THE SUBMARINE CRUISER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 100, 21 January 1918, Page 5

THE SUBMARINE CRUISER

SOME OF ITS FEATURES. Hitherto regarded with some scepticism, the super-submarine—by wnioh is usually understood a vessel in the neighbourhood of 50000 tons, as compared with 800 of our E class—seems now (says the naval correspondent ot the London "Daily News"), to have passed definitely out of the hypothetical stage, for it has been stated recently by Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of" Operations in the U.S. ivavy Department, that Germany is behoved to have siich boats in service. , What the characteristics ■ of these craft may be we do not know. Jin his speech at Sheffield Admiral Jollicoe is reported to have stated/that the latest German submarines can steam on the surface "between 18 and 40 knots." He added that modern boats could remain under water for 48 hours without coming to the surface, that they could carry up to 20 torpedoes, and that they could fire with considerable accuracy while showing only, three lucres of periscope above the water. Theso features alone would necessitate dimensions considerably above those of the submarine standards of pre-war days, especially. when coupled with armaments occasionally comprising two guns of aboiit five_ inches calibre and. two or more machine-guns. The credit for designing the first 5000-ton submarine rests with a Russian engineer named Shuravieff, and it is remarkable how the characteristics of his suggested ship havebeen repeated over and over again in reports of Germany's alleged doings since the beginning of the war. Shuravieff's design first saw the light in 1911, and these wero its principal details:— Length (feet) 400 Tonnage on surface 4,500 Tonnage submerged 5,435 Horse-power on surface 18,000 Max. speed on surface (knots) 25 Max. speed submerged (knots) 14 Radius of action at 11 knots (miles) J.-....;'..'..;..? 18,500 Armament: Five 4.7 in. guns, 30 torpedo tubes, 120 mines. In the summer of 1916 it was reported that Germany was building submarines which approximated cloßely to the Shuravieff design, and one wonders whether this was actually so or whether someone was making a profit out of his knowledge of the original Russian design.