The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16th, 1924. BENEATH THE SEA.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 August 1924, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16th, 1924. BENEATH THE SEA.

Wnr.N .luli'.s Verne wioto his iainous uanative, “Twenty Thousand l.cagucs l n.icr the Sea," it Wits generally regal ded as a dream that would never come true. But at leng lust it seems to have done so, unite a l.ondon eorres| ondeiil some months ago. A British submarine iivw have set lorth oil a voyage that in one respect will nI»- | rout h closely In that v.liich the great Freneh writer described, for between the I.('ginning of .January and the end of .March they will travel ‘'ten thousand miles under the sen.” For the whole time that the boat is moving, live sist hs of her crew will he. under water. It is the longest peace trip ever made bv it submarine, and siii'h a venture would not be possible in any other boat than K-2C, which is virtually a submarine cruiser, and the largest vessel of her type in existence. Few people, perhaps, realise what the conditions are under winch the new must live for the three months they me at sea. A submarine navigator never sees daylight "lien Ids boat i> moving. All the day round be lives in a siiper-lieated atmosphere with powerful incandescent lamps blazing close ovei hi> head. Work varies. Some men watch it particular wheel intently all the time they are on duty. Others crawl about among the elosepneked imneliiue'.y carrying out the orders that are continually reaching them through the voice pipes, and they have to he always on the alert to (hey instructions promptly. The K-2(i’s unique voyage has been undertaken for experimental purposes. Various interesting developments in suhma.ine navigation are dependent upon its results. A great deal of test work inis been eaitied out by the Admiralty with a view, amongst other things to finding a solution of the puzzling problem of wireless “blind spots" at sea. There are certain areas in which wireless messages can neither be sent nor received. Nobody knows why. and all the probing done so fur has failed to reveal the cause of this strange freak of the atmosphere. Another important matter is whether, if Brent Britain found herself nt war again, she would build a fleet of submarine food carriers. With the Deutschland the Bermans proved that the submarine cargo vessel was possible. She. however, had only a small carrying capacity. But within the past few years design has improved so greatly that there would now he no difficulty in building real submarine merchantmen. In fact. British constructors are prepared to plan submarine final carriers of 10.000 tons or more when tnese are required. The Admiralty may do nothing at the moment lieyoitu getting things ready on paper, but it is practically certain that, in i-e event of another war. imported food supplies will bo taken to Great Britain under water, the submersible cargo boat being used to defeat the attacks of the nirate submarine.