File:The romance of the ship; the story of her origin and evolution (1911) (14592440909).jpg

Identifier: romanceofshipsto00chat (find matches)
Title: The romance of the ship; the story of her origin and evolution
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble), 1878-1944
Subjects: Ships Shipbuilding
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott company London, Seeley and co., limited
Contributing Library: Boston College Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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yed. When yousee the submarine under way you regard a curious sortof creature resembling something between a whale and atorpedo, across which the waves break as if lover a ridgeof shore projecting out into the sea. Tied up in harbourshe looks just as little habitable, being practically nothingmore than a cigar-shaped tank, with a curious bridgeerection standing up amidships. Taking her as a wholethe submarine is not a thing of beauty, but of discomfortand danger. To the enemy suspecting the presence ofmines and a few submarines lurking below the surface,suspense and anxiety would come with cumulative effect.On the other hand, whilst the enemy could scarcely dareto move until he was assured of the absence of theseobjects, yet the anxiety on board the submarines wouldbe but little less. Confined to quarters of the mostlimited and least comfortable order, with no power ofdefence, and the possibility of being instantly destroyedon returning to the surface, with the further possibility 238
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THE SHIP IN ACTION of something going wrong in her complicated gear, thecrew who volunteer for such work go literally with theirlives in their hands. We could say more of this excep-tional type of ship—possibly the most extraordinary ofany that we have yet discussed—but we must pass on.To-day, with the coming of the D ** class as introducedin the British navy, we are approaching the time whena sufficient margin is left for safety, so far as is practi-cable. This is a long stride from the early attemptswhich were made in regard to this type of craft. Thusas far back as 1878 an interesting submarine boat wasexperimented with in the Liverpool Docks, but thiswas driven by manual power. Had the motor been thenalready invented, it is possible that the submarine mighthave come earlier into our navies. Following on thisa year later, another vessel was built of steel, and couldbe completely closed, being driven by a single propeller,with a pair of rudders amidships for deflecting, but theu

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