Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights

mming-dish" Boats-"Blimps" and Seaplanes-Hunting the Sub

ergies in an effort to counteract the devastation which the U-boats brought upon the seas. England tried first to protect the English channel and many of its ports with mines, floating bombs a

two boats described as trawlers, which are a form of sea-going tug with powerful engines, that can draw a heavy load. A heavy cable runs from trawler to trawler, and from this the chain net is suspended in the water. It is heav

ainst the passage of submarine boats, and in this way were effective, but their u

found, therefore, to lie in the use of submarine chasers and airships, the two operati

ecessary to have many of these boats, and it is a matter of particular interest that the marvelous resources of the United States at the time of her entrance into the war enabled her to imme

AVAL KNOWLE

dling of ships of the naval type. A fleet of chasers is manned largely by naval reserves, who have a certain amount of trainin

would be possible for a torpedo to pass under a chaser without hitting it-if the submarine cared to waste such an expensive weapon on so small an adversary. When the submarine attempts to come to the surface and use the rapid-

s or so with only a single hit needed to put the submarine out of commission. Even if the submarine is at the surface and has her gun mounted ready for action, she is at a disadvantage with the chaser. The chaser, taking a

must go through the regular form of running back her gun, and battening down the water-tight hatches, before she can submerge, and the latter process ag

SURFACE

the heavy machinery, supplies, torpedoes and devices necessary for her operations and maneuvering has presented about all the difficulties the constructors have been able to handle. The highest speed of the submarine

t mean nothing more serious than a hole in the side to a surface boat would end the subma

ser. The little boats are just what their name implies-chasers-and besides having the qualities already described they may conceal themselves behind large steamers, and when the subma

ONNECTION WITH

ith the regular torpedo boat destroyers of the navy, the chaser and the aeroplane promise in future wars to minimize the effectiveness of the underseas craft. This is proven by the fact that immediately after the United States naval forces

e 8-cylinder 6-3/4 x 7-3/4 Duesenberg, 350 to 400 horsepower motors. The boats carry an 18-inch torpedo tube amidships and a 47-millimetre rapid-fire gun on the forward deck. They are

lter containing duplicate controls, &c., for the engine room and for the steering. Immediately aft of the steering shelter is the bridge deck, located on top

mast. Rail stanchions in the way of the torpedo tube are hi

FOR OFFICE

wed by ship's galley, which has two pipe berths. Next to the galley is located the officers' cabin and wireless room, which is entered by a hat

ssary oil tanks, batteries and a work bench. The next compartment contains fuel tanks, with 1300 gallons capacity. Aft of this compartment is l

ruction, as developed for t

esign of the hull is the concave bottom, square bilge type, developed for this particular service. It furni

and Italian navies in their active work and no consideration at all is given pro

and by the Italian high speed fleets in actual use and t

o was exceptionally successful in maintaining its mercantile fleet in comparative safety and in protecting its harbors against the offensive work of enemy submari

D AS "PAT

nd the waters all about the British Isles. As a rule the boats work in groups of five or six, one boat serving as a flagship-and often there is a "blimp" attached to the fleet. The armament of these sma

The bombs are used to drop in places where the submarine has been located or is expected of lurking in the bottom of the sea. While the exploding bomb may not strike the underseas boat it will creat

a long pole or staff. They are used just as a harpoon is used when by chance a submarine may emerge from the water in too close proximity to the chaser. It

UBLES THE

the alert, and it has been proved that in one or two instances at least the submarines cut their way through the heavy chain nets which were set to catch them near Havre. It was said that the

xcitement which attends the attempt to run down the underseas craft, the following des

our before the periscope of a submarine had been stuck up not far from her, then the craft had submerged, appeared again about a mile away,

mall boats and learning that the submarine had run over to the westward,

the gunners squinted along the surface, looking for the glimpse of a periscope

RILLED

etween our circular course and the chain nets-in the trap. The periscope we had seen might be a dummy, for a submarine frequent

appeared, and we knew it was a real one with a German U-boat on the

e men crawl out over the stern and fish around with boat hooks and poles. Cold as it is, one man goes overboard

the water for a periscope, a shadow, or the convent

ed astern and sink to a certain specified depth. If the cable fouls anything at al

eet. Barrels of water splash down into our cockpit and roll off the decks. The bow lifts its

the faces of a couple of men and rather nervous, forced jest

line fouled a submerged spar, or a bit of wreckage, and exploded right under our

SUBMER

nd, if the crew of the boat ahead could have heard what we said

he submarine came up. She was in such shallow water that she prob

ternational law and decency. It is the attitude which any country, obliged to fight against them, will assume. To the British mind, submarines must be exterminated, just as on

egan to hammer her with our three-inch guns. She opened fire,

e air or in the navy at large, existed in submarine warfare, we would have gone over to see if we could res

ence. That was a pretty certain sign the career of one U-boat was at an end, for the sea must have been pouring into her, a

KING NO

onate at a certain depth. We first sounded the bottom and then set our bombs for ten fathoms. Suddenly I hear a cry from the boat behind us. One of the crew reaches

a slight momentum left in the submarine-chaser. We hold our breath and watch in suspense, expec

k, drenching every one who is near it. But our comrades are unhurt. The momentum of their boat has carried them just far enough to s

elasticity is next to nothing. An explosion as powerful as that of a depth bomb near it, is almost certain to cripple it if not destroy it. It is the same principle as that which kills fish in a pond when dynamite is exploded beneath the surface of

-EYED AE

ir. Another step just a bit in advance of aeroplane scouting for submarines is the use of a small dirigible for the same purpose. But the clev

to launch itself again. Between these floats, which resemble a pair of broad home-made sleds, may be slung a torpedo. The same type of missile, this, that is used by the submarine and the destroyer-a long, cigar

h of an enemy ship. From a distance of miles, perhaps, the seaplane looks like a gull. To the observe

E OUT-DI

so fast that it makes the fastest torpedo boat destroyer look as if it were standing still. The attacked transport may try to bring its anti-aircraft guns to bear, if luckily it is equipped w

damage. And this must be done from a sufficient distance to safeguard the seaplane from the vessel's

evil submarine is the "blimp." This is nothing more nor less than a small dirigible ballo

ervation. It is a watcher of enemy movements on the water. But it is

loon, when a submarine is descried, can hover over it (as an aeroplane cannot), remaining as near

bomb with a delay-action fuse can be dropped upon it, the projectile not exploding until it reaches a depth of fi

ANCE OF TH

ying-machine in the pursuit of the submarines. Both together, in this ex

k, chiefly at a Gulf port, where a school-it is no war secret-of aviation and balloo

in accordance with which contractors turned them out in numbers. It is a sausage-shaped balloon 160 feet l

rubber. It is required that the balloon shall not lose more than 1 per cent of its gas-content in

vised. It has a cruising speed of 35 miles an hour, but at a pinch can travel ten miles an hour faster. At the "cruising" ra

Barring storms, it is able to navigate the air as it wishes. It can rise safely to an altitude of a mile an

ON OF THE

or sometimes with bicycle wheels, for safe landing on terra firma. When designed for sea scouting, floats-cylinders of waterproof fabric stuffed with veget

of hydrogen gas. The idea, of course, is that if anything happens to the major balloon-punctu

rrangement by which the "pilot"-the man who steers and operates the airship-can at any time measure the

he pilot, and behind him the "observer," who makes sketches and takes notes of anything important that he sees. Behind the observer are the tanks for fu

ins. Not every blimp, that is to say, but the pattern approved and required of contractors by the Navy Department. These fins are

MP" WELL

down or sidewise. They work on ball bearings. A blimp, one should understand, is a

same battery energizes a searchlight for night scouting. A wireless apparatus

with the great radio stations that are strung all along our coasts at intervals of 200 miles. These stations, in turn, are in communication with the huge wirele

s "chasers" and warplanes nearest to the scene to go after the undersea boat. Within a few minutes the pursuit has started, and the U-boat finds itse

efficiency and structural correctness, each contractor, in offering bids to furnish them, was required to exhibit a model, exactly like