NA TURE 



[June 29, 1905 



loss of life, they succeeded in destroying the Federal 

 Housatonic, but their submarine with all its crew perished 

 in the enterprise. 



It is impossible to give even a summarised statement 

 of other efforts made in this direction from i860 onwards 

 to 18S0; but one cannot leave unnoticed the work done in 

 the United States by Mr. Holland, who devoted himself 

 for a quarter of a century to continuous experiment on 

 submarines, and eventually achieved success. The Holland 

 type was first adopted by the L'nited .States Navy, and 

 was subsequently accepted by the British Admiralty as the 

 point of departure for our subsequent construction of sub- 

 marines. In France, also, successive designs for sub- 

 marines were prepared by competent naval architects, and 

 a few vessels were built and tried. The Plongcur, of 

 i860, was a submarine of large size, considerable cost, 

 and well considered design ; but her limited radius of 

 action and comparatively low speed left her for many 

 years without a successor on the French Navv List. 



The modern development of submarines for war purposes 

 is chiefly due to French initiative. During the earlier 

 stages of this development progress was e.xtremely slow. 

 The Gymnote was ordered in 1886 and the Giistaie Zcdc 

 in 1888, and her trials continued over nearlv eight years, 

 large sums of money being spent thereon. In i8g6 com- 

 petitive designs for submarines were invited, but no great 

 activity was displayed in this department of construction 

 until the Fashoda incident two years later. Since that 

 time remarkable developments have been made in France, 

 considerable numbers of submarines have been laid down, 

 rival types have been constructed, and manv designers have 

 been engaged in the work. Up to the present time about 

 seventy submarines and submersibles have been ordered ; 

 in July, iqo4, the total number of completed vessels was 

 twenty-eight, and at the end of iqoy it is estimated that 

 France will possess sixty completed submarines, with a 

 total displacement of nearly 13,600 tons. The first French 

 submarine of modern type, the Gymnote, was 56 feet long 

 and of 30 tons displacement. The latest types are nearlv 

 150 feet long and of 420 tons displacement. The cost of 

 a French submarine designed in i8q8 was about 26,000/. 

 The estimated cost of the latest and largest vessels is about 

 70,000!. 



Two years elapsed after the date when the French 

 resolutely undertook the construction of submarines before 

 the British Admiralty ordered five vessels of the Holland 

 type from Messrs. Vickers, Sons and Maxim, who had 

 acquired the concession for the use of the Holland Com- 

 pany 's_ patents. These first vessels in essentials were 

 repetitions of the type which had been tried and officially 

 approved by the authorities of the United States Navy. 

 It was agreed that all improvements made bv the Holland 

 Company should be at the service of the British .Admiralty 

 through the English concessiotinaircs. Our first five sub- 

 marines are 63 feet in length, 120 tons in displacement, 

 with gasolene engines of 160 horse-power for surface pro- 

 pulsion, giving a speed of 8 to q knots. The electric 

 motors for submerged propulsion are estimated to give a 

 speed of about 7 knots. The contract price for each vessel 

 in the United States was about 34,000/., and that is about 

 the price paid for our earliest vessels. The latest type of 

 which particulars are available is said to be about 150 

 feet_ in length, 300 tons in displacement, and with gasolene 

 engines of 850 horse-power for surface propulsion, giving 

 a surface speed of 13 knots and a radius of action of 500 

 miles. The under-water speed is q knots, and the radius 

 of action when submerged about 90 miles. 



In French official classification a distinction is made 

 between submarines and submersibles, and this terminology 

 has been the cause of some confusion. Both classes arc 

 capable of diving when required, and both can make 

 passages at the surface. In this surface condition a con- 

 siderable portion of the vessel lies above the water-surface 

 and constitutes what is technicallv called a " reserve of 

 buoyancy." In the submersible this reserve of buoyancy 

 and the accompanying freeboard are greater than in the 

 submarine type, and in this respect lies the chief difference 

 between the two types. The submersible has higher free- 

 board and greater reserve of buovancv, which secure better 

 sea-going qualities and greater habit'ability. The deck or 

 NO. 1 86 I, VOL. 72] 



platform is situated higher above water, and to it the 

 crew can find access in ordinary weather when making 

 passages, and obtain exercise and fresh air. Recent e.x- 

 haustive trials in France are reported to have established 

 the great superiority of the submersible type when the 

 service contemplated may involve sea passages of consider- 

 able length. The French policy, as recently announced, 

 contemplates the construction of submersibles of about 

 400 tons displacement for such extended services, and pro- 

 poses to restrict the use of submarines to coast and harbour 

 defence, for which vessels of about 100 tons displacement 

 are to be employed. All recent British submarines would 

 be ranked as submersibles according to the French classifi- 

 cation, and it is satisfactory to know, as the result of 

 French experiments, that our policy of construction proves 

 to have distinct advantages. 



In addition to these two types of diving or submarine 

 vessels, the French are once more discussing plans which 

 have been repeatedly put forward and practically applied 

 by M. Goubet, namely, the construction of small portable 

 submarine vessels which could be lifted on board large 

 ships and transported to any desired scene of operations. 

 In the Royal Navy, for manv vears past, it has been the 

 practice similarly to lift and carry second-class torpedo or 

 vedette boats about 20 tons in weight. Lifting appliances 

 for dealing with these heavy boats have been designed and 

 fitted in all our large cruisers and in battleships, and a 

 few ships have been built as "boat-carriers." The first 

 of these special depot ships in the Royal Navy was the 

 Vtdcan, ordered in 1S87-8, the design being in essentials 

 that prepared by the lecturer at Elswick in 1883. The 

 French have also built a special vessel named the Foudrc. 

 which has been adapted for transporting small submarines 

 to Saigon, and performed the service without difiiculty. 

 Whether this development of small portable submarines 

 will take effect or not remains at present an open question, 

 but there will be no mechanical difficulty either in the 

 production of the vessels themselves or in the means for 

 lifting and carrying them. 



Progress in mechanical engineering and in metallurgy 

 has been great since Bushnell constructed and used his 

 first submarine in 1776, during the war between the United 

 States and this country. These advances have made it 

 possible to increase the dimensions, speed, and radius of 

 action of submarines ; their offensive powers have been 

 enlarged by the use of locomotive torpedoes, and superior 

 optical arrangements have been devised for discovering the 

 position of an enemy while thev themselves remain sub- 

 merged. But it cannot be claimed that any new principle 

 of design has been discovered or applied. From descrip- 

 tions left on record by Bushnell, and still extant, it is 

 certain that he appreciated, and provided for, the govern- 

 ing conditions of the design in regard to buoyancy, stabilitv, 

 and control of the depth reached by submarines. Indeed, 

 Bushnell showed the way to his successors in nearly all 

 these particulars, and — although alternative methods of 

 fulfilling essential conditions have been introduced and 

 practically tested — in the end Bushnell's plans have in 

 substance been found the best. The laws which govern 

 the flotation of submarines are, of course, identical with 

 those applying to other floating bodies. When they are at 

 rest and in equilibrium they must displace a weight of 

 water equal to their own total weight. At the surface 

 they float at a minimum draught, and possess in this 

 awash " condition a sufficient freeboard and reserve of 

 buoyancy to fit them for propulsion. When submarines 

 are being prepared for " diving " water is admitted to 

 special tanks, and the additional weight increases 

 immersion, and correspondingly reduces reserve of 

 buoyancy. In some small submarines comparative success 

 has been attained in reaching and maintaining any desired 

 depth below the surface simply by the admission of the 

 amount of water required to secure a perfect balance 

 between the weight of the vessel and all she contains, and 

 the weight of water which would fill the cavity occupied 

 by the submarine when submerged. For all practical pur- 

 poses and within the depths reached by submarines on 

 service water may be regarded as incompressible ; the sub- 

 marine should, therefore rest in equilibrium at anv depth 

 if her total weight is exactly balanced by the weight of 



