Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/593

 Popular Science Monthly

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��of battleships is maneuvered in cruising and battle formations. The visitors were shown how a night blocicade is formed. One vessel lighted up a harbor entrance with its searchlight, while the others cruised around on circular block- ade with all lights out or very closely screened.

Only recently, as if to demonstrate the versatility of these little ships, one of the eight was placed on a motor-truck and with six nuxv men from the recruiting office standing at different positions on the deck, the motor-truck made its way through New York city, stopping at corners to give a man an opportunity to address the large crowds which never ceased to gather.

The truck with its cargo and its

��Detecting Enemy Submarines from a Ship's Look-Out

THE present war has demonstrated that effective measures can be taken against a submarine attack by maintaining an efficient look-out. The great difficulty has been that with the best of binoculars and telescopes the movement of the ship constantly dis- turbs the observation.

To overcome this difficulty, John Gardner, the inventor of the Gardner submarine signaling system, has devised a method b\' means of which the observer seated with his telescope supported on a stand can be certain that his finding instruments will always be parallel to the surface of the sea, regardless of the rolling and tossing of the ship.

���Men concealed within the ship's intenor optrate iiand levers which move it about on the floor in any formation desired. Each ship is equipped with a complete signaling system and with running lights, searchlight and truckUghts for night practice

��crew carried on its unique method of recruiting for two weeks. During that time the number of recruits increased noticeably.

The ship mounted on the motor-truck shown in the illustration is a model of the Connecticut. It is twenty-six feet long and five feet wide. The turrets are eight feet above the deck, and were so high that the truck could not get under the elevated road structure without first cropping off nearly a foot of its height.

��He achieves this end b\- mounting a pedestal securely to the deck, and on this a seat with a table to support the telescope on a standard. By the opera- tion of a gyroscope the seat and table are maintained in a position parallel to the sea surface. Furthermore, the platform with seat and table is rotated from left to right by the gyroscope, so that the observer need only concern himself with keeping a sharp look-out over his field.

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