“DAVID AND GOLIATH.”

The Russian Battleship “Retvisan” (12,700 tons) and the U.S. Submarine “Holland” (75 tons).

SUBMARINE WARFARE
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

BY

HERBERT C. FYFE

(Sometime Librarian of the Royal Institution, London)

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ADMIRAL THE HON. SIR EDMUND ROBERT FREMANTLE, G.C.B., C.M.G.; AND A CHAPTER ON “THE PROBABLE FUTURE OF SUBMARINE BOAT CONSTRUCTION” BY SIR EDWARD J. REED, M.P. ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜

WITH FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

GRANT RICHARDS

48, LEICESTER SQUARE

1902

There exists no popular work in the Englishlanguage on submarine warfare, and only one whichdeals exclusively with submarine boats. This waswritten fifteen years ago by Lieutenant G. W. Hovgaardof the Danish Navy. It is a little book ofninety-eight pages, and out of these forty only aregiven to the “History and Development of SubmarineBoats.” The rest of the volume is takenup with a description of a vessel imagined by theauthor but never constructed. Lieutenant Sleeman’s“Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare” takes no accountof under-water craft, whilst Lieutenant G. E. Armstrong,in his little book, “Torpedoes and Torpedo-vessels”devotes only eighteen pages out of 306 to“Submarines and Submersibles.”

Having always taken a keen interest in submarineboats, the writer some two years ago commenced thecompilation of the present work. His aim has beento produce a book which should be essentially of apopular character and should appeal to those whoviiihave neither the time nor the inclination to pursuethe subject very deeply. It necessarily contains acertain amount of detailed description, but the aimhas been to avoid technicalities as far as possible.That the book may appeal to the general public,and that it may also be found worthy of a placeon the shelves of the student of naval history andnaval warfare is the author’s wish, and he truststhat a volume will not be unacceptable that tracesthe story of under-water warfare from the earliesttimes to the present day, that endeavours to explainhow a submarine boat is worked, and that attemptsto arrive at some conclusions respecting a mode offighting which may possibly figure largely in futurebattles on the seas.

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