Can 



Battery 



Explosions 



HARD upon the dis- 

 aster which befell 

 the F-4 off Honolulu — a 

 disaster which resulted 

 from a storage-battery 

 lining and rivets being 

 corroded by sulphuric 

 acid fumes — comes an 

 accident sustained by the 

 E-2 which seems to be 

 due to the explosion of 

 gases generated by the 

 storage battery. \\'hen 

 lead-plate storage-batter- 

 ies are employed, gases 

 or fumes are likely to 

 escape from the battery 

 compartment and to suf- 

 focate the crew ; the fumes 

 (a fine spray containing 

 dilute sulphuric acid in 

 suspension) are very penetrating and eat 

 into the machinery of the boat and parts 

 of the hull, causing corrosion and de- 

 struction of the metal. At least one 

 French submarine was lost as a result of 

 this corrosion. In the Edison type of 

 battery, which does not employ lead, hy- 

 drogen gas is generated, which when 

 mixed with the proper volume of air. is 

 highly explosive. Whether the old lead 

 battery or the modern Edison battery is 

 installed, a ventilating system must be 

 provided in order to remove the gases. 

 From the very first, then, we find that 

 submarine designers have bent their 

 minds to the installation of blowers and 

 ducts wdiich will suck out the dangerous 

 gases and conduct them to the outside 

 of the vessel. The illustrations on the 

 opposite page show very clearly the fun- 

 damental principles on which these ven- 

 tilating systems are based. 



But, after all, this is a makeshift. The 

 storage battery is inherently dangerous. 

 Recognizing this, the Navy Department 

 has for over a year been at work trying 

 to do away with storage batteries alto- 



On Sub- 

 marines Be 

 Prevented? 



gether. It seems likely 

 that before long the 

 United States Navy will 

 develop a submarine in 

 which the same propel- 

 ling engine will serve 

 both at the surface and 

 under the surface. At 

 present Diesel engines 

 drive the vessel 

 when she is above 

 water, and elec- 

 tric motors deriv- 

 ing their current 

 from storage bat- 

 teries, are e m - 

 ployed for under- 

 water propulsion. 

 While nothing 

 definite is as yet 

 known about the 

 Na\y's experiments, it is certain that 

 compressed air will be used, wdiich will 

 be stored in tanks occupying the space 

 now taken up by the batteries. The air 

 will not only serve to feed the engines 

 but also to provide a purer atmosphere 

 for the crew. It seems certain that with 

 the compressed air system the radius of 

 the submarine will be increased. W'hy? 

 Because the electric motors for under- 

 water propulsion will be dispensed with 

 and their place taken by compressed air 

 tanks. In other words, the space for- 

 merly occupied by storage batteries and 

 by electric propelling machinery is to be 

 taken up by compressed air tanks, repre- 

 senting so much stored power. 



As soon as the submarine reaches the 

 surface it will suck air in automatically 

 through its pumps. In other words it 

 will breathe when it reaches the surface 

 just as if it were a mechanical whale. 



The United States Navy has been freer 

 from terrible submarine accidents than 

 that of any first-class power. But even 

 the two accidents which American sub- 

 marines have had are two too many. 



The United States Submarine E-2, 

 the latest victim of a naval accident 

 which has been attributed to the 

 explosion of battery gases 



394 



