INTRODUCTORY PROCEEDINGS. xxxv 



marines. The submarine of the present day is quite a different vessel. There are now under 

 construction large submarines capable of steaming 20 knots on the surface, developing 5,000 

 horse-power, with a combination of boilers with oil fuel and turbine-geared machinery. 



The two-cycle Diesel engine is also still used for surface running, while the storage bat- 

 tery remains the driving power while submerged. The new submarines will encompass a 

 radius of from 3,000 to 4,000 miles on the surface and from 120 to 150 miles submerged. 



The submarine has proven its efficiency for a certain phase of warfare, but that it has 

 removed the use of the battleship entirely from the field remains to be seen. Possibly the 

 effect of the submarine may change the construction of battleships and cause a reduction in 

 the size of the units. 



Captain, Baldwin, a well-known American aviator, has recently published an interesting 

 article written before, but proven correct since the commencement of the war in Europe, 

 clearly showing the great advance abroad in the artj of navigating the air, an advance so 

 much beyond that of the United States that one wonders if we are not losing our reputation 

 for foresight, enterprise and ingenuity. This is more remarkable when we remember that 

 the aeroplane was developed and made really successful in this country by two Americans, the 

 Wright brothers, who have not received the same recognition here that they have in England 

 and France. 



The loss of the steamship Titanic, supposedly the finest vessel of the time, in April, 

 1912, on her first voyage to New York, aroused the maritime world, resulting in a call orig- 

 inating in this country for an International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea. 



The Conventioa was held in London, opening November 12, 1913, the text of same being 

 finally signed on January 20, 1914. Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, Belgium, 

 Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Colonies of Australia, Canada and 

 New Zealand, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and the United States were 

 in all represented by fifty-five delegates. The President of the United States appointed ten 

 delegates, of whom five are members of this Society, though they were not appointed as such. 

 It is a matter of gratification, however, that one of the founders of this Society and a dis- 

 tinguished officer and member of the Council since its incorporation. Admiral W. L. Capps, 

 was selected by the Convention to be chairman of its most important committee, the one on 

 Construction, involving particularly the bulkheads and subdivision of ships. It is needless to 

 say that every member of the delegation worked faithfully to procure the results sought by 

 the Convention and to bring into one accord the many varied interests involved. 



It is much to be regretted that the text o f the Convention was not at once ratified by the 

 United States Senate. 



The one great event of the world, overwhelming all others, is the horrible calamity of 

 the almost universal war in Europe. Several nations are engaged in a conflict never be- 

 fore equalled. Each particular nation disavows all responsibility. The people of each nation 

 involved, if accounts be true, and there seems to be no reason for doubting them, have en- 

 tered the war with a consecration in itself worthy of admiration. Every one of you has 

 his own opinion of the causes, responsibility and probable outcome, which without doubt may 

 be known for the asking. This being a Society devoted to science, it were better to avoid 

 partisanship, but I will venture to say that all will agree with the reported opinion of a 

 prince of a royal family of great renown, that "this war is useless, senseless and 

 unnecessary." 



On our roll of membership are the names of distinguished men from every one of the 



