FRANCE
Rebuilding France's Merchant Marine.—On August 5 the French Cabinet authorized M. L. Klotz, the Minister of Finance, to introduce a bill in the Chamber of Deputies granting 1,830,000,000 francs for the reconstruction of the French Merchant Marine.—Scientific American, 8/16.
The French Navy.—It is recognized in France, as in this country, that the present is a time of watchful waiting, in the phrase of President Wilson. With the German Navy gone, there is a wholly fresh outlook, and it would be foolish, to say the least, to resume at once the building of ships which would probably be out of date before completion. The Paris Temps laments the lack by France of a navy corresponding to her policy, and says: "It is necessary that in the present circumstances we should take note of our naval decline. Can we accept it and make no attempt to regain our former rank amongst the navies of the world?" There can be but one answer to this question, yet the voice of caution should not be disregarded in the eagerness of our Allies to raise the efficiency of their marine. What all the Allies have to do now is to determine how far and m what manner the events of war have influenced warship design. French naval construction has not always proceeded along the best lines. Sometimes it has been swayed by the idea of numbers of small craft, in the belief that the right policy was the guerre dc course; at other times France has launched out into big ship programs which materialized slowly. To-day, she has 12 fine modern battleships, but they are outclassed by those completed for Great Britain during the war. Fortunately, France only lost one modern battleship, the Danton, during hostilities, whereas Great Britain lost two dreadnought battleships and three battle cruisers. We also lost eleven older battleships compared with three lost by France. No doubt the Ministry of Marine, in preparation for new ships which it may desire to build later, will overhaul its system of construction and the equipment of its yards and manufactories with a view to expediting output.—Army and Navy Gazette, 8/16.
A Great French Shipbuilding Scheme.—A far-reaching scheme far the development of the French merchant marine in general, not only by the construction of a number of new vessels in the native shipyards, but also by the purchase of ships from Allied nations, has been prepared by the responsible Ministers, and a bill to authorize an expenditure of £78,000,000 for the purpose is on the point of being submitted to the legislative chambers for consideration. Apparently this proposed outlay, the approval of which is looked upon as a foregone conclusion, does not include the making of any provision either for incidental, though absolutely essential, projects, such as the extensions of port works and equipment for the rapid discharge of steamers up to 12,000 tons, or for the scarcely less important expansion of the sorting stations or sidings at the ports, in order to be able rapidly to deal with the great increase in traffic which it is confidently expected will be experienced in the course of the next few years. Prior to the war the total French tonnage of passenger and freight steamers combined represented 2,400,000. Of that total, 900,000 tons were lost during the course of hostilities. Even with the pre-war tonnage, however, it was only possible for one-fourth of the aggregate imports and exports to be shipped, the balance of three fourths being transported in vessels belonging to other nations. The question of developing the merchant marine has been under consideration for some time past, and it has now been possible to prepare a scheme which M. Claveille, Minister of Public Works, states will result in the creation of a total fleet of 5,000,000 gross tons in a definite period of three years from the present time. Before deciding on the new scheme, an examination was made of the situation of affairs in the middle of July. It was found, for instance, that the gross tonnage of vessels acquired, constructed or ordered by the state on the basis of credits previously granted was 509,000. On the other hand, private ship-owners have accomplished better results, better indeed than had been expected as a fresh beginning since the conclusion of hostilities, and an official tribute has been paid to the great efforts which they have put forth in this direction. Thus, the orders definitely placed by private enterprise in France and other countries comprise ships of a total of 1,015,000 tons gross, of which 491,000 tons represent passenger steamers and combined passenger and freight ships, and 524,000 tons consist of cargo vessels and other kinds. It will therefore be seen that the vessels ordered by the state and private ship-owners reach a combined total of 1,524,000 tons.
It is, however, quite evident that an additional new tonnage of 1,524,000 is totally inadequate for a country which aspires to transport in national ships the whole of its outward and inward foreign trade, and even when supplemented by those of the pre-war fleet of merchant steamers which still remain, and many of which, be it said, should really be replaced by modern vessels, the number would be still insufficient if the national object is to be successfully achieved. Under these circumstances, the French authorities decided, in the first place, to take a census of the productive capacity of the native shipyards, for although it may be good policy to purchase ships from Allied countries, it is realized that it is better to keep the French yards and their workmen occupied. As a result of the census, the government proposes under the bill to allocate orders to the national yards for their entire production for a period of three years, "if the prices are reasonable." It is impossible to understand from recent speeches of the Minister of Public Works the amount of the tonnage which will be represented by these orders. But M. Clementel, Minister of Commerce, was more precise on a recent occasion when he mentioned that the Minister of Public Works had already given orders to the national yards for vessels of a total of 1,000,000 gross tons. The Minister added that in these cases the prices to be paid by the builders for coal and ship plates had been guaranteed to be equal to English prices, so that the vessels would be constructed substantially at the same cost per ton for raw materials as British-built ships. It was explained that this concession would place upon the ship-owners the obligation to charge freight rates identical with those of British ship-owners. As the prices for coal and shipbuilding materials have been guaranteed, the natural assumption is that, if the actual purchase prices are higher than those paid by British shipbuilders for the same kind of materials during the corresponding period, the amount of the difference will be defrayed by the government and the contribution will represent what is practically a subsidy on shipbuilding. On the other hand, and in the absence of any information on this particular point, it may be concluded that the ships ordered by private enterprise and representing 1,015,000 tons, or at least the percentage of them contracted for in native yards, do not carry a guarantee as to the prices which the builders will have to pay for coal and other materials.
It was, of course, known in government circles that the productive capacity of the French shipyards would be insufficient fully to cope with the program of 5,000,000 gross tons within a period of three years. As a consequence, the responsible Ministers some months ago approached the governments of the United States and Great Britain for assistance in the supply of ships. In this connection, the Minister of Commerce, replying recently to an interpellation on the economic policy of the government, stated that the 500,000 gross tons of ships arising from the agreement which he had signed with the British Government had now been allotted to the French. It is not quite clear whether these ships have been sold or transferred for a time, but an unofficial statement is to the effect that they have been lent. The Minister of Commerce also mentioned that important purchases were on the point of being concluded in the United States. Since then, M.A. Tardieu. General War Commissioner for Franco-American transactions, has given details of those acquisitions with which he has been associated. It appears from this information that the ships already delivered and those yet to be supplied by the United States will total 1,000,000 tons gross, of which 75 per cent will be steel steamers and only 25 per cent wooden vessels. In addition, there has to be taken into consideration the share of the German tonnage of merchant vessels to be assigned to France under the terms of the Treaty of Peace, so that the big program seems in a fair way of realization, at all events on paper. The French state under the circumstances promises to become a large merchant ship-owner in the course of the next few years. No light on the problem of the working of the state steamers has apparently been thrown by recent Ministerial speeches, but the inference to be drawn from the speech delivered by the Minister of Commerce, as previously mentioned, is that the ships of 1,000,000 tons ordered by the state from private yards are to be transferred to shipping companies. Moreover, a French newspaper statement, which is attributed to an authority who is competent to judge the question, is to the effect that the steamers being built for state account are to be handed over to companies in which the state, so to speak, will become a shareholder for the amount of the state's contribution in ships to each company. If this really represents the proposed policy as regards the contemplated new fleet, considerably more than half the aggregate tonnage of 5,000,000 will be under government control. It remains to be seen whether this policy will prove to be sound. At any rate, without state intervention in the acquisition of ships, it would be impossible for the French nation to make the strenuous effort to become independent of the merchant fleets of other countries which is in contemplation.—The Engineer, 8/22.
GERMANY
Germany Admits Four Million Ton Shipping Loss.—While numerous figures have been published estimating Germany's mercantile shipping losses during the war, the first comparative statement of losses coming from Germany direct appeared recently in the Berliner- Tagesseitung. This gives the following figures:
"As is well known, we owned on January 1, 1913, a fleet of 4850 ships of every size, with a gross register tonnage of 4,935,909 tons. We now have 3649 ships below 1000 tons, with a total of 589.263 gross register tons, and of ships above 1000 tons 106 ships with a total of 135,673 gross register tons. Altogether, therefore, Germany has 3755 ships with 724,936 gross register tons.
"The net result is a loss of more than 4,000,000 gross register tons, that is, more than four-fifths of our whole tonnage, which leaves us not quite enough to conduct our Baltic shipping with our own cargo space." —Scientific American, 8/16.
Conclusion of the Building Contracts for the Reconstruction of the German Mercantile Marine.—The negotiations between the Government, the ship-owning concerns, and shipbuilding yards with regard to the contracts for the reconstruction of the German mercantile marine have now been concluded, so that, looking at things from that point of view, there is now no impediment in the way of the constructions being energetically taken in hand in the yards at once. The basis upon which the costs of construction are being calculated is, briefly, the following: The shipbuilding yards are to build the ships under government control, and in so doing are to charge the factory (Selbstkosten) cost for the material and wages and to add to it so much per cent for working expenses, and then to reckon a percentage of profit upon the total amount. The following is the manner in which these costs are to be divided between the shipbuilding yards and the Realm. Taking the standard price for the gross registered tonnage as the basis, the prices for ships valid on August 1, 1914 and those valid on October 1, 1918, have been calculated. The Realm will assume the responsibility for the extra cost of ships as compared with October, 1918, whilst the difference between the prices obtaining on August 1, 1914, and those valid on October 1, 1918, will be borne by the ship-owning concerns and the Realm in equal proportions. For purposes of comparison it is interesting to note that the prices of October, 1918 amounted to about 2.8 times as much as the values of August I, 1914, whereas the present value is 2.5 times as much as that obtaining on October 1, 1918—thus seven times as much as on August 1st, 1914. Therefore a ship that cost about 2,000,000 marks in 1914, could have been built for 5,600,000 marks in 1918, but row costs 14,000,000 marks. The contribution to be paid by the Realm therefore reaches a stately amount, but there is hope that it will be possible to reduce this burden for the taxpayer by means of a gradual reduction of the wages.
The settled situation resulting from the above agreements has resulted
in an abundance of orders being given to the yards, but that gain is counterbalanced
by the fact that the prospects for the delivery of shipbuilding steel are unfortunately practically hopeless. The orders given in December will probably be executed in August; at the present moment it is not possible to get orders accepted at all. Therefore in so far as the yards have not still some material at their disposal they will scarcely be able to complete any further constructions this year. This is all the more regrettable because in view of the present value of German money, orders from abroad could have been reckoned upon in spite of the enormous prices, as is proved by the negotiations between Scandinavian ship owning concerns and German yards, and that again would have been more advantageous, for technical reasons connected with the rate of exchange, than the exportation of unworked rolled steel which is now apparently necessary to pay for the foodstuffs imported.—Hansa, 5/3.
The Internationalization of German Rivers.—The peace terms proposed by the Entente demand the internationalization of all the large rivers which would still remain to Germany, in particular the internationalization, for the benefit of the Czechs, of the Elbe and the Oder. The Rhine has been internationalized, in a way, for more than a century, and the system has given good results. There was an international Rhine Navigation Commission, which had to act as the supreme authority over the river and as court of appeal, and which regulated the development of the Rhine on a uniform system. Formerly England was represented on that commission in addition to the riparian states. In principle the flags of all nations were treated alike on the Rhine. Now, of course, endeavors are being made to give France the predominant influence on the Rhine, but it will scarcely be possible to make any change in the system of equal rights for all on the Rhine because Holland's influence upon and power over the Rhine navigation are too great. In the case of the Elbe a similar internationalization might well be agreed to, for the formation of which, by the way, the first steps had already been taken, should consist exclusively of representatives of the riparian states. On the other hand the Oder, being a purely German stream, cannot be taken into consideration straight away for internationalization. But we in Germany are in favor of a similar internationalization of the Vistula. But that is just the river for which the Entente does not provide internationalization, for the Vistula is to be placed under the sovereignty of the Entente state, Poland. And this brings us to the gist of the whole matter. All the German rivers are to be withdrawn from German sovereignty in order that the interests of all nations may be safeguarded. That is a sound principle, as in truth world commerce and the freedom of trade and traffic must be considered first and foremost. But that would entail the internationalization of the Rhone, in order to secure to Switzerland an outlet to Marseilles; and it would be even more necessary to internationalize the Vistula and the Scheldt, and, above all, the Danube. But it has already been decided to leave the Vistula and the Scheldt out of the question. The Rhone is not mentioned at all in the peace terms, and difficulties are already arising with regard to the Danube. I see from a report in a Belgian paper that pettifogging little countries like Serbia and Romania are opposing the internationalization of the Danube because they do not wish to abandon their own sovereign rights. Serbia and Romania propose only that the League of Nations should be given supervisory mandate. Germany has, of course, no objection to a general internationalization of the great rivers, but it must unconditionally oppose the establishment of exceptional laws for the German rivers alone. Germany must demand that the same principles shall apply to all great rivers, thus, in particular to the Danube, Rhone, Scheldt, Po, Tagus, and the great rivers of Russia.—Hansa, 6/21.
GREAT BRITAIN
New British Ships.—The British Na\y has long been the most powerful in the world, and the part it played for the Allies in holding the seas was a powerful factor in winning the war against Germany. When the war began, the British fleet displaced almost twice as much water as the German fleet, and this would have seemed sufficient to assure predominance. But the British Admiralty at once set on foot plans for additional ships, and the work of building was carried on with great secrecy but with remarkable efficiency and celerity. When the armistice put an end to hostilities 2,000,000 tons of warships had been added to the roster of the British fleet, and there were on the stocks, in addition, vessels aggregating almost another half million tons, including four mammoth battle cruisers, twenty-one light cruisers, over a hundred light cruisers, and eighty submarines. It was decided not to proceed with work on those of the ships that had only recently been begun, but, even with these omitted, it was found that the war and the ingenuity that it had elicited had found expression in a number of remarkable types of vessels, which in any new conflict would make the British Navy more powerful than ever.
The recent assemblage of Sir Roger Keyes's fleet at Southend, England, has enabled the British public to see some of the new types of ships built while the war was in progress. One of the developments of the war is what is known as the "Flying Squadron," consisting of four remarkable ships under the orders of Captain W.S. Nicholson. This officer's flagship is the Furious. This ship is officially described as a "light cruiser," but she displaces almost as much water as the battleship Neptune. She was designed as a fighting ship, with thin armor protection, a speed of thirty-two knots, and an armament of two 18-inch guns. Early in the spring of 1917 the fleet urgently needed fast airplane carriers, and it was therefore decided to adapt the Furious to this purpose, eliminating the heavy guns. A large hangar was built on the forecastle deck, and above this construction, which can accommodate about ten airplanes, a flying-off platform, 160 feet long, was made. The removal of the after 18-inch gun turret enabled a flying-on deck, no less than 300 feet long, to be provided. Of all the ships in the fleet, the Furious, with her strange erections, is probably the most notable. Though she is 786 feet long, as compared with 409 feet in the case of the original dreadnought, she draws only 21 ½ feet of water. The flying squadron includes three other seaplane-carrying ships—the Argus, Vindex, and Vindictive. The British Navy is the first to possess a squadron of this character to act as the eyes and ears of the heavy ships, performing, as there is reason to expect, scouting work more efficiently than it has ever been done by the fastest cruisers.
Remarkable progress was made during the war in the design and construction of under-water vessels. When hostilities opened, the submarine was a little vessel of slow speed, which usually crept about with a mother ship in attendance to render aid in case of accidents. The British fleet has now been provided with submarines which are submersible cruisers in all but name. The K-boats would have filled Jules Verne with delight. They are 338 feet long, with a beam of 26 ½ feet, and have a surface speed of no less than twenty-four knots—in other words, they can travel more swiftly than the cruiser Powerful, which twenty years ago was the swiftest vessel in the British fleet; while under water their electric motors drive them at nine knots. Each is armed with a 4-inch gun, besides a 3-inch anti-aircraft weapon, and possesses eight torpedo tubes. These submarines are of quite original design. Besides the steam turbine for going full speed on the surface and the electric drive for use when submerged, they are provided with a Diesel engine, which is employed just before diving or immediately after breaking the surface on rising after traveling under water, in order to shorten both these operations and enable the submarines to evade attack by more heavily armed surface craft.—Mid-Week Pictorial, 8/28.
Halts Warship Program.—All private shipbuilding yards throughout the country, numbering about twenty, are affected by the government order that all work be stopped on warships except those about to be launched.
The Admiralty yards at Chatham, Devonport, and Portsmouth will not stop, however, as they are entirely occupied with the refitting of 2700 steamers which are about to be returned to the owners, from whom they were requisitioned for war service. Among the warships being built at private yards are cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, and the work on some of these may be continued, according to The Mail, if it is found cheaper to complete them than to break them up.
Shipbuilders must be liberally compensated in cases where contracts are broken, but, although several million pounds sterling may be involved, it may prove more economical than carrying out the building program.
The Mail quotes an officer of the Admiralty as saying that one sound reason for stopping work on warships is that the step will clear the yards for commercial building. There is an excellent demand for new tonnage, and this work probably will absorb the men liberated by the stoppage of work on naval vessels. According to The Glasgow Daily Record, work on forty warships, valued at £25,000,000, has been stopped.—N.Y. Times, 8/28.
Relative Naval Strength.—With the question of economy very much to the forefront of our national politics people are naturally curious to know what the prospects are of immediate reductions in our naval and military expenditure. So far as that on the sea services is concerned, the war has left legacies which it will take some months yet to discharge, and to judge by the daily press there is less impatience manifested with Admiralty administration in this connection, and rightly so than with that of some other departments.
Looking to the future, however, much must depend upon the standard of strength to be adopted by the government as that at which our naval forces must be maintained. For many years before 1909 our preparations were based upon a formula which had the great advantage of being simple and easily understood by the people. It was that the British Fleet should be equal to the fleets of the two next strongest naval powers. Only when Germany embarked on an extensive building program which was manifestly directed chiefly against this country did the two-power standard cease to be applicable, because it became inadequate. As Mr. Churchill admitted in the first speech he made on the Navy Estimates after his appointment to the Admiralty, "on the facts of to-day the navy we should require to secure us against the most probable adverse combination would not be very much greater than the navy we should require to secure us against the next strongest naval power," but he went on to explain why the time had come for us to readjust our standard in closer accord with actual facts and probable contingencies. "The actual standard of new construction," he said, "which the Admiralty has in fact followed during recent years has been to develop a 60 per cent superiority in vessels of the 'dreadnought' type over the German Navy on the basis of the existing Fleet Law." When the war came it was found that the Grand fleet in the North Sea was, in the principal types, less than 60 per cent superior to the High Sea fleet. It had 20 dreadnoughts against 13, and four battle-cruisers against three, but from 1915 onwards, with the reduction of our oversea commitments in modern armored ships, the relative strength of the fleet at Scapa gradually improved. At Jutland, Jellicoe took into action 28 dreadnought battleships against the enemy's 16, and Beatty had nine battle-cruisers against the German five, but there were also six pre-dreadnought battleships in the enemy fleet. In numbers, therefore, we were slightly over the 60 per cent margin, but not up to the higher standard of "two keels to one" which had been urged on the Admiralty from several quarters.
What the future measure of our strength is to be remains, no doubt, undecided for the present. It may serve to throw light on the situation, however, if a comparison is drawn between the numbers of ships in the principal classes in the British Navy to-day and the numbers in similar classes in the fleets of the two next strongest powers. Such a comparison may be made in perfect good faith and in no invidious spirit, since it happens that at the moment the powers concerned are our friends, the United States and Japan. The following table is based largely on the information contained in the new edition of Lord Brassey's Naval Annual:
| Great Britain | United States | Japan | U.S. & Japan |
Battleships (dreadnought) | 33 | 18 | 7 | 25 |
Battleships, building | — | 6 | 2 | 8 |
Battle-cruisers | 9 | — | 4 | 4 |
Battle-cruisers, building | 1 | 6 | — | 6 |
Light cruisers | 60 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
Light cruisers, building | 12 | 10 | — | 10 |
Destroyers, built and building | 390 | 326? | 80? | 415 |
Submarines, built and building | 150? | 122? | 26? | 148 |
From the above figures it will be seen that the British Navy's 33 dreadnought battleships exactly equal the total, built and building, of the two next strongest powers. The six building for the United States include the Massachusetts, of 43,200 tons, for which Mr. Daniels announced on August I that the contract had been placed with the Fore River Company. As regards battle-cruisers, Britain has nine, including two 15-inch, three 13.5-inch, and four 12-inch ships, as compared with the four Kongos in the Japanese fleet, which mount 14-inch guns. The six projected U. S. battle cruisers were stopped in March last, until the results of Mr. Daniels' visit to Europe were known, so that if proceeded with they 'cannot be effective for some time yet. Meantime the Hood will be completed for our navy this year.
There is an overwhelming preponderance in British light cruisers. The 60 shown in the table excludes all launched before 1909—the Scout class, the Gems, and the Boadiceas with earlier types—and the building total of 12 is made up of four of the Elizabethan class and eight D cruisers. On the other hand, the 11 vessels in the American and Japanese navies are all that they have in the way of light cruisers. It is true that, looking backward for a moment, these powers have each 12 armored cruisers, including three for Japan, which mount four 12-inch guns, whereas the full total of British armored cruisers is 19. The armored cruisers belong to an obsolete type, however, useful in many ways, but totally unsuited to lie put into the line of battle against more modern ships, as was proved not only by what happened to the squadrons of Cradock and Arbuthnot at Coronel and Jutland, but also, on the other hand, to that of von Spee at the Falklands. Destroyer totals are necessarily fluctuating at the present time, with several units of the war programs uncompleted, and a wholesale scrapping policy in progress. The British figures omit 97 vessels from classes A to F, but the maximum totals are given for the United States and Japan, although it is not known how many boats may be building for these powers, nor how many either is scrapping. It may safely be said, however, that the British destroyers certainly equal those of the other two nations in numbers, and are nowise inferior in power and battle-worthiness, having nearly all been built during the war. Roughly, too, it may be said that our submarines equal in number those of Japan and the United States combined. We began the war with 76 boats of all classes, and it is officially stated that our losses were 59. Those not lost, moreover, are scrapped by this time. During the war, however, Messrs. Vickers alone produced 54 British submarines, and it is known that at least two other firms, besides the public dockyards, were engaged in submarine construction. Even if the 148 boats of all classes in the United States and Japanese navies, from those launched in 1901 onwards, are taken into consideration, we have probably as many vessels, which on an average should be, of course, of greater size and power.
From this summary examination of the relative strength of the three navies, the fact emerges that we have certainly a two-power standard at present, and no very heroic measures are necessary to maintain it. To repair semi-obsolete ships must be absolute waste. In fact, unless some of the other members of the League of Nations decide to launch out into warship building programs, we ought to be able to effect large economies in material strength with complete safety and security, and also without resorting to expedients which would bear hardly on the personnel which has done so much in the war.—The Army and Navy Gazette, 8/23.
The Changing Policy of Great Britain.—In this country events rather than theory or calculation determine the national policy to a greater extent than in any other state. That is why its leading principles are seldom understood by the masses. Otherwise adverse criticism of the Budget would not have fastened on Imperial Preference as if it were a new factor, which was optional in our fiscal policy, but would have seen it in truer perspective as a symbol that Britain's position in the world has been changed by the war. She is no longer a creditor but a debtor nation, or, as Mr. Chamberlain put it, foreign exchanges which were once all in our favor are now partly in our favor and partly heavily against us. The money market of the world is, at any rate for the present, no longer in London, but in New York, and a more dangerous rival than even Germany is already contesting our supremacy at sea. The initiation of Imperial Preference, which was steadily resisted in this country for fifty years, is not a concession to the Dominions in recognition of their military aid during the war, but the first step in the commercial policy which is in process of being forced upon us by our changed circumstances.
Now as foreign affairs and armaments are intimately related, the modification in our economic policy is bound to be followed by a change in our military policy. Except indirectly, the politicians have, so far, failed to indicate its leading principles, the "no conscription" pledge at the last general election having had no reference to present realities. In the city Admiral Beatty emphasized the necessity for the maintenance of our seapower, and Sir Douglas Haig for the creation of a Citizen Army, as the prophets did. in vain, before the war. But, in the circumstances, they could not indicate what the army and navy for which they call are in the future to guarantee. That is the duty of Ministers. It is, however, obvious that the principles which have guided successive governments since 1890 must be revised. They then appeared for the first time in a memorandum, which was not published until ten years later, and was drawn up by Mr. Stanhope, Minister of War in the second Salisbury Administration. This action was due to the demand of the Duke of Cambridge from the politicians for an intelligible military policy with a view to preparation for war. Although in the fifties the idea that free trade would end war was dominant, by 1869 the illusion was so far dispelled that the two-power standard for the navy was officially adopted by the government of that day. But the function of the army had become so indefinite that the War Office did not know what it was for, at any rate apart from policing the Empire.
In the Stanhope Memorandum it was laid down that, as Great Britain was never likely to be engaged in a European conflict, a small expeditionary force was all that she required, the underlying conception being that she was to remain a neutral state in perpetuity guaranteed by her navy. This marked her severance with the national policy in defense which had guided her for centuries, to correspond with her severance with the national policy in finance, commerce and shipping accomplished in the sixties. As the new departure bore no relation to the facts of international existence, the rise of foreign navies, especially one, forced us to recall our naval legions from the frontier, and later on to abandon the two-power standard. Hence our frantic efforts to secure our permanent neutrality (1) by "entangling alliances," (2) bartering our naval rights for "scraps of paper" at the Hague, (3) buying German "goodwill" by valuable concessions. As the war, which proved the impossibility of maintaining a cosmopolitan commercial policy with national armaments, drew nearer, the incoherencies of our military policy increased; for instance, the creation of the territorials on a voluntary basis, recognition that the expeditionary force might be employed on the continent, and the naval and military understandings with France and Belgium. Nevertheless, the fallacies underlying the Stanhope Memorandum were, practically, reaffirmed in its restatement as the Nicholson Memorandum of 1910, and the bankruptcy of our policy was completely revealed by the great war into which we were precipitated unprepared.
By her support of the League of Nations at the Peace Conference Britain attempted to provide the international basis for her trade and commerce which she failed to secure at the Hague Conference. But, up to the present, the results as regards armaments are negative, while the positive results are a more plentiful crop of ill-will as between states, together with nearer prospect of numerous wars to come, than was ever produced under the old conception of things mundane. For this reason the doctrine of the balance of power has not been shelved, as Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Wilson hoped, but is perpetuated in the conventions by which Great Britain and the United States undertake to go to the help of France should the German legions ever cross the Rhine again. But the danger of future conflict is now presenting itself, not in the West, but in the East.
Under these conditions the question of her military policy is for Britain a pressing one. The idea that she can preserve her neutrality in perpetuity has been shattered by the war and by the rise of the American Navy, which renders it doubtful that she can maintain her predominance at sea. Moreover, the progress of events since 1914 has convinced her that British finance and commerce cannot be cosmopolitan, and British industries national, without danger to her security. In spite of herself she has had to modify her fiscal policy during the war, and the armistice budget proves that the process is to be continued. It is, therefore, necessary for us to adopt a new conception of the function not only of the army but of the navy. Fortunately signs are promising that it is being worked out in the true British way, not by theory but by the pressure of events.
For long enough we defied as far as we dared the principle that "defense is better than opulence." Now that the price is paid in the passing of our opulence, we are retracing our steps. Cosmopolitanism is being abandoned wherever it impairs security, and so our fiscal policy is taking shape on national and, as the budget bears witness, on Imperial lines. To correspond with this development Lord Jellicoe is on a mission to the dominions in order that the naval defense of the Empire may be coordinated, not with a view to centralization but to decentralization. That the burden of maintaining British sea-power was growing too heavy for the people of these islands was plain before the war, it is plainer now. The dominions and India must contribute according to their power, and as they are willing to do. In no other way can the Empire survive in the new era of competition that is upon us. Hitherto the barrier to the full expression of this policy has been the lack of a common governing principle in Imperial trade. As Britain has now come into line with the dominions, the only sound foundation for an Imperial naval policy is being laid, and Canada, South Africa and India will follow the example set by Australasia in the creation of naval divisions of the navy as strong as their circumstances permit. The Five Nations, four of which are growing rapidly, and India between them ought in time to be able to maintain British sea power against all comers.
With regard to the army no definiteness in policy has yet appeared, and cannot as long as present conditions on the Rhine continue. An Imperial army we must have as we must have an Imperial navy. But we are further away from the recognition of a common principle for the foundation in the one than we are for the foundation in the other. For neither in Britain nor in Canada has universal service been adopted. All that we know for certain is that the old conception of the function of the expeditionary force is obsolete. We must devise a new military policy to correspond with our new economic policy, as we are already doing with regard to a new naval policy.—Army and Navy Gazette, 7/19.
New Rates of Pay for British Naval Officers.—America is in the habit of believing it pays for professional service the highest rates in the world. Perhaps this is true in the professional engagements of civil life. But in the National Service it is easy of proof that the United States is frugal indeed, and in comparison with Great Britain must take a seat far removed from eminence when the pay of navy officers is under scrutiny. Just at this time it is expedient to consider a few facts. We have before us an official table of rates of base pay in the British Navy which shows in the percentages of increase in post-war over pre-war pay m that service in grades corresponding to those in the U.S. Navy, advances of from 185.7 per cent for midshipmen down to 31.9 per cent for junior lieutenants, or an average for the eleven grades of 79.3 per cent—Army and Navy Journal, 9/13.
Royal Air Force.—It has been decided that officer personnel of the Royal Air Force will be provided for the present: (1) By awarding a limited number of permanent commissions. (2) By granting 2500 temporary commissions.
The King has assumed the title of Chief of the Royal Air Force. His Majesty has approved of new titles for the commissioned ranks of the Royal Air Force. These are set out below with their corresponding ranks in the army and navy:
Air Force | Navy | Army |
Marshal of the Air | Admiral of the Fleet | Field Marshal |
Air Chief-Marshal | Admiral | General |
Air Marshal | Vice Admiral | Lieut.-General |
Air Vice-Marshal | Rear-Admiral | Major General |
Air Commodore | Commodore | Brig.-General |
Group Captain | Captain | Colonel |
Wing Commander | Commander | Lieut.-Colonel |
Squadron Leader | Lieut.-Commander | Major |
Flight Lieutenant | Lieutenant | Captain |
Flying Officer (or Observer) | Sub-Lieutenant | Lieutenant |
Pilot Officer | Midshipman | 2d Lieutenant |
The object which has been held in view is to preserve and emphasize the principle of the independence and integrity of the Royal Air Force as a separate service among the fighting services of the Crown.
The scheme is framed on the principle (a) that the ranks should as far as possible correspond to actual functions, (b) that the ranks should as far as possible correspond to equivalent status in the three services, and (c) that there should be no repetitions in titles apart from the prefixes in the higher ranks. A distinction is preserved between the regimental officers and officers of general rank. Officers of general rank in the Royal Air Force are "Air Officers," and the expression "Air Officer" corresponds to the expression "General Officer" in the army or "Flag Officer" in the navy.
The new titles came into force on August 4.—The Army and Navy Gazette, 8/9.
The Baltic Success.—An important and dramatic success was achieved by the British naval forces in the Baltic against the Bolsheviks on Monday. The merit of the achievement is heightened because it was unparalleled by anything accomplished by our navy in the war with the Central Powers, whose vessels, kept almost entirely behind forts and minefields, gave no opportunity for such a feat. There may be some people who wonder why we should now be attacking the big ships of a power with whom we are not officially at war. But, as was explained in Parliament after the action of May 31, also in the Finland Gulf, the British Admiral opened fire on the Bolsheviks "because they opened fire on us." Those into whose hands the Russian ships had fallen were playing the part of pirates, pure and simple, and no peaceful traders or fishing craft were secure from their molestations. In such circumstances the British Navy was fulfilling its traditional role in an endeavor to restore order, and the brilliant operation of Monday should go far towards the attainment of this aim.—The Army and Navy Gazette, 8/23.
To Maintain British Mercantile Sea Power.—After a very impartial and reasonable survey of the situation a well-informed correspondent of the Observer concludes that our position at sea is not lost, only threatened, and it will be our own fault if we do not make up our leeway. Whereas before the war we owned nearly one-half of the world's merchant shipping and America one-twentieth, now we own just over one-third and the United States just under one-fourth. Unless the leeway of over 5,000,000 tons of British shipping, which should be at sea and is not, can be made up speedily, the U-boats will have achieved one of their aims at least, that of displacing Britain as the chief maritime power. The consequences of such a defeat have perhaps been scarcely weighed by our countrymen. If we do not hold the mastery in our hands we shall be at the mercy of those who have it, and once dependent on foreign ships we should be almost as much a beleaguered citadel as in the deadliest days of the U-boat war. "We shall be," says the writer in the Observer, "defenseless before the operations of trusts of all kinds unless we retain the power to merchant our goods where we will and fetch what we require whence we please." By the needs of the Empire, no less than in justice to the memory of those who gave their lives to save us, the government must surely embrace the opportunity offered to make our mercantile marine more a truly national and Imperial service than it has been even in the most palmy days of our past.—The Army and Navy Gazette, 8/16.
JAPAN
Aviation School at Kure Naval Station.—The Japanese Navy will establish an aviation school at Kure at an estimated expenditure of yen 260,000. This amount will be added to next year's (1920) budget. Hiromura, Kamo district, Kure, was inspected yesterday by the future president of the school. Rear Admiral Yoshida.
An aeroplane machine shop has been built at Hiromura which is said to be the site of the future naval aviation field.—Yoroso, a Japanese newspaper, 7/15.
The Great Expansion of Kure Arsenal.—Our Navy Department does not expect to realize the scheme of 8:8 squadron organization at present, owing to our government's united industrial resources. For this reason naval authorities have made provision in the Budget for the purpose of expanding our industrial resources on both the water and land. This is necessary in order to accomplish the decided plan during the succeeding four years commencing during the year 1920. Also it has been decided not to give any future warship construction orders to foreign countries. By utilizing properly our private factories in Japan orders from our navy will cause the development of gun factories and also the government factory at Kure Naval Arsenal, commencing during 1920. There are also plans on foot to manufacture armor and heavy gun forgings.—Osaka Mainichi, a Japanese newspaper, 7/8.
UNITED STATES
Big Submarine Launched.—The fleet submarine AA-2, the latest word in undersea boat construction in this country, was launched to-day.
The AA-2, built at the Fore River yards of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation from the designs of the Electric Boat Company, is said to be the fastest Diesel-engined boat afloat. Her surface speed will exceed 18 knots an hour and she can run at 13 knots submerged, according to the designers. She was designed to operate with the battle fleets and has a cruising radius estimated at 7000 miles. The AA-2 is approximately 300 feet long.—N. Y. Times, 9/7.
Nineteen Ships Built in One Month.—During the month of July, 1919, the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation established a world's record for ship deliveries by completing and delivering ten 35-knot torpedo-boat destroyers and two large submarines for the U.S. Navy, five large tank steamers and two ocean-going tugs for the Emergency Fleet Corporation. In the same months the 35 other American shipyards delivered only 67 vessels, including destroyers and submarines. The largest number of vessels delivered during the same period by any other corporation was eight ships, while from all the other yards building naval vessels, only three destroyers and one submarine were delivered. Since all the engines, boilers and deck machinery required for these 19 vessels were built by the Bethlehem Corporation, as well as the complete hulls, some idea of the magnitude of this accomplishment can be gained, especially when it is realized that for the destroyers alone Curtis turbine engines totaling over a quarter of a million shaft horsepower were constructed, and also the Yarrow type water tube boilers necessary to generate this vast volume of steam. To supply shipyards with the steady flow of material necessary for the accomplishment of such rapid construction was in itself a record, as over 78,000 tons of material were used, requiring over 1500 freight cars, which would make a freight train over 18 miles long. If all of the 19 ships were anchored end to end in the Hudson River, they would make a parade over one mile long, or from 110th Street to 130th Street. The scientific construction of torpedo-boat destroyers has been so efficiently developed by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, that a destroyer has been completely built and delivered to the government in 174 working days from the laying of the keel. This same type of vessel took approximately one and a half years to build before the war.—Army and Navy Journal, 8/23.
NAVY DEPARTMENT—BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR VESSELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, UNITED STATES NAVY—DEGREE OF COMPLETION, AS REPORTED AUGUST 31, 1919
There are 148 destroyers, 60 submarines, 7 mine sweepers, 18 sea-going tugs, 16 harbor tugs, 12 oil tankers and 31 Ford eagles in various stages of completion.
There were completed and delivered to the Navy Department during the month of August 6 destroyers, 2 submarines, 3 harbor tugs and 6 Ford eagles.
There are in addition 12 destroyers and 10 submarines authorized but not under construction or contract. Miscellaneous vessels authorized but not under construction or contract (3): 1 submarine tender No. 3, 1 destroyer tender No. 4, and 1 transport No. 2.
Naval Policy
The Argument for the Submarine.—In our previous issue we presented the argument against the future construction of submarines, which is based mainly upon its frightful potentiality as a means of piracy against merchant shipping, and to a less extent upon its hitherto supposed tactical inefficiency when employed in legitimate operations against enemy warships.
Our suggestion that, because of the German misuse of it, the submarine should be outlawed has brought forth so many protests from naval officers, and, strange to say, particularly from those of the British service, that we have made a fresh study of the subject, based upon hitherto unrevealed facts of the war, and as a result we confess to a considerable modification of our attitude, particularly as to the military efficiency of the submarine.
Thus, an officer of our own service who has specialized in submarine work writes us: "I think you do a great injustice to the British submarine service, for they have done truly remarkable work. It may interest you to know that the losses in the British submarine service were relatively greater than the losses in any other branch of any service engaged in the World War. Some day the truth will be told and the British submarine will gain the crown it so justly deserves."
The efficiency (legitimate military efficiency) of the German submarines during the four years of war has been revealed by one of the Allied Service magazines, which states that they accounted for more warships than any other agency. Omitting the warships lost by being wrecked, by collisions, and by accidental explosions, submarines accounted for nearly one-third of the total losses, the mine coming next with one-fifth to its credit. Since the mines, after the first few months of the war, must have been laid by mine-laying submarines, the Allies having command of the surface of the sea, it is reasonable to credit the submarine with one-half of the Allied loss in warships.
So much for its tactical success. As to its strategical effects, they are so well known as to require no elaboration. One does not read very far in Jellicoe's book without realizing how greatly the submarine influenced, if indeed it did no dominate, the strategy of the North Sea and the great blockade. In the early days of the war the British seem to have attempted a close blockade of the enemy coasts; but the sinking of the Cressy, Aboukir and Hogue by a single submarine in a single attack changed the strategy overnight, and thenceforth the close blockade was abandoned. Later, it is true, the British submarine took over the work in a modified degree; but the attempt to shut the German fleets in their harbors by maintaining a superior force of surface ships off the German coasts was abandoned. Thereafter the lines of the British blockade were removed to the northern and southern exits from the North Sea, and the blockade lines were drawn from the Orkney Islands to Norway and from Dover to Calais. It is evident, then, that the work of the submarine service as now being revealed, has raised this type of lighting ship until it takes rank as one of the main elements in the make-up of a well-found fleet.
Naturally the abolition of the submarine would be to the great advantage of the power or powers which control the surface of the sea, or possess the largest merchant marine. Great Britain and the United States are the leading powers, both in the strength of their navies and size of their merchant fleets; so that it is very significant that the strongest arguments for retaining the submarine have come from these sources. These arguments are based, of course, upon its military value.
An admiral of our navy who spent the period of the war in Europe and was intimately associated with the naval operations, draws our attention to the demonstrated efficiency of the submarine as a scout, particularly as developed during the operations of the war. This type of vessel, he affirms, is the only one with which it is possible to establish a scouting line which cannot be chased away by more powerful vessels. "You hardly realize how much this means until you have been engaged in a good many chart maneuvers, or aerial maneuvers on the sea, and seen your scouting line of relatively light cruisers ripped up and rendered ineffective by the battle-cruisers of the enemy." But no line of battle-cruisers, however strong, would serve to scatter or break through a screen of submarines; and if they should attempt to drive through, seeking information of the enemy forces, they would do so at the greatest peril of loss or serious disablement.
Talk to any officer of this special service and he will tell you that the submarine is the one vessel that can cut loose from its base and cruise for months upon the high seas in absolute independence. Hence it is the ideal vessel for observation and blockade. In speed it has gone up to 24 knots (as in the case of the British K-boats) and in size to 2500 tons. In the present state of the art it is possible, on a displacement of 1800 tons, to build a submarine of 18 to 20 knots maximum surface speed, that can stay at sea continuously for three months and cover 10,000 miles at cruising speed. The maximum speed submerged would be 12 to 13 knots for one to one and a half hours, and at 5 knots submerged the radius would be about 220 miles.
These then are the proved military capabilities of the submarine, as determined or suggested by the experiences of the late war, and in all fairness it must be admitted that as a military unit, it has come into its own. Had it not been for the German abuse of the weapon, its abolition would never have been suggested ; but, as one party to the present controversy remarked: "What legitimate weapon of war did they not abuse?"
That the cause for abolishing the submarine on humanitarian grounds is strong cannot be gainsaid ; but that the interdict could be carried out is doubtful, because of the vast system of oversight that would be required—to say nothing of the irritation resulting from the wholesale espionage that would be necessary.—Scientific American, 9/6.
Army and Navy Air Co-Ordination.—The claim by advocates of a Department of Aeronautics scheme, that the Joint Army and Navy Board on Aeronautics is inefficient because it is without either authority or power to act on questions of co-ordination of Army and Navy Air Services, would appear to be refuted by the work of the board during the last two weeks. Meeting three times a week, this board has taken up practically every question that might be expected to arise concerning the functions and duties of the respective services. Moreover, every matter that has come under consideration by the board has found army officers and navy officers practically in agreement as to the proper solution of the problem involved. The questions discussed have involved production, training, and operation, covering the entire field of aeronautics. Among the results already attained are some which certain Senators and Representatives in the present Congress have said could not be attained without the creation of a separate Department of Aeronautics.
It has been practically agreed that under certain circumstances the army is to undertake the training of navy and marine corps fliers; and on the other hand, that the navy is to train army fliers when their training with naval flying craft is necessary or desirable. This would go a long way toward solving the present difficulty with regard to the spotting of Coast Artillery fire several miles from shore. The training of army observers in seaplanes would eliminate the dangers always present if they were to be sent out for this kind of work in land planes. Similarly, it would be possible under such an arrangement for the army to take over the training of marine corps aviators in their land work, which constitutes a good deal of their training. Problems of production have also been worked out successfully. It has been determined that whenever practicable the two services are to keep each other informed on all matters of production, and whenever the same types of equipment are to be purchased, orders will be combined in a manner that will permit of taking advantage of the market. This solution is an answer to much of the criticism generally raised against continuing the separate air services in army, navy and marine corps.
Ample indication of the authority which the board has, and the weight of its recommendations and studies is given in the fact that the Secretaries of War and of the Navy have appointed the directors of the Army and Navy Air Services as members of the board and have given them instructions to consider every matter that might properly come up in the coordination of the two services. The interest which is taken in the working of the board by Secretary Baker and Secretary Daniels is apparent in the fact that a meeting of the Joint Army and Navy Board on Aeronautics was held in the office of the Secretary of War with the Secretary of the Navy present. At that meeting the precept for the board laid down by both secretaries was that there should be no duplication of effort in the two services. The army and navy officers of the board are now working along those lines, and with such blanket authority results are forthcoming which may, they declare, vindicate the present system of control of the combat air forces by the two great military branches in the army and the navy. The Crowell report of the aeronautical situation in the Allied countries, recommending unification of air control, has not been considered by the board, nor has any other concrete suggestion for the amalgamation of the services. Indications at Army Air Service headquarters, however, are that before the matter comes up for final decision by Congress action along this line may be taken.—Army and Navy Journal, 8/23.
Navy Officers May Train in Flying.—The Navy Department has authorized officers to make flights in aircraft receiving instructions in flying when such flights do not interfere with their regular duties or with operations of an air station or aviation detachment. When an officer is considered sufficiently skilled to safely maneuver aircraft he may at the discretion of the commanding officer of an air station or aviation detachment be permitted to engage in solo flying. No extra compensation will be granted for such flight duty. It is thought such knowledge of aviation will increase an officer's usefulness to the naval service, and therefore any injury incurred while making such flights will be considered as in line of duty.—Army and Navy Journal, 8/30.
Materiel
$18,000,000 Asked for Ship Repairs.—With the approval of President Wilson, Acting Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt recently sent to Secretary Glass for transmission to Congress estimates for additional naval appropriations totaling $18,000,000 to "permit of expeditiously placing and maintaining in a proper state of repair all of the fighting ships of the fleet."—The Naval Monthly, September, 1919.
Liquidation of Navy War Contracts.—The Navy Department has been very much alive in the liquidation of war contracts, as shown by data compiled by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. Upon the signing of the armistice immediate steps were taken to effect the greatest saving possible in connection with purchases in their initial stages and contracts already in effect. It was possible to cancel or withhold awards of purchases in progress prior to actual signing of contracts therefore to the amount of $27,420,427. Of contracts already in effect it has been possible to cancel all or parts of 858 contracts amounting to a saving of $24,163,866 without any liability or cost to the navy on account of such cancellation. In no case has the navy paid anticipated or unearned profits, only such profit being allowed as has actually been earned on the proportionate part of the contract completed. In nearly all cases the adjustments offered by the navy have been acceptable to contractors, the attitude of whom in only asking a fair and equitable settlement being particularly commendable. In only a very few cases is it expected that resort to the courts will be had by contractors.—Army and Navy Journal, 6/9.
Official Opening of Navy Dry Dock at Pearl Harbor Takes Place.—The official opening of the navy dry-dock at Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, Hawaii, late in August marked the successful completion of one of the most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken by the United States Government. The immense dock represents a total investment of more than $5,000,000 and has been under construction for ten years.
The dock is completed just in time to add a much needed facility for care of the ships of the Pacific fleet. The first vessel to enter the dock will probably be one of the dreadnoughts of Admiral Rodman's force, possibly the New Mexico. The dock is 1001 feet in length, 32 ½ feet deep, 114 feet wide at the bottom and 138 feet wide at the top. It will dock the largest ship of war now afloat or contemplated.
After the sections of the dock had been finished and were being anchored in their places in 1913 the water was pumped out, whereupon the bottom of the dock was forced upward by pressure from the sides, and the engineers and workmen were forced to stand helplessly by and watch the fruits of four years of labor and millions of dollars of money crushed in a shapeless mass of debris.
A new plan of construction on a much greater scale was then adopted. Concrete sections 60 feet long and the full width of the dock were cast one at a time and lowered to the bottom of the dry-dock, securely anchoring it. Then the great structure was built. Early in March this year the dock was pumped out for the first time. The upward pressure of the bottom had been overcome and the structure rose but three-sixteenths of an inch when perfectly dry.—The Naval Monthly, September, 1919.
Our Submarine Wins U-Boat Test.—Acting Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt made comparisons to-day between German and American submarines.
"New and interesting light is thrown on the efficiency of the German submarines by recent tests conducted by officers in the Bureau of Construction and Repair," said Mr. Roosevelt's statement.
"An opportunity recently developed in this country which permitted a direct comparison between a late design of German submarine and a late design of American submarine. While details of the comparative tests cannot be given, sufficient information is available to destroy the much advertised superiority of the German submarine.
" As is well known, five German submarines of the latest design were brought to the United States for use in the Victory Loan campaign. Four of these boats came over under their own power, manned by officers and men of the United States Navy. The propulsive machinery of the fifth was partly destroyed or removed, so that it was necessary to tow this vessel across.
"The best of these vessels was 'tuned' for special trials. When reported ready for these trials, a special Trial Board was designated to conduct the trials, following the established practice in carrying out contract trials for submarines for the United States Navy. The boats compared were ex-German submarine U-111, built at the Germania Yard, Kiel, Germany (completed in 1918), and S-3, a submarine designed by the Navy Department; S-3 was built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard and was commissioned in 1918.
"These boats both belong to the '800-ton class'—U-111 having a surface displacement of 830 tons and S-3 a surface displacement of 854 tons.
DIMENSIONS
| U-111 | S-3 |
Length | 235 feet | 231 feet |
Beam | 21 feet | 21.5 feet |
Draft | 12.5 feet | 12.5 feet |
"In the trials the maximum surface speed of the U-111 was 13.8 knots, while the S-3 made 14.7 knots. The submerged speed of U-iii was 7.8 knots, while S-3 made 12.4—a remarkable difference in favor of S-3. The radius of action of the two boats is also in favor of S-3, despite all the furore that was created by the advent of the U-boats on the American coast during the war.
"U-111 can cruise 8500 miles at 8 knots, while S-3 can cover 10,000 miles at 11 knots. The submerged cruising radius shows an equal preponderance in favor of S-3. Both boats can carry twelve torpedoes. U-111 mounts two 4-inch guns, one forward and one aft, while S-3 mounts one 4-inch forward, this practice of one gun on a submarine being standard practice in the United States Navy.
"So much for the ordinary military characteristics of the vessels. It is necessary really to live in these vessels to appreciate the radical difference in their habitability, a vital military characteristic, for a submarine is no better than its crew.
"U-111 is congested to the last degree; she is complicated in the extreme by the installation of many 'gadgets,' some of which are of doubtful utility and more doubtful necessity. Accessibility to her equipment is very difficult; frequently it is necessary to take down three installations to overhaul one.
"On the contrary, S-3 is a habitable, livable proposition, comparatively 'roomy,' with reasonable accommodation for officers and crew. Her equipment is accessible and her general habitability is vastly superior to U-111.
"Much has been written of the seaworthiness of the German submarine. An opportunity to compare the seagoing capabilities of the two vessels occurred during these trials, and the general consensus of opinion among the officers conducting the test is that S-3 is the more seaworthy vessel. Her decks are drier, her bridge less subject to green seas, and her general behavior in a seaway superior. Referring to the comparative diving capabilities of the two vessels and general handling, there are few differences, and these few appear to favor the S-3.
"In the reports of the outcome of the comparative tests, the Bureau of Officers points out that there should be no idea that 'we have nothing to learn from the Germans.' There are a number of interesting details in design, construction, and operation that are well worth while studying. A few features are worthy of adoption, for the U-111 is the 'mittel U-boat,' which type is considered by the Germans as by far their best submarine."—N.Y. Times, 9/7.
Personnel
Mr. Roosevelt Asks Relief for Navy.—Acting Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt on Sept. 10 sent identical letters to Chairman Butler and Chairman Page of the House and Senate Committees on Naval Affairs, requesting relief for the officers and men of the U.S. Navy. Mr. Roosevelt does not go so far as to suggest the form such legislation should take, but urgently requests consideration of the necessities in the present situation. Mr. Roosevelt has been closely studying the question of navy pay and the conclusions he reached are expressed in the letter mentioned above, which reads:
"As you know, the question of increased pay for the officers and men of the navy has been of serious importance for some time. Two facts are. I think, indisputable. The first is that as compared with citizens carrying on work of a similar character in private life, i.e., work which requires a similar amount of training, education and performance of duty, the civilians receive far higher salaries than the officers and men of the naval service. The second is that the existing cost of living has made it not only a hardship but well nigh an impossibility for the great majority of these men to remain in the naval service.
"The present pay of the navy really goes back to 1899, though a hardly noticeable increase was made in a few cases in 1908. I do not, however, believe that new legislation should be passed giving increases which would be based on the increase in the cost of living during the past few years. I think that all of us hope and believe that the present cost of living will be materially reduced in the near future. Nevertheless, some action is required. I think that few of us hope for a reduction in the cost of living to the figures of, let us say, 1914, quite aside from the reduction to the figures of 1908 or of 1899. The fact is perfectly clear that we face an existing situation and that we ought to do something to remedy it at the earliest possible moment.
"The case of the officers and men of the navy is not to be compared with the case of other government employees who have had increases, small or large, since 1914. The navy has not had increases at all unless one excepts the war pay of the enlisted men, which was increased from $15 to $30 a month. That increase, while it may be considered from one point of view as an increase of 100 per cent is because of the smallness of the original pay almost negligible. In the case of the officers no increase whatsoever has been made, and it is a well-known fact in every navy yard that dozens of first-class mechanics have been getting more pay than the officers in charge of the shops.
"Instead of presenting a definite bill to the naval committees of Congress, I believe that time and effort would be saved if the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House and Senate could appoint a sub-committee to investigate the subject in close co-operation with a committee representing the officers and men of the navy. Furthermore, it seems obvious that any measure giving an increase of pay to one service would be of interest to the other service also, and I think that in all fairness there should be close co-operation with the army and with the Committee on Military Affairs. I am putting this forward merely as a suggestion which may appeal to you, and if you prefer some other method I shall be only too glad to help. It may seem best to Congress to pass legislation in the nature of a temporary relief, but whether the legislation takes that form or is of a more permanent character I should like to make the point that I believe something should be done at as early a date as possible. I know your sympathetic interest in this subject, and I can assure you I will be glad to co-operate in every way possible."—Army and Navy Journal, 9/13.
Aid to Midshipmen Proposed.—There is a movement on foot to request Congress to consider extending the principle of the allowance which is made to men enlisting in the U.S. Navy to the midshipmen entering the U.S. Naval Academy. Enlisted men receive an allowance of $100 for clothing and equipment, but candidates who pass the examination for the Naval Academy are required to deposit $290 for clothing and $60 for books, a total of $350. The amount is not refunded, but is expended for clothing and text-books, which become the property of the midshipmen. Listed in "clothing" are such incidentals as blankets, bed sheets, bath towels, wash basin and pitcher, pillow cases, bed spreads, spatter cloths, hair pillow, hair mattress, waste basket, etc. There has grown up a feeling that the Naval Academy equipment should supply these furnishings to the midshipmen, for the reason that as a midshipman leaves the Academy at graduation, or before because of failure, he is hard put to dispose of furnishings except at great loss from original cost. It is also believed that the academy in these days of modern plumbing should not require the use of the obsolete wash basin and pitcher and waste jar. A recommendation to the Navy Department for funds to make these desirable changes has not been approved, but in its stead it is proposed that a bill be sent to Congress providing an allowance of $200 to midshipmen on entering the Academy. Under the stress of living costs and conditions at this time it is considered a genuine hardship for parents of poor boys who enter the Academy to be compelled to supply $350 in cash, for the rule specifies that this entrance deposit "must be made before a candidate can be received into the Academy." Permanent fixtures and furnishings, it is believed, should be supplied by the government at the Academy.—Army and Navy Journal, 9/6.
Insurance May Be Paid in Lump Sum.—Payment of soldiers' and sailors' insurance to beneficiaries in lump sums instead of installments, when desired, has been recommended to Congress by R. G. Cholmeley-Jones, director of the bureau of war risk insurance. This, with several other changes, has been recommended with a view to making government insurance more desirable, so that all ex-service men will retain it after returning to civil life.
Under the present law insurance is paid only in installments extending over a period of 20 years. There is a strong congressional sentiment against this proposed change. It is also recommended that the list of beneficiaries, which now may include only near relatives, be extended to include aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews when desired.—The Naval Monthly, Sept., 1919.
300 Officers Submit Resignations. —With the resignations of more than 300 permanent officers of the regular navy already submitted to the department and more arriving daily, Acting Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt has begun work on proposed legislation to be submitted to Congress suggesting substantial pay increases for officers and enlisted men of the navy and marine corps.
High-ranking officers believe the efficiency of the navy is seriously threatened. Most of the resignations have come from the younger officers in the lower grades. These officers, receiving from $1700 to $3000 a year, most of them Annapolis graduates capable of earning much higher salaries in civilian life, say they find it impossible to support their families on their pay.
More resignations are now on file than had been received from the entire regular navy in the last 30 years. Since 1898 the average has been seven a year.—The Naval Monthly, Sept., 1919.
Operations
The Atlantic Fleet and the Panama Canal.—Among the various considerations that led the United States Government to build the Panama Canal, the most urgent, undoubtedly, was the desire to bring the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards into close relationship. The new bond that was to be thus established would be two-fold—commercial and military. Of the commercial advantages nothing need be said—they have been manifold from the day on which the first merchant ship passed the canal.
The military advantages of the great waterway are many, and in no direction are they so immediate and invaluable as in the added efficiency and mobility which has been conferred on the United States Navy. Before the canal was cut any warship or fleet of warships that was called upon to pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa, was confronted with a 14,000 mile trip. Most of us recall the ever-famous run of the battleship Oregon from San Francisco, where she was built, to join Admiral Sampson's fleet in the West Indies. Nor shall we ever forget the anxiety with which her progress down the Pacific and up the Atlantic coast was watched by the nation.
There is no doubt that the strategical situation during the Spanish war proved to be a powerful incentive to the purchase of the French rights at the Isthmus of Panama and the completion by the United States of the great waterway. From the day on which it was opened, it became possible adequately to protect our coasts on either ocean; whereas, so long as the only route from the Atlantic to the Pacific involved a journey of 14,000 miles, it was necessary to maintain the bulk of our fleet where the bulk of our wealth lay, namely on the Atlantic Seaboard. It had always been a matter of concern to the Navy Department that the Pacific coast and its great seaports were so far removed geographically, from the bulk of our fighting fleet that it could receive no immediate assistance in case of attack.
The cutting of the carnal has changed all that; and the rapid growth of our fleet, due to the war, now makes it possible to maintain two powerful battleship fleets, one on the Atlantic, the other on the Pacific, under such conditions that the whole fighting strength of the navy can be concentrated in either ocean within two or three weeks' time.—Scientific American, 8/30.
The American Navy's Achievement.—When hostilities ceased the United States Navy had permanently based in European waters 373 vessels, including eight battleships, 70 destroyers, 120 submarine-chasers, 12 submarines, and over 50 seagoing patrol vessels of various types. There were also 81,000 officers and men serving in Europe, or 15 per cent of the total American naval personnel. The significance of these figures, taken from an article by Mr. F.D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy, in the American number of the London Times, will be apparent to all who are acquainted with our naval progress. The personnel must equal that of all our seagoing fleets before the war. The destroyers were more numerous than those under Jellicoe's command in the Grand fleet up to the spring of 1916. Thus -the material contribution of America in 19 months was remarkable. It would have been still more remarkable but for the sudden termination of hostilities. About the splendid spirit of co-operation shown between the two navies Mr. Roosevelt affirms that, while never doubting for a moment that it would exist when America was able to take her part in the war, a remarkable discovery was made on the day the first U.S. destroyers reported to Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly at Queenstown. This was that the British and American naval forces had been trained along almost identical lines, that the types of ships fitted in well together, and that only slight changes were necessary to make one homogeneous naval force. As Admiral Mayo has truly said, England and America are, and will continue to be, the greater and better friends for the experience that has come out of the cordial co-operation and co-ordination required by the common interest in this war.—The Army and Navy Gazette, 7/19.
Merchant Marine
Crews of U. S. Merchant Ships.—The proportion of native-born and naturalized Americans among the officers and crews of American merchant ships during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, increased to 47.6 per cent of the total and is now substantially the same as in 1914, but native-born Americans comprised four-fifths of this percentage for the past fiscal year and two thirds during 1914. The change is due in part to young Americans discharged from the navy who have entered the merchant service, to those who under the draft laws preferred the merchant service to the army, and to the appropriation of $6,250,000 by Congress to the Shipping Board for recruiting and training officers, engineers, and crews for American merchant vessels.
The nationality of those shipped as officers (excluding masters) and men (counting repeated shipments) before United States Shipping Commissioners, as returned to the Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce, was as follows for 1914 and 1919:
Nationality | 1914 | 1916 |
Americans (born) | 63,247 | 97,160 |
Americans (naturalized) | 31,417 | 24,676 |
British | 24,745 | 26,848 |
Chinese | 64 | 729 |
Japanese | 98 | 1,198 |
Filipinos | 472 | 1,154 |
Germans | 9,497 | 138 |
Norwegian | 8,194 | 10,237 |
Swedes | 6,321 | 10,054 |
Danes | 2,260 | 5,843 |
Russians | 4,526 | 10,108 |
Austrians | 3,363 | 125 |
French | 617 | 694 |
Spanish | 25,022 | 24,163 |
Italians | 4,368 | 2,503 |
Portuguese | 3,921 | 5,481 |
Others | 11,442 | 34,811 |
Unknown | 10 |
|
Those' classed as "others" are mainly from the countries of South America, citizens of the several states which have been created by the war, and Swiss shipping as stewards.—U.S. Bulletin, 9/8.
Merchant Marine Progress.—Coming so quickly from a position at the rear to take rank as one of the. first of nations in point of merchant marine, the United States has outstripped in performance the knowledge of most of its citizens. Every one knows we have a Shipping Board and every one has heard that we built ships and then more ships, built them fast and built them faster, and that the results of our labors were the difference between starvation and keeping alive, as far as Europe was concerned.
But few know how this great fleet has been turned to peace-time uses. Not that there is any secret about it, but merely because publicity has not been able to keep up with performance.
Yet the amazing facts are there. We have now eight hundred and twenty-nine ships, government or government owned, aggregating four million two hundred and forty-eight thousand nine hundred and seventy-three dead-weight tons, at the present moment actually engaged in general commerce. This does not include more than 50 per cent as many more dead-weight tons still in use by the army and navy or for overseas civilian food relief. Nor does it include ships owned by private companies and so operated. These ships are the property of the United States, which has put them into service in general and specific cargo work to such good effect that there is a United States vessel carrying United States goods on regular schedule to every important port of entry in the entire world.
A rather different situation to that before the war, when practically all goods shipped from the United States to foreign countries traveled in foreign bottoms.
These ships are giving general cargo service on sixty-two regular lines, following trade routes which have been opened during the last six months. And we are promised that this is but the first step which will convert ocean tonnage, released from war labors, to those peace-time services which will put this nation back where it of right should be—in the forefront among the maritime nations of the world.
There is no reason and less excuse for any shipper in the nation to employ a foreign bottom to carry his goods. No matter where he wants to have them carried, a United States bottom will carry them there. Nor need he say that he must use a foreign bottom because of any particular port in this country being more convenient to his factory or mine or ranch. Our own boats now sail from many of our own ports, so that we serve ourselves not only with our own vessels, but in the most convenient manner with those vessels.
Note that the sixty-two lines thus established are regularly sailing on schedule, announced in advance. The great advantages of this must be apparent even to the non-shipper. If a man has a cargo or half a cargo of tin cans or pianos, going to anywhere, any country, and happens to strike a tramp ship also going there at the same time he wishes to ship, he can use it and care nothing for an announced sailing. But such coincidences are rare. Most shippers want to know in advance when they may ship, from where they must ship, and what the freight rate will be. The establishment of a regular cargo-carrying service serves the shippers thus, exactly as a regular train service from point to point serves his convenience when he would travel himself. Scheduling departures and approximate arrivals allows the shipper to sell abroad for future delivery with the reasonable assurance of being able to make such delivery within a specified time.
The established trade routes cover the whole world. Thus there are forty-seven steamers sailing to the Argentine and they sail from New York, Boston, Mobile, New Orleans, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Brunswick and Jacksonville. Two steamers go from New York to Pernambuco, Maceio and Bahia, North Brazil. Twenty-five sail to mid-Brazil (Rio and Santos), from New York, New Orleans, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Brunswick and Jacksonville. Five steamers from New York and one from New Orleans make regular trips to the west coast of South America, ranging from Guayaquil, Ecuador, to Valparaiso, Chile. Two steamers go from New York to North Africa and Egypt; five from New York to the Dutch East Indies; two from New York to Bombay and other Indian ports; three from New York to Spain (Barcelona, Valencia, Cadiz, and Seville). Every two months a steamer goes from the metropolis to Danzig, and every six weeks one or two steamers sail out the Narrows to Constantinople and the Black Sea ports. Three steamers sail from New York to West Africa, two to South Africa, three to Australia and New Zealand, and three to China, Japan and the Philippines. Fifteen steamers leave the Golden Gate, one every ten days, for China and Japan, and two more from the same port go to Europe via the Far East.
We have a steamer from New York to Genoa, and one from Baltimore to the same port; while two serve Grecian ports from New York. To London we send six steamers from New York, three from Philadelphia, two from Baltimore and one from Norfolk. We send six to Liverpool from New York, two from Boston, five from Philadelphia, one from Baltimore, one from Norfolk and one from Galveston. New York says good-by to three ships clearing for Glasgow on monthly sailings, four to le Havre, and three to Bordeaux. The latter port is also served from Boston and Baltimore with two and one steamers respectively. New York sends two steamers to Marseilles and seven to Antwerp, while two from Boston, and one each from Philadelphia and Baltimore go to the same destination. Rotterdam sees New York ships to the number of ten and from Philadelphia, two. Copenhagen and Gothenburg are served by five steamers from New York while the West Indian ports are visited regularly by two steamers from Wilmington, two from Charleston, two from Savannah, two from Brunswick and two from Jacksonville.
Meanwhile, the balance of the list of ships is engaged in going to every port of the world where a cargo can go—and the flag at the stern is the stars and stripes.
It would be pleasant if it could be chronicled just what the future will hold for these ships, and the trade lines thus established. But to state this would require a prophetic vision of what the Congress is going to do. At the present time the ships are the property of the United States and by it given over to private organizations, shipping combinations, individuals, firms, partnerships, etc., under certain terms. The United States gets paid for the use of its ships; they are emphatically not, as some soap-box orators have stated, built by taxes and given to the wealthy to operate for nothing.
When a firm has satisfied the Shipping Board that it is financially responsible, experienced in business, and that it has the confidence of other business men, it is able to make a contract with the United States, through the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, for the use of one or more ships. This contract is a new document in shipping annals, for never before has the United States engaged in shipping as a sort of half-partner in the firm. It provides that the Emergency Fleet Corporation "will man, equip, victual and supply the vessel, and provide and pay for all provisions, wages, and consular, shipping and discharge fees of the master, officers and crew and all cabin, deck, engine-room and other necessary stores and will exercise due diligence to maintain the vessel in a thoroughly efficient state, in hull, machinery, tackle, apparel, furniture and equipment for and during service."
On the other hand, the operator as agent for the Corporation must operate as the Corporation directs as to voyages, cargoes, priority of cargoes, charters, freight' rates, etc. The operator provides and pays for fuel, fresh water, stevedoring, port charges, pilotages, agencies, commissions and consular charges except as specified, and all such expenses as usually are borne by the time-charterer of a vessel. It is the business of the operator to collect the freight charges and in such a manner as will insure to the Corporation its revenue from such freight charges.
For his labors and his capital invested the operator receives his pay in the form of commissions. Thus, on all vessels except oil tankers he receives a commission on general cargo of 2 ½ per cent on the gross ocean freight list. On bulk cargo he gets half as much, the term bulk cargo meaning one of which 50 per cent or more is loaded at and discharged at one port and covered by one bill of lading; also all United States Government cargoes when the vessel is exclusively so laden. The operator gets a port fee of $250 when, coming into United States ports from foreign or dependency ports and a 5 per cent commission on all mail, express and commercial passenger revenue.
In a few words and short, the United States owns and "finds" the ship, the operator runs it, the United States gets the freight and pays the operator a commission on that freight.
So far, this dual system has worked out as well with the United States as owner as it would with a private owner time-chartering the vessel to an operator. The speculative feature is pretty well eliminated from shipping operations, but at the same time, the risk of chartering a vessel of uncertain or weak ownership is also eliminated. If the operator is unable to take advantage of the fact that he may charge what freight rates the traffic will bear, and must charge what the Corporation says, he is also protected against an unseaworthy ship, against trouble with pay of officers and crew, against objections to food or findings. And he has the greatest country in the world behind him, and the knowledge that though he, as agent, is the responsible head of the voyage, he has also' all the power of the country back of him in any port he may enter, for this is not a privately owned but a government owned boat.
The freight rates established by the Shipping Board are published and anyone can obtain them at any time. Anyone may learn at any time just when a ship is to sail for any port, the probable time of her arrival, what space is available for his cargo, what it will cost to carry it. The United States is seeing that its ships are run more like a railroad schedule than anything else, and while of course breakdowns at sea and the unforeseen in storm or accident may prevent a vessel from keeping to schedule, the probabilities are much in favor of a ship sailing when it is scheduled to sail and arriving when it is scheduled to arrive.
It is the general consensus of opinion that this good start will remain a food start only if it have a different finish. It has been recommended to Congress that the ships be turned over to private enterprise by sale, according to certain carefully worked out plans, so that within a short period of years all this floating property shall belong to shipping lines rather than to the government. Just what disposition Congress will make of this recommendation, just how long it will continue what is in effect, if not in fact, a ship subsidy to operators, no man knoweth. But this much is certain. The government has demonstrated (1) that there is use and plenty of it for a great fleet of merchant marine flying our flag from our ports; (2) that it is perfectly possible to make money by operating these ships at fair freight charges, under existing laws: and (3) that there is no fundamental reason why this country cannot keep what it has gained in getting, through the war, a great fleet of cargo carriers. It is for intelligent action of the future to see that we do keep it.—Scientific American, 9/6.
NAVIGATION AND RADIO
Navy to Aid Vessels on Great Lakes.—Instructions were given by the Navy Department on August 22 for the inauguration of a Great Lakes patrol to assist vessels navigating those waters. The project embraces the detailing of a large vessel to operations on each of the lakes, though only four could be detailed at this time of the shortage of suitable craft. Eventually, should the coast guard be retained permanently in the navy, new mine sweepers will compose the Great Lakes patrol. On account of the engagement of the sweepers in removing the North Sea mine barrage, only two sweepers can be spared for the lakes this fall. The orders issued on August 22 detail the mine sweepers Owl and Pigeon. Assisting them will be the sea-going tug Tadousac and the coast-guard cutter Morrill, and all will be in charge of officers thoroughly trained in coast patrol work. It is expected that the patrol will be in operation about September 15 and will continue until navigation closes. Coincident with the patrol of the lakes to aid vessels in distress and to save life and property, the ships will assist the Department of Commerce in the enforcement of the navigation and motor-boat laws.—Army and Navy Journal, 9/6.
The Gyro-Compass in Merchant Ships.—The Sperry Gyro-Compass, which was employed with highly satisfactory results in many Allied surface and submarine war vessels during the hostilities, is now, as was confidently expected, making headway in the world's mercantile marines. The new compass has been installed in the Cunard liner Aquitania, and among the orders in hand are one for the White Star liner Ceramic, one for the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of France, one for the Den Norske Amerikaline's vessel Bergensfjord, one for the "Lloyd Sabaudo" liner_ Re d'ltalia, and one for the liner Lutetia, owned by the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique. The Aquitania has completed a round trip to New York since her Sperry Gyro-Compass has been installed, and the results have been highly satisfactory. The master and his officers are enthusiastic about its work, and state that their expectations have been more than realized. The Ceramic's gyro-compass is to be installed before the vessel leaves on her next voyage to Australia —Shipping, 8/23.
Invisible Signals.—Signals that can be rendered visible to those who are to receive them, while remaining invisible to all else, have undoubted advantages from the standpoint of secrecy which would make them valuable in military operations. Such signals were used in the recent war, owing to the inventive skill of an American Prof. R.W. Wood, of Johns Hopkins University, whose work with invisible rays, especially in photography, has been noted from time to time in these columns. Professor Wood's plan is to use a source of invisible rays, either those below or above the visible spectrum, and to employ a receiving instrument that makes them visible again. No one not provided with the proper receiver could have any idea that signals of any kind were passing. We translate, in part an account of Professor Wood's apparatus, contributed to La Nature (Paris, May 31), by H. Vigneron. Writes this author:
"First Professor Wood perfected the classic devices of optical telegraphy. In one of the systems in service in the German Army the signals are made by an electric lamp placed inside a tube which enables the sender to direct the light-beam as he chooses. Field-glasses fitted with this system enable a soldier to observe the signals sent in reply. The batteries supplying the lamp are placed in the belt shown in the illustration. All the apparatus of optical telegraphy are based on the same principle. The improvement introduced by Wood consists in increasing the precision of the transmitting instrument so that the size of the light-beam may be greatly diminished and secrecy thus insured, the signal being visible only at the receiving-station.
"The device consists of an achromatic lens at whose focus is a nitrogen filled, metal-filament lamp operated by a battery of five dry piles and fitted with an ordinary Morse key. Behind the lamp is an eyepiece through which the receiving-station is exactly visible.
"When the sender looks through the eyepiece he sees the image of the lamp-filament projected against the landscape and is able to hold the device so that this image falls precisely on the receiving-station
"With this apparatus and the nitrogen lamp, communication may be maintained up to distances of 18 or 20 miles, the diameter of the light beam at one and one-quarter miles not exceeding six feet. The weak point of this method may be seen at once: if the trenches are very near it is impossible to communicate with the receiving-station without the enemy's also getting the signals. The system, therefore, had to be modified. Professor Wood did this by using invisible light-rays for the signals. It is well known that under this general term are included infra-red and ultraviolet rays.
"If we place before the lamp a screen that allows only these infra-red rays to pass…these will not be perceived directly by the eye; but if at the receiving-post a similar device be used the observer will see the black field of his glass illuminated in red. Owing to this arrangement, secrecy is assured and the device may be used in this way at distances of five to six miles.
"To utilize the ultra-violet ray—and this is. the most original feature of Mr. Wood's inventions—this scientist has succeeded in making a kind of glass absolutely opaque to the visible rays, but perfectly transparent to the ultra-violet. This glass, composed of silicate of soda and nickel oxid, therefore, looks opaque to the eye, and to observe the rays that pass through it a detector is necessary. Wood utilizes the fluorescence of some such substances as platinocyanid of barium. In these conditions the range is five to six miles."
For marine signaling, where a greater range is necessary, Professor Wood, we are told, increases the intensity of the ultra-violet ray by using an ordinary mercury vapor-lamp surrounded by a screen of the special glass just described. If a ship carries two invisible signals of this sort at a standard distance apart, the observer, looking through his detector, can tell how far away she is. To quote further:
"At the entrance of a port, in a channel, if the buoys are painted with a fluorescent substance and the ship is supplied with a projector of ultraviolet rays, when the invisible beam strikes the buoy it will shine out clearly.
"To facilitate the landing of airplanes and the marking of aviation fields, the ultra-violet rays may "be similarly used. The aviator seeking to land examines the ground with a glass having a fluorescent screen and finds his field by its fixed ultra-violet signals.
"Wood's investigations, although made for military purposes, have produced results that will be more generally useful; for they give us full control of the ultra-violet rays as a source of energy."—The Literary Digest, 8/16.
Navy Radio Plan Opposed.—Strong opposition to the proposed plan of the Navy Department to obtain control of all trans-oceanic radio equipment was developed at a hearing held before the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs on August 28. Representatives of commercial radio companies as well as representatives of business associations objected to the continuation of the present control of the navy during times of peace. Oscar K. Davis, secretary of the National Foreign Export Association, criticized naval control of radio and cable communication in the Pacific on the grounds that transmission of messages between the Pacific Coast and the Orient was being delayed more than a week. George McK. McClellan, representative of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, also opposed the retention of trans-oceanic communication by the Navy Department, declaring that under the present management facilities for the transmission of commercial messages are congested to such an extent that the cable and wireless communication is rendered almost as slow as the mails.—Army and Navy Journal, 9/6.
Government Wireless Station.—According to the U. S. Bureau of Census, it is learned that the government has erected wireless plants at various points along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Cavite, in the Philippines. The government shore stations, according to the reports of the Bureau of Navigation, numbered 135 on June 30, 1918. of which 88 were in continental United States, 20 in Alaska, 19 in the Philippines, 3 in the Canal Zone, 2 in Hawaii and 1 each in Porto Rico, Guam, and Samoa. The government ship stations totaled 470. The station at Arlington, Va., has been in regular communication with the station at Chollas Heights, near San Diego, Cal., since May 1, 1917. Direct communication with an Italian government station in Rome was also established. On September 29, 1917, radio communication was established between Arlington and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, via Sayville, N.Y. Messages are now transmitted between Arlington and the Philippines through San Diego, Cal., and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Under favorable conditions, at night, the Arlington station can communicate directly with the Pearl Harbor station, but the usual practice is to relay through San Diego.—Scientific American, 8/30.
Fires Started by Wireless.—After that blazing airship fell in the "Loop District" of Chicago, killing a dozen people and completely wrecking a great bank, some one recalled that it had passed near a high-power wireless plant and suggested that the gas in the balloon might have taken fire from a wireless spark or wave. Whether this spectacular accident was due to this or some other cause, it is at least certain that our progress in both aviation and radiotelegraphy is likely often to bring wireless waves into close touch with highly inflammable gas-bags carrying people and valuable cargoes. And the Chicago catastrophe lends immediate interest to the announcement of a French scientist, Mr. George A. Leroy, of the Municipal Laboratory of Rouen, France, that he has proved that an ordinary wireless telegram may actually start a fire. His investigations were described by Jacques Boyer in an article contributed to the Scientific American (New York, June 14). Mr. Leroy's discovery was stimulated by several lawsuits in which fires were asserted to have originated from the electric waves set up by wireless apparatus. He showed the correctness of these charges, or at any rate indicated their probability, through an apparatus of his own, named by him an "igniting resonator." By its means Mr. Leroy has set on fire combustible materials' several yards away, the wave intensity at this distance being comparable to that produced at far greater distances by the powerful wireless apparatus commonly in use. Writes Mr. Boyer, in substance:
"The igniting resonator, as set up for Mr. Leroy's experiments, consists of a glass bulb with four apertures, operated as a resonator of the classical Hertz type, but with the spark occurring in a closed vessel, in contact with various inflammable substances which are there submitted to test. The upper aperture in the vessel is closed by a stopper through which pass a manometer, a thermometer, and a drainage-tube with a cock. Opposite it, the lower opening gives passage, through heavy packing, to a wire that supports, inside the vessel, a light table of mica on which are placed the inflammables for test; also to a second drainage-tube with a cock, which meets the upper one already mentioned.
"The entire bulb is immersed in a bath of oil of Vaseline, itself enclosed in an inverted bell-vat. Once this igniting resonator was ready for action, Mr. Leroy projected upon it feeble Hertzian waves, producing these by means of an induction coil.
"This rudimentary apparatus enables the skilled experimenter to show without doubt the incendiary action of the Hertzian waves, although their electric intensity is a minimum in comparison with the power of the large wireless stations now in service. In particular, Mr. Leroy has set up at some meters' distance inflammation of combustible materials such as guncotton, tinder, cotton, worsted, tow, paper, etc. For example, by his observations upon small bales of cotton enclosed in jute wrappers with iron bands, as this material is ordinarily packed for shipment, he explains in the following fashion the mechanism of so-called spontaneous combustion which at times bursts out in warehouses or on board ships:
"In the course of handling, one of the hoops which encircles the bales of raw cotton breaks or comes loose under the action of shock or some other cause, and a small fragment of the metal projects in such way as to form a miniature Hertzian resonator. Then, under the influence of the wireless waves sent out from some station, sparks pass and immediately inflame the covering of the cotton in their immediate vicinity. Equally, the contact between the metallic bands of the bales, piled one on another in a car or packed in the hull of a boat, may establish an electric circuit offering the conditions of capacity and self-induction necessary for the production of the phenomena of resonance. In consequence, when the circuit finds itself interrupted by imperfect contact between two bales, incendiary sparks, apt to inflame the cotton, are likely to be produced."—The Literary Digest, 8/9.
ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY
U.S. Navy's New Type Railway Mount.—Tests with most satisfactory results were made early this month at the Navy's new proving ground at Dahlgren, Va., of a new U.S. Navy type of fourteen-inch railway mount, Mark II, designed for use in high angle ranging work, and has a mobile mount for proving ground use. This mount was evolved by the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department, of which Rear Admiral Ralph Earle is chief, to meet conditions requiring rapid shifting from one place to another on the battlefront. The Mark I mount, which was used successfully on the west front during the latter months of the war, required about a day's time to prepare for firing, owing to the necessity of digging a pit and constructing a foundation therein to take the recoil load of the gun. The use of this pit also limited the amount of train which could be obtained in any one emplacement, this amount of train being about two and one-half degrees, which was provided on the gun girder to traverse it through this angle.
The Mark II design was gotten up to permit firing from the rails without the necessity of digging a pit and any degree of train could thus be obtained by the use of a circular track. The height of the trunnions was consequently raised so that the gun could be elevated to an angle of 40 degrees, and still clear the track. In this position, however, the total height of the gun in a level position was so great that it was not possible to transport it under bridges, through tunnels, etc. To meet this condition it was therefore necessary to provide an elevating arrangement so that the gun could be raised into its firing position and lowered into its transporting position to come inside the clearances specified for French railways. To do this the deck lugs, instead of being rigidly bolted to the gun girder, were mounted on slides inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees, and two hydraulic rams, one on each side, were fitted for raising the gun, and its carriage. To secure the carriage or gun girders in both the elevated and lowered positions heavy auxiliary trunnion pins were provided to pin the deck lugs to the gun girders. The firing load and also the dead load were thus transmitted to the gun girders by means of these pins and the slides fitted as described at an angle of 45 degrees.
The deck load of the whole mount is carried by four sets of trucks with five axels to each truck, thus making a total of 20 axles or 40 wheels. The overall wheel base is about 83 feet. With the load thus distributed, no reinforcement of the track is necessary. The use of five-wheel trucks involved a new design of equalizing system in order to insure that each axle would carry its share of the load, and this detail had to be worked out by the bureau designers co-operating with the design section of the Baldwin Locomotive Works Company. On the front end of the gun girder gasoline engines are fitted, one to drive a hydraulic pump necessary to elevate the gun to its firing position, and another motor which can be connected either to the winch for traversing the mount along the rails or to an air compressor which is utilized to furnish air pressure for gas ejecting for the operation of the breech mechanism and for assisting the springs in bringing the gun back to battery at high angles of elevation. The counter recoil springs, being the same as used for turret mounts, were naturally not designed strong enough to do this work at the high angle of elevation of 40 degrees. In addition to the power-driven hydraulic pump four hand pumps are supplied as an auxiliary means for elevating the gun to its firing position in case the power system is out of order. Owing to the great weights to be raised, however, this system, although effective for the purpose, is naturally very slow.—Army and Navy Journal, 9/6.
Re-Gunning a Battleship's Turrets.—How long do guns last? Visitors to battleships' of the United States Navy often ask that question, after seeing huge naval guns at close range for the first time. The answer surprises them, for they invariably think that guns last indefinitely, and once installed in a turret remain there until the ship becomes old and obsolete and is eventually placed out of commission.
Modern cannon are comparatively short-lived. The cannon of past decades were smoothbores which fired round shot and, although the scouring effect of powder gases might enlarge the bore to almost any extent, the question of accuracy was of no great importance. Gunners did not ignite the fuse until they "saw the whites of the enemy's eyes." In order to accomplish this the daring captain always endeavored to get into close range and even lash his ship alongside the enemy, depending upon the ability of his gunners to fire more shots, than the latter, thus winning a quick decisive victory. Besides it was practically impossible for the old style cannon balls to penetrate the thick wooden hulls of the men-of-war of the age except at close range.
High-powered naval rifles are built of sections superimposed upon a rifled tube or liner. At first the liners were cylindrical, but to facilitate removal they are now made conical in shape on the outside. The outer sections, usually known as hoops are shrunk on to the liner by the application of heat, the outer diameter of the liner being slightly in excess of the inner diameter of the hoop shrunk upon it. This construction is known as the principle of "initial tension"—i.e., the increased resistance of a tube constructed of several concentric cylinders assembled over a single tube ca-uses a stress between them. This stress is one of compression on the inner cylinders and extension on the outer, and necessarily varies in intensity. The resultant stresses increase the resisting power of the gun to internal pressure.
After the tube and hoops are assembled the gun is rifled. This consists of cutting spiral grooves in the bore, which is done in order to impart a rotary motion to the projectile, thus preventing it from tumbling during its flight from the gun to the target. As both gun and projectile are made of steel, it is necessary to fit a comparatively soft though tough copper rifling band near the base of the shell. The rifling cuts into the band as the shell advances through the bore, thus imparting a spinning or gyroscopic motion. As it speeds on its way the longitudinal axis of the shell is always tangent to the trajectory or curve of flight.
The intense heat caused by the expansion of gases produced by the burning powder is imparted to the walls of the gun, and the speed of expansion of the gases as they propel the projectile through the bore, scours the interior surface of the metal and quickly wears out the rifling. This is known as "erosion." When erosion progresses to the extent that accuracy of flight is impaired, the gun must be relined. Thus it may be inferred that the life of a gun is measured by its accuracy. The actual number of shots which can be fired from naval guns of varying calibers before accuracy is seriously impaired, has been determined by experience, and in the United States Navy is over 250 rounds.
In order to maintain the navy at the highest point of efficiency in gunnery, target practice is frequently held under conditions closely simulating actual battle. As a result, the guns wear out and must be replaced. It is a fixed policy of the navy extending over years, that all guns mounted on board ship must at all times be capable of firing their full battle allowance of ammunition without loss of accuracy. The battle allowance depends upon the limited space for stowage in the magazines; and when it is understood that the weight of a 14-inch shell is 1400 pounds and a full charge of powder with its container weighs 323 pounds, a total of 1723 pounds, occupying 12.5 cubic feet, the great amount of space, required for the stowage of ammunition for the twelve 14-inch guns of our modern super-dreadnoughts can be realized.
The navy maintains a reserve of guns on shore amounting to 25 per cent of the number afloat. These reserve guns are kept in excellent condition, ready at a moment's notice to replace those which have become worn out. The operation of replacing turret guns is one of the many things the navy has to do in order to be ready at all times to perform its allotted task. The work must be speedily done, for a battleship laid up at a navy yard is a dead loss to the fleet.
When it becomes necessary to replace the guns of a battleship, the latter proceeds to a navy yard where new guns shipped from the reserve stock at the Naval Gun Factory awaits her. Workmen swarm on board and in a short time remove the turret top and front plates. The delicate gun-sights whose working parts are machined to a ten-thousandth part of an inch are carefully removed and as carefully stowed away. The slightest burr or scratch might easily cause the gun to be fired with such great inaccuracy as to be entirely useless. Gun elevating gears and recoil cylinders are disconnected, electric firing circuits are removed and the turret has the appearance of being hopelessly dismantled. When all gear is cleared away, a huge floating crane comes alongside and lifts the gun and sleeve out of the turret, transferring it to blocking on shore. The sleeve is removed and placed on the new gun and the latter is then hoisted on board. A 14-inch gun without accessories of any sort weighs 198,000 pounds—a mass which cannot be toyed with.
After the new guns have been installed in place, the turret top and front armor plates are bolted on. Gun-sights, elevating gears and all other mechanisms are assembled, and then a most important operation is commenced. The interior of the turret is thoroughly scrubbed and painted by the turret crew, while the turret captain and gunner's mates clean and polish the guns.
Worn-out guns are by no means consigned to the scrap heap, for they have many years of usefulness before them. The Naval Gun Factory has a large stock of liner forgings always on hand ready to be inserted in guns whose accuracy has been impaired by continuous use. There thousands of the most skilled mechanics in the world work day and night to keep pace with the navy's requirements. When the worn-out gun arrives it is placed on end in a vertical furnace where it is heated, after which the old liner is knocked out and a new one inserted. For this operation the gun is placed muzzle down in a furnace and heated to a temperature varying from 400 degrees F. to 500 degrees F. A powerful crane lifts the new liner to a position over the furnace and lowers it into place after which it is cooled by sprays of cold water. Hydraulic jacks are used to prevent the liner from crawling out during the cooling process.
When the gun is perfectly cool it is removed from the furnace, and placed in a lathe. It is then chambered, rifled, and fitted with breech mechanism. After being carefully inspected by an officer it is sent to the Naval Proving Ground for test by firing. At the conclusion of this test it is ready for issue to the service, as good as it was when entirely new.—Scientific American, 8/16.
An Anti-noise Telephone.—"Since the days of its earliest development, the telephone has been tried out at various times for communication from bridge to engine-room and between other parts of power-propelled vessels. That it has been found conspicuously wanting in these trials is apparent from the fact that communication from bridge to engine-room, and vice versa, is still chiefly effected by means of such mechanical and electromechanical devices as the ship's telegraph, etc., and even by the antediluvian speaking-tube.
"With the enormous use of the airplane as a fighting and observation unit during the European war, there developed constantly new reasons why rapid and efficient means of inter-communication were necessary—both between, the pilot and the bombers or observers aboard the same craft, and also from airship to ground and the reverse (in the latter case, of course, by means of wireless telephony).
"To those who have been in the vicinity of unmuffled gasoline or other internal-combustion engines under test, it is superfluous to say that the noise they emit precludes any sort of conversation near by—except, of course, by some means such as sign language. With the twelve cylinders of a Liberty airplane motor exhausting directly into the air alongside the fuselage of an airplane (or, in the case of a twin-motor plane, twenty-four cylinders), the problem of providing easy communication among the crew of that airplane seemed, at first glance, impossible of solution. The tendency of a telephone transmitter of any type previously developed to pick up every noise in its vicinity, as well as the vibrations of the voice directed against it, is only too well known to those who have attempted to use the telephone in any noisy locality. This evil is known in telephone parlance as 'side-tone,' and the best brains of the telephone engineering profession had been combating it for years.
"Confronted with such a problem as this, Edwin S. Pridham and Peter L. Jensen, engineers of the Magnavox Company of San Francisco and pioneers in the adaptation to commercial use of the electrodynamic principle in telephone receivers, took one of the boldest steps ever taken in telephone development, and, by sp doing, produced the Magnavox 'anti-noise' telephone transmitter.
"It was this transmitter, invented by these two Californians under war pressure…that enabled virtually perfect telephonic intercommunication among the members of the crews of America's combat airplanes, and equally efficient wireless telephone communication with the ground, from heights as great as ten thousand feet."
How Jensen and Pridham solved the problem of overcoming the noise of two thundering, unmuffled Liberty motors and enabling the use of telephone's only a few feet from them is interesting because the step they took was both simple and daring. We read:
"Every previous attempt made by telephone engineers—many of them world-famous—to overcome outside noise influence or 'side-tone' in the telephone transmitter had been by trying to exclude noise with 'soundproof' cases, padding and the like.
"Pridham and Jensen boldly opened the diaphragm and button of the transmitter and let all the noise in—impartially to both sides of the diaphragm. The result was entire exclusion from the circuit of every sound save the voices of the users; and the inventors at once patented the method, the extreme simplicity of which impresses itself forcibly on every one who hears a demonstration.
"The idea is simple. Conceive a big Chinese gong or tom-tom struck on both sides at once, in the same spot, by hammers of equal weight. The blows being equal, the gong will not vibrate. But if a light tap be administered on one side only, at the same time, with a smaller hammer, the gong will vibrate in proportion to the tap of the little hammer. In the case of the transmitter, the outside noise (affecting both sides of the diaphragm equally) is analogous to the two hammers; the voice waves to the smaller hammer.
"All of this brings us back to the question of telephone intercommunication between the bridge of a steamship or motor ship and the noisy parts of the ship—main engine-room, refrigerating engine-room, steering engine room aft, boiler-room, wireless-room, etc. Demonstrations of the performance of the Magnavox 'anti-noise' telephone under severe and actual service conditions convinced the representatives of the Emergency Fleet Corporation that it was the long-desired means of unimpeded telephonic intercommunication amid the perpetual din in the vitals of a power-driven ship. As a result, merchant ships now under construction in Pacific coast shipyards are being equipped with Magnavox 'anti-noise' marine telephones.
"These marine telephones embody not only the same transmitter that revolutionized intercommunication on board and to and from army and navy airplanes, but also the electrodynamic type of telephone receiver, which is far superior in speech reception and reproduction to the old type of electromagnetic receiver employed in the familiar commercial form of telephone.
"In addition to embodying these two vital features, the 'antinoise' transmitter and the electrodynamic receiver, these instruments bear ample evidence of having been carefully and thoughtfully designed to meet all of the unusually severe conditions that must be met by electrical apparatus of any form on board ship:
"A word here about the technicalities of the electrodynamic type of telephone receiver may not be amiss. In this form of receiver, the vibrating element is a flat coil of wire, and not a soft iron diaphragm, as in the old electromagnetic type. This flat coil of wire is rigidly attached to a bronze diaphragm, in such a position that it cuts the lines of magnetic force passing between the pole pieces of a permanent magnet. The passage of the fluctuating voice-currents through this coil causes it to vibrate in this magnetic field synchronously with the vibrations of the transmitter diaphragm at the other end of the circuit; and inasmuch as the coil is always at a fixed distance from the pole pieces of the magnet, the reproduction of speech effected by it, through the attached receiver diaphragm, is far clearer and more faithful to the original than ever has been attained by the common or electromagnetic type of receiver…
"One unique test that was made consisted in placing a telephone equipped with the 'anti-noise' transmitter inside the steel shell of a boiler. With several men outside the boiler pounding on the shell with hammers, a person inside was able to telephone to those on the outside without interference from the din of the hammering."—The Literary Digest, 6/14.
ENGINEERING
Present Striking Use of X-Ray in Metallurgy.—Progress in the examination of solid materials with the X-ray has been rapid in recent months and some surprising results have been recorded. This is particularly true of British and French research. The facts were brought out at a recent meeting in England.
One of the earliest applications of the X-ray to metallurgy was in the detection of flaws in steel and other metals. Recent experience shows that, with the present apparatus available, it is possible to detect very small flaws in steel two inches thick. London experimenters announce, however, that apparatus has lately been devised with which it is confidently expected to penetrate steel up to nine inches thick. French cast-steel brackets for gun carriages have been shown by this test to be faulty, and the method of manufacture was changed resulting in a correction of the defects. The entire internal structure of cartridges and high explosive shells has been profitably examined without injury to the object and welds have also been found imperfect by the same agency. The application of these developments opens up a wide field of advantage to the metallurgist.
Still more interesting is the possible use of the X-ray in analysis. When the percentage of an element of high atomic weight such as tungsten is considerable, as in tool steel, the metal is not so permeable to the rays as when the percentage is low. It appears possible to apply radiography to rapid analysis in particular cases, as the separation of carbon from tungsten and alloy steels.
Another valuable development involves the examination of carbon electrodes for electric furnaces. The suggestion is made that the best use of radiographic examinations would probably consist in systematic experiments on electrode manufacture where variations in composition, baking temperature, etc., would proceed step by step. Internal causes resulting in premature and frequent breaking in service may thus be detected. Already the visual examination of aircraft timbers has yielded valuable results. No difficulty has been found in detecting concealed knots, resin pockets and grub holes or excess or deficiency of glue in glued joints.
Examination of materials without destruction of the object has been a desideratum for many years. Its partial realization seems nearer as investigations proceed. Not only radiography but magnetic analysis are important factors in this evolution. Further work must decide to what degree these new developments in radiography will result in non-destructive testing. Already the results are striking and the goal nearer.—Scientific American, 8/23.
Electric Super-Submarines.—Designs for a new type of super-submarine have been elaborated by Capt. Norman Wood, R.A.F., who recently read two papers on the subject before the Institute of Marine Engineers in London. Previous to his connection with the Royal Air Force, Captain Wood was engaged on submarine work and had practical experience of the deficiencies which exist in the design of even the latest vessels. On the surface submarines are driven by Diesel oil engines; under water they are driven by electricity from storage batteries which must be charged when the vessel is on the surface. These conditions are usually met by arranging the following chain: (1) Diesel engine, (2) clutch, (3) electric motor, (4) clutch, (5) propeller shaft. It is not difficult to see that this equipment involves a complex series of operations at critical times, as, for instance, when the vessel is caught by an enemy searchlight when the batteries are being charged. Captain Wood, continues Electrical Review, proposes to simplify the transition from engine drive to motor drive (or vice versa) by adopting an all-electric drive, using, in a 1200-ton boat, two oil engines to drive electric generators supplying current to electric motors used on propeller ships, both naval and mercantile, on the ground that the growth of air power will render submersion the only means of escape from aerial attack. From this standpoint sea power will include air power and submarine power as well as strength in ships of the old type.—Scientific American, 8/23.
Liberty Motor with Twenty-Four Cylinders.—An experimental test of a 24-cylinder Liberty X-type motor recently conducted at McCook Field shows that this motor compares favorably with successful tests of foreign motors of approximately the same horsepower. The test engine was built of standard Liberty 12 parts, involving few changes, consisting in the main of two regular crank case upper halves, one somewhat altered, and special design connecting rods. Compared with the Liberty 12, the 24-cylinder shows 673 horsepower to 400; 1.97 pounds per horsepower to 2.11, and .55 pounds per horsepower gas consumption to .51. It is stated that an engine of this power, if run at the normal speed, would enable the use of a comparatively large slow-speed propeller without gear reduction, thus increasing propeller efficiency. Only one foreign motor has greater horsepower, the DeDion with 800, and but two are of less weight per horsepower, the Samson18-ounce and the Napier "Lion," 1.76 and 1.86 pounds respectively. The expansion of the Liberty to 24 cylinders, explosive engine experts assert, proves it to be among the foremost all-purpose designs ever produced.—Army and Navy Journal, 8/30.
A New Magnesium Alloy.—A metal lighter than any yet known, and as strong as or stronger than steel, has for years been the dream of many, and every now and then rumors are circulated to the effect that at last it has been discovered. The advantages which such a metal would have, especially for aircraft, are obvious, but unfortunately it is generally found on investigation that there is a "snag" somewhere. The latest report to be circulated relates to a new magnesium alloy, said to have been discovered by a metal company of Montreal, Canada. The new alloy, it is stated, is only two-thirds the weight of aluminum and is "as strong as steel." It is said to be especially suitable for pistons and connecting rods of aero and motor car engines. It is to be hoped that some of the qualities attributed to the new alloy may, on closer examination, be substantiated.—Scientific American, 8/30.
AERONAUTICS
Parachuting from a Plane.—The parachute as a means of escaping from a damaged airplane has been much discussed, but its use has not yet assumed a practical aspect. The Germans are said to have practised it to some extent, but Lieut.-Colonel H.S. Holt, who writes in the "Aeronautical Engineering" supplement to the Aeroplane (London), says that after making careful inquiry overseas, although he found records of some escapes of this kind, he discovered not a particle of evidence that any of them had been made while the plane was actually falling. He considers some new form of mechanism necessary, and he has devised what he calls an "autochute," or compound parachute system, in which the release of the main parachute is effected by a smaller or "pilot" parachute, which is released before the man jumps and relieves the strain on the large parachute at the moment of opening. This strain, he says, is usually a variable quantity, depending, in the case of a parachute launched from a captive balloon, on the distance it falls before opening. If the parachute is launched from a rapidly moving airplane, additional and severe strains may be thrown on the fabric. In the compound or tandem parachute system the strain on the main parachute is always the same within small limits, and can be accurately estimated. The pilot parachute opens first and then withdraws the main parachute from its case. Writes Colonel Holt:
"By simple timing devices the release of the main parachute can be delayed as long as desired; but the strain on it when opening will always be the same, because a well-designed pilot parachute attains its terminal velocity in a few feet.
"In certain cases the writer employs a secondary pilot parachute of very small diameter and made of as light and thin a material as possible, whose function is to draw out the first pilot parachute. This is only necessary where the first pilot has to be made of considerable diameter and very strong and heavy.
"Theoretically the strain on the main parachute can be reduced to any extent by varying the relative areas of the main and pilot parachutes. But practically there are limits beyond which one cannot go; as, for instance, if one made the pilot larger than the main, which would be an absurdity.
Jumping from a disabled plane with a double parachute. "The pilot parachute opens first, and then withdraws the main parachute from its case."
"The essentials for a good pilot parachute are smallness of area relative to the main parachute, great strength of material, and design and rapid inflation…
"The writer in practice attaches the pilot to the main by cords from the cable of the pilot to the circumference of the hole m the main. Correctly speaking, the pilot cable should be attached directly to the cable of the main at the point where the lines meet. In this way the load on the pilot parachute would be transmitted direct to the cable of the main instead of through the fabric of the main. But there are obvious practical objections to this.
"The writer has already successfully employed this compound system in his large parachute flares, and to adapt it to life-saving parachutes was merely a matter of modifying details and proportions to suit somewhat different conditions."
In the type of "auto-chute" shown in the illustrations the main parachute is carried on the aviator's back in a sort of knapsack with a spring lid. The cable connecting it with the pilot is secured to the harness with a spring-bolt, which is cither released automatically at once or can be held back at the pleasure of the flier. The method of operation is as follows, as described by Colonel Holt:
"The pilot parachute is withdrawn and held in the hand, and the man gets in a position to jump overboard. The instant before jumping he releases the parachute, which opens as soon as he begins to fall and draws out the main parachute.
"In certain circumstances he may wish to fall for a considerable distance under the pilot parachute only. Thus if he found he was close to the coast and was afraid the main parachute might drift out to sea before it reached the earth, he might wish to fall very quickly to within a few hundred feet of the ground. Or, again, in wartime, if the passenger thought the enemy airmen would attack him with their machine guns while falling, he could drop under the small pilot until near the ground, and then release the main.
"In this case before jumping off he will turn the lever on the harness, thereby locking the release-bolt so that the main parachute is not withdrawn. Until he releases the lever the main parachute will be retained in its receptacle.
"When falling under the parachute a man is apt to grip and cling on to anything that he can get hold of, and the lever locking this bolt is arranged in such a way that he cannot do this, and the moment he lets go of the lever the bolt will be released.
"At the moment the cords become taut the strain falls on the pilot parachute, which acts as a brake on the whole system and lessens the shock when the main parachute opens to full expansion a moment later. Thus the shock due to the coming into action of the parachute system is divided into two portions separated by a fraction of time from one another. For this reason it seems probable that shock-absorbers will be quite unnecessary in the compound parachute system. The relative proportion of the two shocks depends chiefly on the relative sizes of the two parachutes…
"There is much less suction from the aperture at the apex or the center of the parachute than there is with a single parachute, the reason being that during the withdrawal of the main parachute there is hardly any motion of translation of this parachute beyond a leisurely fall of a few feet per second, due to its weight acting on the pilot parachute.
"This suction is one of the greatest dangers in connection with parachutes, as it causes a vacuum between the folds of the parachute and effectually prevents its opening. But even such small amount of suction as might be present is entirely eliminated by the device the writer has adopted of closing the central hole with a disk of specially flexible paper. This is arranged to be easily replaced each time after use. It remains intact till the pressure inside the parachute becomes sufficient to burst it. With this arrangement and the system of tubes already described it matters very little how the parachute is folded, and nothing in the nature of skilled attendance is necessary."—Literary Digest, 8/2.
99 Per Cent of Air Service Equipment Ready to Use.—The following statement was issued by the statistics branch, General Staff, War Department:
The latest reports from the Air Service show over 4500 active type planes and over 15.800 active type engines at fields and depots, of which 99 per cent are in condition to use.
American Altitude Record.—The breaking of the American official altitude mark by Roland Rohlfs on July 30 was accomplished under great difficulties. For thirty minutes Rohlfs drove his machine at 150 miles an hour, 30,000 feet above the earth, in a temperature of 25 degrees below zero, in a vain effort to send it further upward. Throughout this period his motor was chilled, and the gale on the fringe of the earth's atmosphere was steadily driving him out to sea.
Six miles above the ground he let go his controls, climbed over the cowl, and attempted to cut the rubber pipe carrying water to his radiator in an effort to warm up the chilled motor. Failing in this, he next attempted to cut up a pillow in strips and jam it in the radiator, but the violent wind tore the strips out of his hands.—Mid-Week Pictorial, 8/14.
Aviation Facts.—American aviators brought down 755 enemy craft in action and lost 357. American aviators used 2698 planes at the front, of which 667 were of American manufacture.—Infantry Journal, September, 1919.
MISCELLANEOUS
Troop Transport Fleet Dwindling.—The huge transatlantic fleet, which transported our army back from France, is now reduced to 903,000 deadweight tons, in operation, divided as follows: Troop transports, 871,000; refrigerators, 6000; cargo vessels, 16,000. There are out of operation, awaiting redelivery, 213,000 tons to be turned over to the Shipping Board, the War Department announced.
"With the exception of a few of the faster ships," the Department said, "transports are now being redelivered as they arrive from overseas. Since August 1, 34,000 deadweight tons have been redelivered to the Shipping Board and 2000 to the navy. This brings the total army tonnage redelivered to date to 2,976,000 tons."—The Nautical Gazette, 8/23.
New Army Transports.—The former navy transport Great Northern, now assigned as an army transport, sailed from Hoboken, N.J., August 24 for San Francisco, where she and her sister ship, the Northern Pacific, will be used in permanent transport service on the Pacific. Their regular route will be from San Francisco to Honolulu, Manila, Vladivostock and thence to Nagasaki, Guam, Honolulu and San Francisco. When the American forces are brought out of Siberia they will take passage on these ships, which are fast ones, having a speed of 23 knots. They are equipped with Parsons turbines and burn oil fuel. They will be able to make the trip from San Francisco to Manila in 15 days, thus improving the mail service between those ports. The Great Northern and Northern Pacific were purchased by the army from the Great Northern Railroad Company at the outbreak of the war and were operated by the navy as troop transports during the war.—Army and Navy Journal, 9/6.
Make-Up of American Force That Will Stay in Germany.—General Pershing has advised the War Department that the American forces which will remain in Germany after September 30 will consist of a little more than 6000 picked men. The names of the units and their approximate strength were disclosed by the War Department to-day, as follows:
| Officers | Men |
8th Infantry | 114 | 3,720 |
7th Machine Gun Battalion | 16 | 379 |
2d Battalion, 6th F.A. | 20 | 620 |
35th Field Signal Battalion | 15 | 473 |
1st Supply Train | 16 | 485 |
1st Mobile Ordnance Repair Shop | 3 | 45 |
Company A, 1st Engineers | 6 | 250 |
Field Hospital No. 13 | 6 | 82 |
Ambulance Company No. 26 | 5 | 153 |
Total | 201 | 6,207 |
—N. Y. Times, 8/23.
Standing of Various Navies.—The United States Navy Year Book, just issued, shows among other things that our country is easily the second naval power of the world, being excelled in this respect only by Great Britain. The tables which give the strength in fighting ships show that the great powers stand in this order: Great Britain, United States, Japan, France, Germany, Russia and Italy. It is more than probable that at the present moment, however, Italy stands ahead of Russia, as the Bolsheviki lost some of their principal fighting units in recent engagements with the British in the Baltic and the Gulf of Kronstadt. The total number of the ships of all types, combatant and non-combatant, in the United States Navy is 778, with a total tonnage of 1,795,481. New construction now under way will greatly reduce the difference in tonnage between the British and American navies. The showing of the United States is reassuring in the present disturbed condition of the world. The number and power of the ships guarantee the safety of our shores against any possible future aggression, and the protection of our ocean-borne commerce in every quarter of the world.—Mid-Week Pictorial, 9/4.
Seeks Lion's Share of German Ships.—That Great Britain intends to insist upon having 2,250,000 tons of the 3,000,000 tons of German shipping to be divided among the Allies by the reparation commission after the ratification of peace is the statement made to the Daily Mail by an official of the Ministry of Shipping, who added that the position was delicate and complicated, and that intricate international negotiations were yet to be completed. Nevertheless, he was confident that Great Britain ultimately would obtain approximately what she demanded. Even then her loss in shipping during the war would exceed 5,000,000 tons.
Discussing complaints by the British ocean-carrying trade that other countries were benefitting at Great Britain's expense through the allocation of ships surrendered by the armistice, the official said this was the fortune of war. The Americans, he added, undoubtedly came out very well on paper, but it should be remembered that the ships in question were passenger ships and consequently bulked larger in the public mind than the cargo ships. Great Britain had a very large fleet of former German cargo carriers actively employed.—N.Y. Times, 9/11.
"Bremen's" Fate a Mystery.—There is no truth in the report that the crew of the German commercial submarine was captured during the war and returned recently to Germany, according to official information given the correspondent to-day. It was added that the British Admiralty has no knowledge concerning the fate of the Bremen, but that it is assumed she foundered while endeavoring to cross the Atlantic.
The report of the return of the crew of the Bremen to Germany was circulated on August 11 by the Vossische Zeitung of Berlin, which declared the men had reached Bremen. According to this newspaper the British had kept the crew prisoners, completely isolated from the world, so that the whereabouts of the missing submersible might remain a secret. Several days later official denial was made in Berlin that the crew of the submarine had arrived in Bremen.
With the British Admiralty disavowing knowledge of the Bremen it seems likely that the fate of this underwater craft will remain one of the mysteries of the war. The Bremen is supposed to have left Kiel for the United States in the early summer of 1916 with a cargo of dyes and chemicals. Since then her fate has been the subject of innumerable conjectures. At different times the vessel was reported as being on the eve of arriving at various American ports. As many times she was declared to have been captured or sunk by the British. Still further speculation ventured the theory that the Bremen had never sailed from Germany.—N.Y. Times, 8/27.
Commonwealth Dry-dock at Boston—Largest of Its Type.—The new Commonwealth Dry-dock at South Boston is the largest dry-dock of its type in the world. There may be floating dry-docks which are larger, but there are no land dry-docks of greater size. It is situated off the main ship channel in South Boston, and is ideally located, both as to the harbor entrance and to the New Haven Railroad yards. The Navy Department has agreed to buy this dry-dock, when it is completed, from the state on a cost plus basis. At the present time it is 95 per cent completed.
The particulars as to dimensions are as follows: Length at bottom, 1,170 feet; width at bottom, 114 feet, 9 inches. Depth over sill at low water, 35 feet. The size of the largest vessel which it could accommodate is 1150 feet in length; beam, 115 feet; draft, 45 feet, high water. It is built of concrete side walls with complete granite facings. It has a floating steel caisson which is brought into place by electric winches. The length of the caisson is 138 feet, 6 inches; width, 27 feet; depth, 53 feet, 6 inches. It has been approximately under construction for the last three years, but during the war building was considerably curtailed by the shortage of material and labor. It is understood that the navy plans to make the dry-dock the biggest ship repair plant on the Atlantic coast and the repair plant is to be built alongside of the dock.
It is also understood that the navy plans to build docks adjacent to this dock for berthing ships. The channel leading to the dry-dock from the main ship channel has a mean depth of 37 feet, and the state, before turning the dock over to the Navy Department, will dredge a turning basin outside. The time required to flood the dock is one hour. The time required to empty it is approximately three hours. The dock has a capacity of approximately 50,000,000 gallons of water. The emptying machinery is five centrifugal pumps operated by electricity. The dock is emptied and filled through a series of conduits having outlets in the floor of the dock. The five Worthington pumps, composed of three large and two small drainage pumps, have a capacity of 4080 horsepower. Other facilities which the dock will have include enormous cranes, a modern ship repair plant including machine shops, carpenter shops, etc.
An extra sill has been provided near the center of the dock. The inner dock will take a vessel 635 feet long; the outer dock one 490 feet long.
The dry-dock in addition to its ideal location with relation to the sea, is within a stone's throw of the new army base at South Boston, the second largest army base in the country; which has just been completed and cost approximately $28,000,000. The army base is on a reserve channel in an inlet; so that steamers docking or leaving the new dock will not be interfered with by vessels going to or from the army base. A quarter of a mile away is the new State Fish Pier and Commonwealth Pier, the largest passenger and freight pier in the world. All of these piers and docks are built on made land filled in by the state, and there are wonderful possibilities of further development. In fact, it is safe to say that there is no collection of docks and piers in the world which would more readily lend itself to expansion than these Commonwealth projects in South Boston.—Scientific American, 8/9.
Delivering Mail to Steamer After It Has Sailed.—One of the contemplated uses of the airplane in peace time is that of overtaking steamers at sea for the purpose of placing delayed mail aboard. Obviously, the speed of the average airplane makes it possible to overtake a steamer several hours after it has left the port, thereby extending the mail service time that many hours.
It has also been suggested that steamers might carry small airplanes which, when the steamer neared port, might fly with bags of mail. If airplanes were employed to overtake the steamer, and one or more airplanes employed to make port some hours before the steamer, perhaps eight hours or more might be saved in trans-Atlantic mail service. However, such a scheme would call for a considerable number of machines and pilots, and would entail a notable expense.—Scientific American, 8/23.
West Point Deaths Led.—Analysis of the "final" casualty report received from the central records office in France shows that the European war was the most sanguinary in history.
Battle deaths among American enlisted men average 8 per thousand, among emergency officers 11 per thousand, and among regular army officers 14.
Of every 1000 officers landed in France, 330 were killed or wounded. Battle deaths were 37 per thousand for graduates of West Point against 18 for non-graduates.—Infantry Journal, September, 1919.