Submarines, Mines and Torpedoes in the War

E PHASE OF T

00 surface warships engaged in this titanic struggle for the dominion of Europe and the mastery of the seas carries the means for delivering submarine attacks in its torpedoes and surface and submerged discharging tubes. The oceans in the theatres of war have been strewn with German and Austrian mines; then they have been either counter-mined or swept clear and mined again. British seaplanes, with specially trained observers, are continually searching from high in the air for the dark patches in the semi-transparent sea-green which denote the presence of mines and submarines. Within signal-range or wireless call of the aërial scouts and their attendant ships are destroyer flotillas to give battle to the hostile submarines, while hundreds of trawlers and small steamers, f

submarine fleets engaged, it is necessary to make clear 12to the reader the wonderful change which this new mode of attack has made in all branches of naval warfare and its infl

edo attacks prior to the decisive engagements between the battle fleets. Hence we find, in the opening phase of the naval war, the German and Austrian fleets, inferior in numbers and gun power, skulking behind fortifications and waiting for their submarine and surface torpedo-boats and light cruisers, in conjunction with the hundreds of submerged mines strewn over the North Sea, Baltic, Adriatic and elsewhere to reduce the number and power of the British, French, Russian and Japanese fleets before the decisive actions are fought; and in order that these tactics might be frustrated, and the big British ships, as well as those of her allies, costing several millions sterling each, should not be exposed to these grave risks when no good could result, they have bee

U.15 by the British cruiser Birmingham; the sinking of an Austrian torpedo-boat by a mine off Pola; the torpedoing of H.M.S. Pathfinder, a fleet scout of about 3,000 tons displacement, completed in 1905‒6, by a German submarine; the destruction of the Wilson liner Runo by a mine; the sinking of the German cruiser Hela, a vessel of 2,000 tons displacement, built in 1896, by th

ch life and property belonging to neutral powers caused b

; and Messrs. Scotts' Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd., as well as many other firms and individual submarine experts had been engaged for many years in solving one after another the problems continually arising in the practical application of all forms of submarine warfare. The first British naval submarines were launched in 1901‒2 from Mes

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vessel of war; and the first vessel, the Gymnôte, was launched in 1888, but it was not until 1893 tha

in 1902, and since that date the Russian flotilla ha

werful and up-to-date flotilla of seventeen vessels

overcome and the two vessels U.1 and U.2 were launched. Since then the belief in a powerful submarine flotilla steadily grew until at the moment when war was declared Germany possessed

as well as in priority, bringing with it practical experience, Great Britain and France have a very appreciable superiority. It must, howeve

panese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima as well as the Russian battleship Petropavlovsk and the cruiser Boyarin-the British Admiralty foresaw the danger to which both warships and merchantmen would be exposed in time of war if the seas strewn with these mines could not be quickly cleared, and a new type of auxiliary came into being. This was the mine-sweeper, and eight vessels of the old torpedo-gunboat type were fitted out for 20the work. In addition to these, however, the Admiralty pur

steamed along, thus quickly laying a mine-field. But as the laying of mines, speaking generally, is a defensive 21mode of warfare and the policy of the British Navy-owing to its supremacy-is attack and not defence, the mine-laying fleet is of second importance to the sweeping fleet, the work of which, although much augment

cargoes of food, raw material for manufacture and gold and silver bullion, but also officers and men returning from various parts of the world to rejoin their regiments. Again, the Expeditionary Force had to be transported across the Channel to France. This could not be attempted until a guarantee had been given by the Navy that the seas were clear of hostile warships, submarines and mines. The fleet blockading the Frisian coast had to be supplied with coal and fresh food; and last but by no means least it was of vital importance to the Allied Armies in the Field that the whole coast-line from Bordeaux to Antwer

inking the enemy are decidedly good, and it is the quality possessed by the submarine of making herself invisible by sinking beneath the surface and approaching her enemy "seeing but unseen" that makes this type of vessel the ideal torpedo-boat. But, like everything else, there are limits to its use, for a submarine, although it can navigate on the surface like an ordinary torpedo-boat, cannot deliver a submerged attack at night owing to the periscopes, which are the "eyes" of these underwater fighting ships, being useless in the dark. When night covers

epelling attacks by small surface vessels, and are capable of accompanying fleets to sea. The Australian naval submarines A.E.1 and A.E.2 both made the voyage from Barrow to Sydney under their own power and without convoy. The radius of action of the latest vessels both of the 26British and French Navies amounts to several thousand miles. In the case of the British "F" class the displacement has risen to 1,500 tons, the speed to 20 knots and the armament to six torpedo tubes and four 1

uction of these delicate weapons. The extreme effective range and speed has risen from 4,000 yards at 18 knots to 7,000 yards at 45 knots or 11,000 yards at 30 knots. The "war-head" or front section of the torpedo contains a charge of about 200 pounds of damp gun-cotton which is fired by a detonator on the torpedo striking an object. This very powerful explosive char

r no 28less than eight warships ha

admirably set forth in the following dispatch from Commodore Roger B. Keyes, C.B., which is the firs

Maidsto

ctober

e the honour to report as follows upon the services perform

r Francis H. H. Goodhart), proceeded unaccompanied to carry out a reconnaissance in the Heligoland Bight. These two vessels

positions from which they could have attacked the High Sea Fleet, had it emerged to dispute the passage of our transports. This patrol was mainta

mation regarding the composition and movement of his patrols. They have occupied his waters and reconnoitred his anchorages, and, while so engaged, have

ine Flotilla, proceeded to take part in the operations in the Heligoland Bight arranged for August 28th. The Destroyers scouted for the Submarines until nightfall on

e to advance, for hostile Submarines, and then proceeded towards Heligoland in the wake of Submarines E.6, E.7

and this added considerably to the anxieties and responsibilities of the Commanding Officers of Submarines, who ha

ns under which Submarines can operate, and no opportunity occur

ser, but she altered course before he could get within range. After covering the retirement of our Destroyers, which had had to abandon their boats, he returned to the latter, and embarked a Lieutenant and nine men of Defender, who had been left behind. The boats also contained two Officers and eight men of V.187, who were unwounded

y of the enemy and in a visibility which would have placed his vessel within e

erations were based, and I beg to submit his name, and that of Lieutenant-Commander Talbot, the Commanding Officer of E.6

Max K. Horton) torpedoed and sank the German L

d to the scene after E.9 had delivered her a

utenant-Commander Horton examined the outer anchorage

ixed between the hydroplane and its guard; fortunately, however, the horns of the mine were pointed outboard. The weight of the sinker made it a difficult and dangerous matter to lift the mine clear without exploding it

x K. Horton), when patrolling off the Ems, to

fficult to attack with torpedo, and 35Lieutenant-Commander Horton's success was the result of much patient and sk

an, the Second in Command of E.

harbours, opportunities of delivering Submarine attacks have necessarily been few, and on one occasion only, pr

n the 14th and 21st September the position of the Submarines on a lee

the conning tower hatches open. There was no rest to be obtained, and even when cruising at a depth of

manding Officers that they should have main

n the execution of their duties. These Officers have unanimously expressed to me their admiration of the cool and gallant behaviour of the Officers and men under th

e been 37in contact with the

.

Commander Archib

.

-Commander Arth

.

t-Commander Ed

.

t-Commander Go

.

t-Commander Er

.

-Commander Char

.

t-Commander Ce

.

ommander Ferdinan

.

t-Commander Ma

e honour

edient

) ROGER

dore

p engagements between the cruisers and destroyers acting in conjunction with the under-water craft. The much-vaunted German Fleet, like that of its ally Austria-Hungary, has not dared to show itself from behind the forts and carefully-screened anchorages of the naval bases, sufferin

t must be "dug out like rats in a hole." This, then, may be the second phase in the naval war, and out i

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