It has been decided that al) the submarines to be laid down this year are to be provided with a double means of propulsion: a steam or gas engine and an electric motor supplied from accumulators. It would thus appear that the "Gustave Zédé" type, or submarine pure and simple, is now considered less satisfactory than the " Narval" type, which is designed for navigation on the surface as well as beneath it. The " Gustave Zédé" is entire Jy dependent on her accumulators, and, in time of war, if she were cut off from her base she would become absolutely helpless. Moreover, her limited radius of action eompels her to keep close to a port. The "Narval," on the other hand. has a motor to propel her not only on the surface but to recharge her accumulators for submarine navigation. The " Narval " can thus strike at a much longer range than the " Gustave Zédé" and greatly increase the tension on the personnel of an enemy's fleet. It follows that, in theory at any rate, the "Narval" is by far the more formidable vessel. In practice, however, she has developed rather serious drawbacks. During her forty-eight hours' trial at the end of Fast month, she proved herself a bad sea boat. It was very difficult to keep her on her edurse, and she pitched and rocked to such an extent that officers and crew alike were thoroughly worn out. Under water, she behaved very well. She remained below for twelve hours at a stretch without any of the crew being the worse for it. On the other hand, she takes a long time to fill her tanks and sink. In the new boats this defect, it is hoped, will be largely overcome by reducing their size to 75 or 80 tons' surface displacement (the "Nar-val's" is 106). Presumably this reduction in size would not have been decided upon if it were likely to appreciably diminish the vessels' fud-carrying capacity and, consequently, their range of action, but it remains to be seen whether they will prove better sea boats than the "Narval" or develop greater speed than her 6} knots on long journeys. At any rate, the repeated experiments show that the French are not afraid to spend money on their search for the model submarine. Their perseverance certainly merits success and forms a strong contrast to the apathy and lordly indifference of the British Admiralty.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.