Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and italic text is surrounded by _underscores_. Footnotes are located at the end of the text.]

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF SUBMARINES

A MODERN AMERICAN SUBMARINE CRUISING IN THE AFLOAT CONDITION WITH FOREWARD DIVING RUDDERS FOLDED BACK AGAINST THE HULL]

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF SUBMARINES

BY
A. FREDERICK COLLINS
AUTHOR OF “INVENTING FOR BOYS,” “MANUAL OF WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY,”
“KEEPING UP WITH YOUR MOTOR CAR,” “HOW TO FLY,” ETC.

AND

VIRGIL D. COLLINS
AUTHOR OF “A WORKING ALGEBRA,” AND
CO-AUTHOR OF “SHOOTING FOR BOYS”

_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND
DIAGRAMS_

NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

_Copyright, 1917, by_
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
—————
_All rights reserved_

TO
LESTER BURNHAM COLLINS
UNITED STATES NAVY

A WORD TO YOU

Submarine! It’s a word that’s in everybody’s mind—on every one’s tongue.

The very sound of it conjures up thoughts of great ships that were and will be torpedoed and sent to the bottom of the old ocean to rust and to rot there.

Of all the mighty monsters that ever sailed the seven seas this piratical craft is by long odds the most daring as well as the most dangerous to both life and property.

And yet while of course you know that a submarine can travel on or under the water, dive like a porpoise and destroy an enemy ship by shooting a torpedo at her, do you know exactly how an undersea boat works and fights and just how she does all the seemingly impossible feats for which she is notorious?

At the present time the greatest war in the world’s history is being fought, and you are more than a mere looker-on for your country is in it and you may be one of the boys who will be called to the colors to defend her on, or against, these undersea craft.

If for no other reason than this you ought to follow not only the battles as they are being fought on the east and west fronts of Europe, but the warfare that is being waged by the submarines on the high seas, for on these boats hinges to a very large extent the outcome of the war.

Ever since the year of 1900 when five of the first really successful submarines were built in the United States and sent to England the value of this kind of war-craft has gone forward by leaps and bounds as the devices for operating them were more and more improved.

Further too the submarine has played a far larger part in the war that is now going on than the wildest fancies of her inventors of twenty years ago could have pictured, much less believed, and what is of even greater import she bids fair to become the champion fighter of the sea in the future.

Indeed so wonderful is the submarine and so great are her possibilities that you should by all means know exactly how she is made and works, as well as her torpedoes. The easiest and certainly the most interesting way to find out these things is to read this book and then build a model submarine and torpedo according to the simple directions we have given.

To open the covers of this book and to read it is the next thing to going through the hatch in the bridge of the conning tower and examining the mechanism at first hand. So do it now.

A. FREDERICK COLLINS,
VIRGIL D. COLLINS,
550 Riverside Drive,
New York City.

CONTENTS

PAGE
“A WORD TO YOU” vii

CHAPTER

I. THE FIRST OF THE SUBMARINES 1

How the Submarine Came to Be.—The Development
of the Submarine.—The First Submarine Boat.—A
Submarine of the Revolution.—The First Torpedo Fired
by a Submarine.—Robert Fulton’s Submarine.—The
Earliest Steam Propelled Submarine.—The Coming of
the Torpedo-Tube Submarine.—The Invention of the
Electric Submarine.—What the Gas Engine Did for the
Submarine.—The Two Types of Submarines.

II. HOW TO MAKE AND WORK A MODEL SUBMARINE 23

The Ballast Tank.—The Air Control Mechanism.—About
the Power Plant.—The Pusher Control Device.—The
Propeller-Shaft.—Installing the Motor.—Ballasting
the Boat.—Making the Superstructure.—And Now the
Conning Tower.—Setting the Propeller.—Putting on the
Rudder.—Painting Your Craft.—How to Work Your Submarine.

III. HOW A REAL SUBMARINE IS MADE AND WORKS 51

The Parts of a Submarine.—How the Hull Is Made.—What
the Superstructure Is.—The Outside of the Conning
Tower.—A Look Inside of the Hull.—A Peep into the
Conning Tower.—Now the Navigating Compartment.—Next,
the Diving Control Compartment.—The Four States of
the Submarine.—How a Submarine Dives.—The Ballast
Pumps and What They Do.—What the Buoyancy Tanks Are
For.—Compressed Air and Air-Compressor Pumps.—Inside
the Torpedo Compartment.—Why Trimming Tanks Are
Used.—In the Mine Compartment.—And Last of All, the Sea
Anchor.—Where the Crew of a Submarine Lives.

IV. THE HEART OF THE SUBMARINE 73

What a Good Power Plant Is.—The Faults of the Steam
Engine.—When the Gasoline Engine Came.—How the Gasoline
Engine Works.—The Last Word in Submarine Engines.—Why
an Electric Power Plant Is Needed.—The Dynamo-Motor and
Storage Battery System.

V. MAKING AND SHOOTING THE TORPEDO 91

The First Submarine Torpedoes.—How to Make a Model
Submarine Torpedo.—The Body of the Torpedo.—Your
Torpedo in Action.—How a Real Torpedo Is Made.—The
Detonating, or Firing Mechanism.—The Engine that Drives
the Torpedo.—How a Torpedo Is Shot at a Ship.—A Torpedo
with a Cannon in It.

VI. MAKING THE SUBMARINE DEADLIER 115

Arming the Submarine with Guns.—The Need of a
Quick-Action Gun.—The Spring Action Gun.—The Compressed
Air Action Gun.—How a Submarine Lays Mines.—Kinds of
Submarine Mines.—How the Mines Are Made.

VII. THE WONDERFUL EYE OF THE SUBMARINE 129

How the Eye of the Submarine Got Its Name.—The First
Submarine Eye, or Periscope.—How to Make a Simple
Periscope.—The Modern Lenticular Periscope.—How the
Telescope Is Made.—The Latest Type of Periscope.—The
Limited Use of the Periscope.—The New Enemy of the
Submarine.

VIII. THE MARVELOUS TONGUE AND EARS OF THE SUBMARINE 143

The Tongue and Ears of a Submarine.—Kinds of Signaling
Systems.—The Wigwag Way of Signaling.—The Flashlight
System.—The Wireless Telegraph System.—Underwater
Signaling Systems.—The Electric Current, or
Conductivity System.

IX. THE CREW OF THE SUBMARINE 159

Conditions on Early Submarine Craft.—When Crews Were
Hard to Sign.—What the Base-Ship Is For.—How Men
Are Trained for Submarine Duty.—The Complement of a
Submarine.—Breaking in Raw Recruits.—The Conditions in
War Time.

X. HOW THE SUBMARINE ATTACKS 171

The Uses of the Submarine.—The Submarine as a
Scout.—The Submarine as a Blockader.—How a Submarine
Attacks a Merchantman.—When Submarines Attack in Pairs.

XI. THE NEW SUBMARINE CHASERS 185

Schemes for Outwitting the Submarine.—Plans for
Destroying the U-Boats.—Kinds of Submarine Chasers.—How
the Chaser Chases a Submarine.—Shooting the Guns of the
Chaser.—Submarine Air Chasers.—A Way to Lift the U-Boat
Blockade.

XII. THE LAST WORD IN SUBMARINES 199

Uncle Sam’s Latest Submarines.—The Great Blockades
of the Warring Nations.—The First of the Merchant
Submarines.—Some Facts About the Deutschland.—How the
United States Can Break the Blockade.—When Submarine

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Modern American Submarine Cruising in the Afloat
Condition with Foreward Diving-Rudders Folded
Back against the Hull _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

A “Baby Holland” Submarine, One of the First of the
U. S. N. 18

Your Model Submarine in Action 46

The Conning Tower and Navigating Compartment Controls
of a Modern Submarine 58

The Engine Room of a Modern Submarine Showing the
Diesel Engines 82

A Bliss Torpedo with Rotary Compressed Air Motor 98

A 3½ inch Submarine Gun in Action Showing the Deck Well
and Manner of Operation 118

The Latest Type of Periscope. A much Magnified Image of
the Object Is Shown in the Inner Circle, while in
the Outer Circle Is Shown the Object Plus an “all
round” View of the Horizon. A Submarine Fitted with
This Periscope May well be Said to Have Eyes in the
Back of its Head 136

A Marine Wireless Installation 150

The Crew of a Submarine (Note Sailor Going Below through
Hatch in After-deck) 166

A German U-Boat “Breaking Water” Preparatory to Examining
the Cargo of an Enemy ship 178

Three Eighty-Foot Gasolene Chasers on their Way to Patrol
Duty 188

Navigating the “Deutschland” by Means of the Deck Control
(Note Open Hatch Leading to Conning Tower) 202

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF SUBMARINES