Large dials on the wall of the turret indicated that the X-4 was running on what was practically an even keel at a depth of sixteen feet and under a consequent water-pressure of 1024 pounds on every square foot of her hull.
“How deep could she go?”
“One hundred and fifty feet—if she had to. The strong inner hull of a modern submarine is built up of three quarter inch plates of the best mild steel and well braced and strengthened from within. But as a rule there is no need of our diving below sixty feet at the deepest, or far enough to clear the keel of the largest ship. You will notice how the depth-control man is holding her steady by manipulating the forward horizontal rudders, just as an aviator steadies his aeroplane.”
Courtesy of the Electric Boat Company.
Depth-control Station, U. S. Submarine.
Wheel governing horizontal rudders, gages showing depth, trim, etc.
“He must be a strong man to handle those two big horizontal rudders.”
“He has an electric motor to do the hard work for him, as has the quartermaster steering the course here with the vertical rudder.”
The same red-headed petty officer that I had noticed on the bridge now grasped the spokes of a smaller steering-wheel inside the conning-tower.
“What is that queer-looking thing whirling round and round in front of him?” I asked.