Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/856

 The Unsinkable Submarine

��When struck, it simply discards the injured section and proceeds on its way

��THE submarine may strike you as' a very deadly thing. But the most formidable U-boat in the German Navy is as nothing compared with the sub- marine as Alphonse Fernandez of Spain would have it. Mr. Fernandez has patent- ed some im- provements on the submarine which render these terrors of the sea far more deadly than they are at present.

His inven- tion provides the submarine with a detach- able upper sec- tion. This sec- tion contains all the arma- ment except the torpedo tubes. When a submarine is attacked and injured it capsizes because of the weight of the water which enters the injured part. If the Fernandez submarine is attacked by gun fire, is hit by a bomb dropped by an aviator or strikes, a mine, the injured section may be cast off. The crew enters the remaining section and the enemy is deprived of victory.

The two sections are fastened together by screws which have bevel gears on their lower ends. In the main body there will be a longitudinal shaft having bevel gears which mesh with the gears on the ends of the screws and will release all of the screws

/Detachable upper section

���If the upper part of the submarine is struck, it may be detached and discarded without affecting the boat's safety

��when the shaft is turned. This construc- tion makes it only the work of a moment to separate the main body of the vessel from the upper section.

Another invention of Mr. Fernandez pro- vides a deep-sea boat which carries a small vessel just as a kangaroo car- ries its young in its pouch.

Suppose, for example, that the large sub- marine reaches the mouth of a river up which it cannot pass because the water is too shallow. The enemy has a number of ships resting at an- chor on that riv- er. The mother ship submerges and opens the doors of the compartment in which the small vessel is carried. This is done very easily as the miniature submarine has a hatchway by means of which it may be entered from the compartment. The tor- pedoes which it requires on its journey of destruction are loaded on it from the mother ship. When the crew which is to man it enter and all is in readiness the small vessel is set free by opening the doors of the compartment and releasing the minia- ture ship from its coupling.

Its mission accomplished, the baby re- turns to the mother submarine.

Detachable upper, section

Releasi nq screw 1 prevent M ipping
 * I Shoulder to

���The two sections of the submarine will be fastened together by screws which have bevel gears on their lower ends meshing with a longitudinal shaft in the body of the vessel which releases them

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