Can
Battery
Explosions
��HARD upon the dis- aster which befell the F-4 off Honolulu — a disaster which resulted from a storage-battery lining and rivets being corroded by sulphuric acid fumes — comes an accident sustained by the E-2 which seems to be due to the explosion of gases generated by the storage battery. When lead-plate storage-batter- ies are employed, gases or fumes are likely to escape from the battery compartment and to suf- focate the crew ; the fumes (a fine spray containing dilute sulphuric acid in suspension) are very penetrating and eat into the machinery of the boat and parts of the hull, causing corrosion and de- struction of the metal. At least one French submarine was lost as a result of this corrosion. In the Edison type of battery, which does not employ lead, hy- drogen gas is generated, which when mixed with the proper volume of air. is highly explosive. Whether the old lead battery or the modern Edison battery is installed, a ventilating system must be provided in order to remove the gases. From the very first, then, we find that submarine designers have bent their minds to the installation of blowers and ducts wdiich will suck out the dangerous gases and conduct them to the outside of the vessel. The illustrations on the opposite page show very clearly the fun- damental principles on which these ven- tilating systems are based.
But, after all, this is a makeshift. The storage battery is inherently dangerous. Recognizing this, the Navy Department has for over a year been at work trying to do away with storage batteries alto-
���On Sub- marines Be Prevented?
��gether. It seems likely that before long the United States Navy will develop a submarine in which the same propel- ling engine will serve both at the surface and under the surface. At present Diesel engines drive the vessel when she is above water, and elec- tric motors deriv- ing their current from storage bat- teries, are e m - ployed for under- water propulsion. While nothing definite is as yet known about the Na\y's experiments, it is certain that compressed air will be used, wdiich will be stored in tanks occupying the space now taken up by the batteries. The air will not only serve to feed the engines but also to provide a purer atmosphere for the crew. It seems certain that with the compressed air system the radius of the submarine will be increased. W'hy? Because the electric motors for under- water propulsion will be dispensed with and their place taken by compressed air tanks. In other words, the space for- merly occupied by storage batteries and by electric propelling machinery is to be taken up by compressed air tanks, repre- senting so much stored power.
As soon as the submarine reaches the surface it will suck air in automatically through its pumps. In other words it will breathe when it reaches the surface just as if it were a mechanical whale.
The United States Navy has been freer from terrible submarine accidents than that of any first-class power. But even the two accidents which American sub- marines have had are two too many.
��The United States Submarine E-2, the latest victim of a naval accident which has been attributed to the explosion of battery gases
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