, he 

 is said to have remarked that, while this invention was 

 important, it could in no wise compare with the revo- 

 lutionary efifects upon navigation that would eventu- 

 ally be produced by submarine boats. And despite his 

 failure to convince the government of the possibilities 

 of his diving boats, he continued his experiments with 

 them. How nearly he succeeded in making a practical 

 submarine was shown in the second war with England 

 that followed soon after. 



[lOl] 



