THE "DIVING SHELL."

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 144, 11 February 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE "DIVING SHELL."

* LATEST TRENCH DESTROYER. The great French advance which is to clear the German invaders out of Belgium and France will he pressed home just as soon as the army is sufficiently equipped with the new guns about which there has been so much talk of late in military circles. It is understood that nearly the number required are now in readiness. and when these big guns are brought to the front they are expected to make short work of the German trenches. Special interest in the character of these new guns, which has not yet been officially disclosed, was aroused by the announcement made here regarding the diving projectile which Ls said to have done so much toward clearing the seas of the German submarines. According to announcements, the new "Conan fuse," as it is called, is the most precious asset of the British Admiralty to-day. The outstanding features cf this f'.i.-e are described as follows:—It v. as invented three years ago by an Irishman named Walter Conan, whose home is in Dublin. It can lie affixed to a shell fired from ;i gun <:r howitzer, or tQ. a bomb dropped from an aeroplane. In stirik'r.s the water the projectile, of which the Conan apparatus forms part, dives and explodes at any predetermined depth up to thirty fe p t below the surface. The shock of its explosion under the water is sufficient to sink a submarine, usually by making it turn turtle. It is understood that a similar apparatus has been adapted and attached to the projectiles used by the new large guns. They will be vsed against the German trenches, and instead of the difficult task of turning the soldiers out of these retreats, it is expected that the French will dispose of the invaders by bur>ing large bodies of them in t-he.r own trenches. >