In the years of peace and prosperity that passed between the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the beginning of the great world war of the nations that is now going on, the submarine was experimented with and improved upon until it has thrown all the other types of naval craft, from the dreadnaughts on down into the shade where there isn’t any shade.
The result of it all is, as you probably know, that the submarine has developed a kind of warfare all its own and which it carries on entirely without help. Imagine, if you can, that in the greatest war that has ever been waged giant battleships are sewed up in the harbors of the enemy while her submarine flotillas are everywhere at sea and carrying on a most effective blockade! Such is the rise of the submarine.
The Uses of the Submarine.—There are two chief uses to which the submarine is put, and these are (1) as a reserve defense or offense for the fleet, and (2) as an offensive weapon for the purpose of maintaining a blockade.
How She Works with the Fleet.—In the first instance, that is, where the submarine is used as a means of defense and of offense with a fleet or squadron, her tactics are well defined and clear-cut.
Her activities under these conditions are rather limited, for she is not built speedy enough to keep up with a swiftly steaming fleet. This, then, in the very nature of things, keeps the submarine from playing an otherwise all-important rôle of scout-ship.
Further, this lack of speed on her part prevents her from engaging in battle as an actual part of the fleet or squadron, for very often it is the speed of the attacking men-of-war that makes for victory, and a flotilla of submarines that lagged behind would prove more of a hindrance than an aid.
But what the submarine can and does do to great advantage is to attack an enemy fleet either as a defensive or an offensive measure, depending on the relative strengths of the fleets which oppose each other.
The Submarine Flotilla as a Means of Defense.—Now let us see first what happens when a fleet with a flotilla of submarines attacks another fleet which is without them.
If the attacking fleet is the weakest—that is, its guns are the lightest—then the submarine flotilla will take a defensive stand, though the opposing fleet is making the attack. The submarines will lay off to the rear of the attacking fleet, and then if the gun-fire from the enemy waxes so warm that the attacking fleet is forced to retire the submarines are in a good position to aid the fleet in its retreat, as shown in [Fig. 61].
