Germany has not improved the submarine, except in detail. Undersea craft
of that country which have been recently captured show little deviation
from the original lines of the submarine as used in the German Navy four
years ago. They are larger--the new ones, that is--but the principle of
their construction is fundamental, and the development not unnatural.
Our modern submarine-chasers are merely a modified form of the
torpedo-boat destroyer. The depth-bomb was known before it was employed
as one of the most effective weapons against the submarine.
Naval authorities join in defending the big battleship which has come
into action but little in the course of the war thus far. There is to be
considered, however, the moral effect of Great Britain's big fleet,
which has maintained control of the seas for four years. Similarly our
American fleet is regarded as the first and decisive line of defense on
our shores.
Battleships, it is true, do not figure frequently in the official
communiques, but none the less they are playing their part. Battleships
are absolutely a necessary and vital element to every nation at war.
They constitute the last great line of defense, and in this war they
have succeeded in keeping the seas practically free of enemy menace save
under the water.
In this final chapter may be included various details, facts, and
figures which are necessary as giving further point to the enormous
scope of the war activities of the Navy Department.
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