The reason which underlies this conviction held by submarine inventors was succinctly expressed by the late Mr. John P. Holland. He pointed out the fact that "submarines cannot fight submarines," the submarine inventors have long since grasped the significance of this fact, realizing as they have that the submarine eventually was to drive the battleship from the sea.
When the day comes that submarines are equipped with engines of battleship speed, and thus take away from the battleships the only means of defence which they now have—namely, the ability to run away from the submarine—the submarine will dominate the surface of the high seas. Submarines may be built of almost any conceivable size, and carry large-calibre disappearing guns and ten, fifty, or one hundred torpedoes. The battleship will be powerless before the submarine of the future; the advantage will always be with the submarines, as they are invisible.
When every country with a sea-coast is equipped with a sufficient number of defensive submarines, even of very low speed, attacks by invasion of their sea-coasts will become impossible. In case two maritime nations go to war, the submarines belonging to each will effectively blockade the ports of the other. Commerce will come to an end, but there will be no invasions and no naval battles. The submarines, not being able to see each other, will not be able to fight. The worst that can happen is a deadlock, and a commercial deadlock of this sort will soon be ended by mutual agreement. The smallest of countries may fear no country, however large, whose sole access to her is by way of water. With a few defensive submarines she may adequately protect herself from invasion. Her shipping may be bottled up, but she needs to stand in no fear of invading hosts and of rapine by armies from across the ocean. She stands prepared, with a fleet of a few tiny submarines, to stand for her rights and for her liberty.
Offensively the submarine will be of little value when brought to its highest point of development, for when every nation is fully equipped with submarines the menace of these vessels will keep enemy surface ships from venturing on the sea. There will be nothing for the submarines to attack except ships of their own kind, and that, of course, will be impossible. Thus wars between maritime nations will come to be nothing more than a mutual check; no surface ships or transports will dare to move in any direction. Offensive warfare will thus end, and each nation will be playing a waiting game, relying upon her submarines for defence.
This is the destiny of the submarine. This has been the aim and the prophecy of the pioneers in submarine development. There is nothing which will stand in the way of the accomplishment of this happy result. The success of the submarine in the present war has at last forced those in power—and among them many who bitterly opposed its development—to recognize the value of this weapon. Submarine designers and submarine inventors will from now on receive the encouragement and the attention of naval authorities throughout the world. Hence we may expect to see the submarine developed and improved until it has many times the efficiency, speed, and destructive power which is possessed by it to-day. We may also expect to see the industrial possibilities of the submarine developed to a high degree within a few years. Travel will be made safer, rich cargoes will be recovered, and the ocean will be forced to give up its wealth and its products to the uses of man in greater quantity than ever before. Thus, instead of following a career of murder and of piracy, the submarine is destined to protect the weak, to strengthen the strong, and to serve humanity in general as an agent for prosperity and for peace.
[INDEX]
A
A-8, English submarine, [47]
A-1, English submarine, [48]
Abbott, Leon, [123]
Aerial torpedoes, [240]
Aeroplanes, [234]ff
Air supply, question of, [49-51]
"Alligator," Russian submarine, [67]
"American Turtle," [79], [80], [149]ff
"Amphibious" submarines, [202]ff
Anchoring weights, [20], [21]
Appropriation, U. S., 1893, requirements, [161]ff
Appropriation, U. S., 1915, requirements, [175]
"Argonaut," [1], [7], [10], [36], [41], [50], [55], [58], [60], [70], [125], [177]ff, [264], [270], [276]
"Argonaut, Junior," [125], [127], [176]ff
Asphyxiation, [32], [70]
B
Baker, G. F., [121], [161], [163]
Ballast tanks, [9]
"Battle of the Kegs," [81]
Becklemechief, Capt., [65]
Berg, H. O., [137]
Blinding the submarine, [244]
Board on Submarine Defense, report of, [209]ff, [215]ff
Bombs, [248]
Bonaparte, Napoleon, [81]
Bottom wheels, [216], [219]
Bourgois and Brun, [153]
Brayton engines, [94]
Bubonoff, Constructor, [65]
Buoyancy, negative, [18-19]
Buoyancy, positive, [18-19]
Buoyancy, reserve of, [9]
Bushnell, Dr. David, [79], [149]
C
Carbonic acid gas, engine, [10]
Cargo-carrying submarines, [251]ff
Champion, S. T., [127]
Champion, B. F., [128]
Churchill, Winston, [217]
Classes of submarine, [206]
Coast defense submarines, [197]
Compass, adjustment of, [180], [181]
Compressed air engine, [10]
"Congress, The," 87
Conning tower (invisible), [26]
Converse, G. A., [162]
Convoy, [249]
Criticisms of submarine, [290]ff
Cruiser submarines, [199]ff
"Cumberland, The," [87]
D
Dangers of submarining, [32]ff
Daniels, Josephus, [139]
Dawson, Sir Trevor, [174]
Day, [79]
Debrell, Cornelius, [77], [78]
Deck guns, [239]
Decompression, question of, [278]
Defensive devices, [232]
"Delphine," Russian submarine, [65], [66]
Depth control, [17]ff, [216]
Destiny of submarine, [296], [297]
Detection of surface ships, [257]
"Deutschland, The," [251]
Dickey, [91]
Diesel engines, [13]ff
Dirigibles, [234]ff
Discs, whirling, [248]
Divers, [59], [276], [277]ff
Divers' compartment, [30], [51]ff, [221]
Dixon, Lieut., [39]
Doyle, A. Conan, [4]
Dunkerly, [91]
"Dzrewiecke apparatus," [192]
E
E-2, American submarine, [76]
"Eagle, The," [79], [80], [150]
Echo device, [241]
Edison, Thos. A., [16], [141]
Electric Boat Company, [114]
Engines, [9]ff
Engines, difficulty with, [11]ff, [292], [293]
"Even-keel," [173]ff, [183]
Exius, Otto, [140]
Explosions, [70]ff
F
F-1, American submarine, [76]
F-4, American submarine, [76]
"Farfadet," French submarine, [76]
Fenian movement, [96], [157], [158]
"Fenian Ram," [96]ff, [157], [158]
Fessenden, Prof., [27], [238]
Fisher, J. J., [56]
Fleet submarines, [199]ff
"Foca, The," [13]
Folger, Commander, [162]
"Fortuna," [63]
Freight submarine, [58]
"Fulton," American submarine, [76]
Fulton, Robert, [81], [151], [294], [295]
G
Gadd, Capt. Alex., [44]
Garrett, G. W., [158]
Geological investigation (submarine), [264]
Goubet, M., [160]
Government aid to inventors, [138]ff
Grubb, Sir Howard, [25]
"Gustave Zédé," French submarine, [162]
"Gymnote," French submarine, [162]
Gyroscope, [29]
H
Hale, Senator, [125]
Halstead, O. S., [155]
Hanson, Capt. Scott, [263]
Hasker, C. H., [38], [152]
Haswell, C. H., [126]
Holland, J. P., [84]ff, [157], [163], [295]
Holland, J. P., Jr., [85]
"Holland, The," American submarine, [190], [191]
Hopkinson, Francis, [81]
"Housatonic," S. S., [39]
Hull, construction of, [6], [7]
"Hunley, The," [37], [38], [152], [158]
Hydrogen, [16]
Hydrographic investigation, [269]ff
Hydroplanes, [17], [171]ff
I
"Intelligent Whale, The," [155]ff
Internal combustion engines, [10]
International peace, influence of submarines, [295]
Installation of batteries, [16]
Inventors, proposed institution for, [146]ff
"Irish Ram." See "Fenian Ram."
J
Jonson, Ben, [77]
K
Koenig, Capt. Paul, [251]
Krupps, [183], [184]
L
Lake, 1893 design, [169]ff
Lauboeuf, M., [2], [173], [183]
Laurenti, naval constructor, [183], [186]
Lees, Capt. Edgar, [174]
Legitimacy of the submarine, [294]
Limitations of the submarine, [290]ff
Lister, John, [91]
"Lutine, The," [76]
M
Magnetic devices, [247]ff
Malster, W. T., [131]
Maxim, Sir Hiram, [137]
"Merrimac, The," [86]
Metacentric height, [8]ff
Microphone, [198]
Mines, [80], [220]
Mine-evading submarine, [206], [216]ff
Mine-laying submarine, [208], [216]ff
Mirabello, Admiral, [185]
"Monitor, The," [86]
"Morse, The," French submarine, [191]
N
Nansen, Capt., [263]
"Narval, The," French submarine, [191]
"Nautilus, The," [81]
Nautilus Submarine Boat Co., [109]
Naval Consulting Board, [139], [141]ff
Nets, used vs. submarines, [242]ff, [245]ff
Net-evading submarines, [206], [216]ff
New Orleans submarine, [39], [152], [153]
New York Herald, [129], [141]
Nordenfelt, [158], [159]
O
"Obry" gear, [29]
Offensive devices, [232]
Officina Galileo, [24]
Omniscope, [25]
One-man submarines, [205]
Oscillator, Fessenden, [27], [238]
P
Paget, Lord, [87]
Patent attorneys, [134]
Patent laws, [187]
Patent "sharks," [134]
Payne, Lieut., [38]
"Peacemaker, The," [83], [160]
Peral, Lieut. Isaac, [160]
Periscope, [22]ff, [47], [48]
Perpetual motion machine, [135], [136]
Piratical submarine, [294]
Pitt, William, [83]
Planté storage battery, [15]
"Plongeur, Le," French submarine, [153], [154]
"Plunger, The," [166]ff, [176], [188]ff
"Pluviose, The," French submarine, [76]
Promoters, [130]ff
Propelling mechanism, [9]ff
"Protector, The," [43], [50], [62], [209]ff, [235], [260], [262]
R
"Resurgam, The," [158]
Rice, Isaac, [115], [192]
Richards, G. M., [98], [99], [102]
"Running down," danger of, [42]ff
Russian experiences, [63]ff
S
Sampson, Admiral, [96], [124]
Salvaging, [57], [275]
"Schwartzkopf" torpedoes, [247]
Scientific American, [242]
Scott, Sir Percy, [3]
Searching for wrecks, [275], [276]
Searchlights, [240]
Shell-fishing, [285]ff
Smoke screen, [249]
Sound receivers, [27]ff
Sound detectors, [237]ff, [239]
Spear, L. Y., [173]
Speed, demand for, [11-19]
Stability, [7]ff, [70], [150]
Storage batteries, [9], [15]ff
Submarine engineering, [287]
Submarine guns, [240]
Submarine supply boats, [223]ff
Submarine vs. submarine, [244]
Sueter, Murray F., [173]
Superstructure, [7], [182]
T
Tillian, Capt., [67]
Torpedoes, [28]ff, [247]
Torpedo tubes, [28]
Triangular drag, [165]
Trinitrotoluol (T-N-T), [30]
Tuck, Josiah L., [83], [84], [160], [295]
Turret, armored, [235]
U
U-1, Austrian submarine, [48]
U-2, Austrian submarine, [48]
U-boats, German, [3]
Under-ice navigation, [260]ff
Unsinkable ships, [248]
V
Verne, Jules, [1], [119]
Vickers Company, [193]
Vision, underwater, [236], [241]
W
Waddington, [160], [161]
"Wake" of a periscope, [233]
Ward, Dr. Francis, [266], [267]
Washington, George, [150]
Weddingen, Lieut., [4]
White, Sir William, [192]
Whitehead torpedo, [2], [28], [29], [247]
Williamson Brothers, [265]ff
Williamson, Capt. Charles, [265]
Wireless, [28], [198]
Wrecking work, [57]
Wright Brothers, [137]
Z
Zalinski, Capt., [109]
Zigzag course, [250]