SUBMARINES WITH GUNS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3434, 27 January 1912, Page 3

SUBMARINES WITH GUNS.

FIRST IN THE WORLD. “D 4,” the first submarine to .he equipped with a quick-firing gun, which has been built by Meets Vickers, Ltd., of Barrow, lias arrived at Portsmouth from Barrow under convoy of the torpedo. gunboat Hazard, and will be attached to the Portsmouth depot, which lias become the experimental department of the submarine service. Trials with the vessel have already been carried out.in the Irish Sea. and they iiavo proved so satisfactory' that the Admiralty have come to the conclusion that the idea of guns for submarines will allow of great development. The “D 4” is. the largest and* most powerful submarine, not only in the British Navy, but in the world, and when completed for service win carry, in addition to her 12-pounder quickfiring gun, a searchlight and an installation of wireless telegraphy, , v *.jch will’ enable her to communicate over a distance of nearly a thousand miles. - Of course, the chief feature is the 12-pr. armament. The gun is situated just forward of the conning tower, and is mounted on a disappearing platform which is raised or lowered by a simple hydraulic machine. One movement of a lever will bring the gun into action,. a°nd a reverse movement will take it back to its < riginal place and automatically close a natchway above it. so that the submarine can vanish almost instantly oeneath the water after delivering its attack. The submarine’s deadliest __opponent is the torpedo boat, but a shell from a 12-pr. will penetrate a torpedo boat’s plating at a range of three miles. The general impression has been that a submarine would be a very unsteady gun platform, but the “D 4’s” trials, have shown that it is far steadier than a torpedo boat or even a destroyer, particularly in a. seaway.