LIFE IN SUBMARINES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 427, 22 August 1908, Page 4

LIFE IN SUBMARINES.

A very interesting description of work in the submarine branch of the American Navy appears in the New . York Post. The American Navy, it seems, has a better record than the British in the matter of accidents, and the Americans are justly proud of the way in which their men handle these dangerous machines. But the service apparently does not consider submarines as dangerous as people think. ‘Tn the history of our navy,” says a naval officer, “ we have yet to lose a boat, and as long as we keep to simple plans, a one-design boat, and maintain our efficiency and discipline drills, every submerged crew is as safe as though it were on the surface. The losses of the French navy have been due to an attempt to work with a number of designs. The result has been nothing but confusion.” It is contended that nothing but carelessness or an enemy’s torpedo would render a submarine helpless while submerged. This, however, ignores accidents to machinery, such as the one which disabled the British A 9. The elimination of the unfit is searching. The submersion of the vessel is an admirable test of nerve. It is done day after day, and the man who shows the least sign of fear never sets foot on a submarine again, and rightly so, for the moment a man loses his head in a submarine he becomes dangerous. One drop, however, is usually enough for a timid man. The work is said to be much more commonplace than a landsman would think. “You are jammed into a stuffy, hot uncomfortable hole. You don’t see anything. You don’t hear anything —but machinery. You watch a pointer jumping on a dial and move your hands according to clocks. You are a machine, and you are running a machine. That’s all.” There is nothing to be seen but machinery and green water against the porthole. In short, the whole business, which seems so thrilling to a landsman, is really rather taine. But these are the views of submarine officers and naval men are given to depreciating their work. We are sure only the most modest account of the disaster to A 9 could be extracted from one of her heroic officers.