The Submariiie Blockade Rtmner 



A U-Boat to Carry ConiraLana Car ^5^ 



THANKS to the control of the North 

 Sea by the British fleet, the entire 

 manufacturing world has been 

 forced to realize its dependence upon 

 Germany for many materials. Some 

 coal-tar drugs, dyes, and the like are 

 worth anywhere from ten dollars to one 

 hundred dollars an ounce; others can- 

 not be obtained at any price. Germany, 

 on the other hand, is beginning to feel 

 the pinch of want. Meat is so scarce 

 that it may soon be worth dollars a 

 pound. If it were only possible to run 

 the blockade in and out of Germany, 

 what a fortune could be made by selling 

 coal-tar products in the United States 

 and food in Germany! 



Now it is ob\ious that the only suc- 

 cessful way of escaping the blockade is 

 to travel either above or below the vigi- 

 lant British cruisers — travel in the air, 

 or tra\cl below the surface of the water. 

 To carry even a few hundred pounds of 

 freight through the air is out of the 

 question. Neither the dirigible airship 

 nor the aeroplane could ever make much 

 money as a blockade runner, sini[)ly 

 because of its limited carrying capacit\\ 

 But what of the submarine? What 

 are the possibilities of carr>-ing fairly 

 large and extremely valuable cargos in 

 under-sea craft? 



At least one submarine designer ap- 

 parently believes in the possibility. He 

 is Simon Lake, one of the foremost 

 authorities on submarine boat construc- 

 tion in this country. A few months ago, 

 he patented a cargo-carrying submarine, 

 the inspiration of which was probably 

 given by the present war situation; for 

 he says in his patent, "I provide an 

 exceedingly novel construction of sub- 

 marine or submergible boat particularly 

 designed for carrying cargos of various 

 descriptions, and which will be found of 

 inestimable advantage in supplying 

 blockaded countries with food-stuffs 

 or war materials during hostilities, and 

 which may be readily submerged, when 

 upon the high seas, in the e\-ent of inter- 

 ception by an enemy's fleet." 



The construction of this cargo-carry- 

 ing submarine of Mr. Lake's is utterly 

 different fr(jm that of the familiar de- 

 stroyer of battleships. Its external ap- 

 pearance is perhaps not so widely at 

 \-ariance with the accepted type, but its 

 interior arrangements are in cver>" way 

 remarkable. The vessel which we pic- 

 ture would be at least 350 feet, and po.^- 

 sibly 400 feet long, and would be able to 

 carry about 5.000 tons of cargo. 



To carry 5,000 tons at the surface, the 

 vessel must be extraordinarily buoyant. 



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