The Submarine Torpedo Boat
Its Characteristics And Modern Development

34 THE SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT resulting calculations not very accurate. Next, the speed of the target must be arrived at and the necessary observations and calculations made to determine this. With the limited means at hand for performing this feat, tire correct solution resolves more upon the experience and good judgment of the observer than upon anything else. Having found the range and the speed of the vessel to be attacked, it is now necessary to direct the submarine along a course which will intersect that of the vessel at the exact point where she will be at the end of the interval of time it will take the torpedo to make the run from the position of the submarine to this point. A very slight miscalcula- tion in either the distance, the speed, or the direction in which the ship is traveling will preclude all chances of making a hit unless the range is very short. Habitability in a submarine, while probably not of so great importance in a coast defense boat, is certainly of extreme importance in a cruiser type submarine. Upon it depends the ability of the submarine to keep to the sea for any protracted length of time. A submarine may be designed with sufficient space for fuel and stores to last for many days, but she can accommodate only a limited number of men, the physical endurance of whom is the true gauge for the radius of action of the vessel. It is true that in times of great nervous stress, such as in time of war, men seem to be able to undergo extreme hardships for almost unbelievable lengths of time, but there is, under these conditions, the ever present danger of some weaker member of the crew breaking down and in a moment of abstraction doing something inadvertently to endanger the ship and all on board. This great nerve strain upon the men in time of war, when they are called upon to