LIFE IN SUBMARINES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9144, 21 July 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." Tha Amer can Navy, it s ems, has a better record than the British in tho matter of accidents, and the Americans are justly proud of the way in which their men bundle these dangerous machines. But the service apparently does not consider submarines as dangerous as people think. "In the history of our navy," says a naval officer, "we have yet to lose a boa':, and as long as we keep to simple plans, a one-design boat, and maintain our efficiency and discipline drills, every submerged eruw is as safe as though it were on the surface. The losses of the French navy have been duo 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 a:i enemy's torpedo would render a submarine helpless while submerged. This, however, ignores accidents to machinery, such as the one which disabled t\v: British submarine A 9, referred to in our cables last week. The elimination of the unfit is searching. The submersion of tha 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 inome it a man loses his head in a submarine iu- becomes dangerous.