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1886 - 1892
The Gymnote submarine in 1888 |
HII |
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The early American boats of the " Holland " type, and the French boats built in the last decade of the 19th century, were the earliest really practical submarine boats, in the sense that unlike the boats which preceded them they were instruments of war which could be used by ordinary trained crews with the average chances of success and failure which attend all warlike operations. They owe their practicability not to any discovery of the method of controlling the movements of a boat beneath the surface of the water, as has been sometimes supposed, since the ordinary method of steering by means of a rudder or a com- bination of rudders perfectly analogous to that used for manoeuvring a ship in the horizontal plane was well known and had been applied to steering submarines in the vertical plane before; but principally to the perfection of the accumulator cell as a means of storing energy for propulsion without the expenditure of air or other weight contained in the boat, and to the introduction of the optical tube. This latter instrument is a telescope with the optical axis twice bent through a right angle by totally reflecting prisms or mirrors; and under diverse forms and various names, such as periscope, cleptoscope, hyphydroscope, omniscope, &c., it affords the only practical means by which objects on the surface of the water can be seen at a distance from the interior of a submerged vessel. The problem of providing means for seeing at a distance through the water still awaits solution, and when solved, if it ever should be, will enormously add to the power of submarine boats as weapons of war. By far the greater number of submarine boats in existence in 1910 were developments through a process of continuous experiment and improvement of the " Gymnote " and of the early Holland boats, although the process of evolution had been so rapid and extensive that the parentage of these modern boats is barely recognizable. There are, however, a considerable number of submarines built by the Lake Submarine Boat Co. of Bridgeport, U.S.A., in the service of various naval powers. ... The "Gymnote " was constructed at Toulon in 1888. She is a steel vessel, with a length of 59 ft. and a displacement of 30 tons; being of an experimental character only, she has no weapon of attack. The maximum speed obtainable is 8 knots. The designs of the " Gustave Zede " and of the " Morse " were both based on those of the " Gymnote," the former having a length of 148 ft. and a displacement of 263 tons. In both of these the hull is of bronze; one great advantage of this metal being that, like the bronze of the Goubet boats, it is non-magnetic in character, and cannot therefore disturb the equilibrium of the compass. With their large dimensions they were intended to be formidable engines of war, and were furnished for attack with Whitehead torpedoes; of these tatter they each carry three of 45 cm. (nearly 18 in.) diameter, discharging them by means of a torpedo tube. The " Morse " and the " Gustave Zede," like the " Gymnote," possess only electric means of propulsion, the power being derived from batteries of accumulators. No power is provided in the vessels by which the accumulators can be recharged, so that the radius of action of these boats is necessarily very limited. ... Romazzotti, already referred to as the designer of the " Morse " and " Gustave Zede," produced two other boats, the " Francais " and " Algerien," similar to the " Morse." Four vessels, the " Sirene," " Triton" "Silure" and "Espadon,"of a modified "Narval" type, were built from M. Laubeuf's designs in 1901; two others of a similar type, the " Aigrette " and " Cigogne," but of 170 tons surface displacement, were built in 1904, and two other still larger boats, the " Circe" and " Calypso," in 1905. These two boats are (155 ft. long, 16 ft. beam, to ft. draught) of 350 tons displacement on the surface, 48o tons submerged. Two Diesel heavy oil engines are fitted to give III knots speed on the surface and two electric motors for use when submerged. Four boats of the " Gnome " type, of 200 tons and 28o H.P. and 135 ft. in length, designed by M. Maugas, were commenced in 1899. In 1901 twenty small submarines of the " Naiade " type were commenced to M. Romazzotti's design; they are 76 ft. in length and of 68 tons displacement, and have a surface speed of 8 knots and a speed of 4.5 knots when submerged. Their motive-power is electrical both for surface and submerged propulsion, except in the case of two boats which are provided with benzol motors for surface work. From 1905 to 1909, 34 boats of the " Pluviose " type of twin-screw submersibles designed by M. Laubeuf were laid down; they have a displacement on the surface of 392 tons, and have engines of 700 H.P. and a speed of 12 knots on the surface, and 440 H.P. and a speed of 7 knots when submerged. Eighteen boats of the class have triple-expansion engines, and each of the remainder has two Diesel heavy oil motors for surface propulsion, while all have electric motors for use when submerged. ..." |