LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
SUBMARINE BOATS.
go THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SI11,—Is there not a danger that while all eyes are fixed upon our Army, to note its shortcomings and their remedies, we may forget our Navy ? Whatever may be said against sub- marine torpedo vessels, as being only fitted for defensive not offensive warfare, yet there are many cases to which the sup- posed antithesis between those two modes of carrying on war would not apply. Suppose, for instance, a modern Trafalgar, in which, after a long struggle between ships moving rapidly at a distance, some ships had struck, or become temporarily dis- abled, would it be safe for the victors to go in to take possession of their beaten foe, or complete their victory in close combat, while a number of submarines were hovering about the scene of actiou ? It is even conceivable that a victorious fleet, while engaged in towing off its prizes, might be sent suddenly to the bottom, and the vanquished become the victors. Or imagine a ship so far disabled as to lose its power of quick motion, what would be its chance against these invisible monsters gathering round it ? If it were only a question of ordinary torpedo vessels, then the destroyer on one side would meet the destroyer on the other : but against these invisible foes the disabled ship would be powerless. It would not have the speed to escape. Its friends, not being submarine, would not be able to assist it. Moreover, it should be considerd how fallacious is .the dis- tinction between offensive and defensive warfare, if thereby it is implied that these submarines would be only of use to defend their own harbours. Such vessels, if of small size, or large launches, could be carried by swift cruisers to any part of the world, and there launched to carry on their work of destruction in the enemy's harbour, while the parent cruiser steamed away, to meet them again later on at an appointed rendezvous. Only conceive the panic and destruction that such a vessel would create at the present moment in Durban Harbour or at Cape Town 1 If only a cruiser could be found
swift or skilful enough to elude our own cruisers, the smash. up of our transports and other vessels would be of a kind terrible to contemplate. Or yet farther extend our
How would our Australian, Canadian, New Zealand friends approve of such visitors in their peaceful waters ? How long would the new bonds of Imperial connection, so happily woven between us, stand the strain of these invisible assailants ? Or, nearer home, in our own harbours, what means have we to secure ourselves against such dangers? Mines would be useless, for we should not know when to fire them. Booms laid across the harbour-month would be ineffectual, for the submarines would dive under them. If men, like Hobson of the `Merrimac,' could be found to risk their lives in such an enterprise, it would be diffi- cult to exaggerate the mischief which a daring foe might thus inflict upon us in all our great harbours at home and abroad. And let us bear in mind that all great conquests and transfers of power have been the result of new inventions, or tactics, which enabled the dis- coverers to defeat their opponents by surprise. This is a commonplace in the history of war. The effect of the Prussian needle-gun in the Danish and Austrian wars is a telling example. And so now, if It be true that our French neighbours have just ordered a hundred addi- tional submarines, we, I submit, should at once 'bestir ourselves. Whether one submarine could fight another, I am not able to say : but, in any case, it could retaliate. If an enemy could visit our harbours, and destroy our merchant and other shipping, we could 'visit and do the like damage in theirs. Or if a great naval battle should take place between us and some rival on the seas, then the destruction of disabled ships would not be all on one side. We should have at least an equal chance, in this bloody game, with our enemy. And, be it remembered, this is no mere academic question to be argued in debating societies. It is one of vital and immediate importance. If, in the near future, the Channel should suddenly be swarming with sub- marine torpedo vessels, possibly unfriendly to us, it will be, especially while the bulk of our army is in South Africa, a very uncomfortable time for England. Many other Powers are building submarines. We are haughtily relying on our old maritime supremacy. There may be an answer to all this, bht there is much in it to make the amateur mind uneasy.
[We hope and believe that our correspondent regards the present submarines as capable of doing more injury than they could really accomplish, but that does not affect his main point, that it is an act of criminal madness to neglect the new, and possibly revolutionary, invention because we choose to label it " defensive." As we urged last week, and shall continue to urge as long as the necessity exists, we ought at once to experiment in submarine boats, and continue the experiments till we have got the best possible form.—En. Spectator.]
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