FIGHTING THE SUBMARINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1918, Page 5

FIGHTING THE SUBMARINE.

A NEW METHOD The U.K. Navy Department is working upon several devices, which, it is ex-, peeled, will [mt. an cud eventually 1.0 Hie submarine peril, says the New York Tribune. Since tlio beginning of the war Secretary Daniels lias received thousands of suggestions which had lor their purpose the construction of such devices, and where there was anything practical in the idea offered it has been thoroughly investigated by the navy experts and its value determined. There is one device which is believed by scientists, as well as naval experts, to be the best solution of the problem, this invention having passed beyond the blue print stage and been practically tested. It has, however, not yet been tried in the war zone. By means of this device, which can be operated from almost any ship, the exact location of a submarine can be determined within a few hundred feet from a ship several miles distant from the U-boat. Experts stated to-day that the device is perfect theoretically, and the leading electrical authorities of the j country have been devoting weeks to rendering it practical as well as accurate. The device is, a most intricate bit of mechanism, affected by a great many surrounding conditions, and efforts are now being directed toward providing safeguards against the interferences. The efficacy of the depth charge against the submarine has been proved, and several U-boats have been destroyed by them, but the objection to the depth charge is that the destroyers must first find the submarine. The combination of the new device and the depth charge, it is believed, will materially reduce the number of Germany's submarines, and in the end rout them from the seas.