TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
The cover image was created by the transcriberand is placed in the public domain.
Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been correctedafter careful comparison with other occurrences within the text andconsultation of external sources.
More detail can be found at the end of the book.
THE SUBMARINE IN
WAR AND PEACE
THE SUBMARINE IN
WAR AND PEACE
ITS DEVELOPMENTS AND ITS POSSIBILITIES
BY
SIMON LAKE, M.I.N.A.
WITH 71 ILLUSTRATIONS
AND A CHART
PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1918
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.
DEDICATED
TO
LEBBEUS B. MILLER
OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY
An honest and patriotic man, who took up a poor youngman, and who, through his thorough grasp of things mechanical,was among the first to see practical possibilitiesin the dreams of a young inventor. With his financialmeans he was able to assist materially in the developmentand perfection of an important weapon for the defence ofhis country, thus rendering a valuable service to the nation.
Without his assistance much of the development workdescribed in this volume would have been impossible ofaccomplishment.
No greater tribute can be paid to him than to remarkof him that he is one—and there are but few of whomthis may be said—who has steadfastly refused to takeadvantage of conditions which offered him the opportunityto increase his personal fortune at the expenseof other individuals or of the welfare of his country.
FOREWORD
Some twenty years ago the author began to collect datawith the idea of publishing a book on the submarine at afuture time. There was very little information concerningsubmarines available at that date, as the early experimentsin this field of navigation were generally conducted insecrecy. There had been constructed, up to that time, nosubmarine vessel which was entirely successful, and for thisreason inventors and designers were disinclined to reveal thefeatures of the vessels upon which they were experimenting.
Since then there has been considerable dissemination offacts about the submarine; much of this knowledge hasfound its way into print, some in short historical sketchespublished by the author and other designers. However, mostof the publications on this subject have come from the handsof professional writers and newspaper men, some of whomhave not had the engineering knowledge to sift the practicalfrom the impractical, and who have not had any actual first-handacquaintance with the facts. They have not understoodthe mechanical details of the submarine and the principlesgoverning its operation well enough to comprehendor