SUBMARINE BOATS.
At different times during the development of torpedo warfare there have been many attempts to construct and perfect submarine boats of different types, but in no case has an attempt to use one been successful. The United States corvette Housatonic was sunk off Charleston Harbor in 1864 by a submarine torpedo-boat, but there are excellent reasons for believing that she was at the time of the attack used as an ordinary surface-boat with a bow-torpedo on a spar. In most cases the boats used, or rather designed, have been propelled by hand-power, their rate of speed being very low. Attempts are being made in all countries to perfect some form of submarine boat, and, judging from the experimental success attained heretofore, it is fair to suppose that some type will finally prove successful, although in any case its use would be extremely limited.