114 SUBMARINES IN GENERAL— 



"The performance of our own boats during manoeuvres proved beyond all 

 doubt the reality of the submarine menace. Nevertheless, down to the very eve of 

 the war there was a decided tendency in senior naval circles to belittle its gravity. 

 The spirited controversy which arose out of Admiral Sir Percy Scott's perhaps too 

 ardent warning brought clear proof of the deprecatory attitude of many of our 

 flag officers toward an arm which even then had reached a most formidable degree 

 of efficiency." 



"It would appear that a different policy must henceforth be pursued if the 

 capital ship is not to be driven from the sea by the swift submersible torpedo- vessel 

 whose appearance cannot long be delayed, and of which the British 'K' class subma- 

 rine may be considered the forerunner." 



In concluding my paper on "Submarine Hulls" presented to the Society in 1917, 

 I ventured two predictions regarding which I now take the womanly satisfaction of 

 saying, "I told you so." 



One was that the great preponderance of submarine construction was in the 

 vicinity of 800-ton vessels. This is well borne out by a study of the designs laid 

 down during the war, some of which are still under construction. 



The other prediction was that the submarine itself is the best antidote for the 

 submarine. Anyone who will analyze in detail the number of submarines lost in 

 the war will find that, due consideration being given to the relative number of ves- 

 sels engaged in anti-submarine warfare, the allied submarines accounted for more 

 enemy submarines than any other type of vessel. 



II. GERMAN SUBMARINES IN PARTICULAR. 



It was the writer's privilege to be detailed as a member of the Naval Allied Ar- 

 mistice Commission which proceeded to Germany in December, 19 18, on board the 

 H. M. S. Hercules. It also fell to my lot to be detailed as a member of the Ameri- 

 can Submarine Inspection Board which inspected German submarines after their 

 surrender at Harwich, England. A casual inspection of about one hundred sub- 

 marines and a detailed inspection of one vessel of each type were made and reports 

 thereon submitted to the Navy Department. It is, of course, out of the question to 

 cover all the matters with regard to these vessels, but a few of them will be given 

 for the information of the Society. 



All modern German submarines are of the double-hull type. The war produced 

 three standard types of German submarines which are known as the UC type, the 

 UB type and the U boat or "mittel U-boat." In addition to the standard types, 

 there were two special types, as follows : — UE type, mine-laying cruisers ; UA type, 

 large cruiser class. The large cruiser class consists of two designs, the ordinary 

 design being a vessel of about 2,000 tons surface displacement, while there were a 

 few of the special cruiser design of about 1,200 tons surface displacement. There 

 were apparently only two vessels in this class completed, and they were especially 

 designed for surface speed. 



