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The Chairman: I take pleasure in introducing to you Lieutenant Caldwell who was on the 'Holland' in her trip down the river. Mr. Cummings: I would like to have you, Lieutenant, give a detailed statement of your trial trip down off Mount Vernon. Lieutenant Caldwell: I have made two trips in her. I made one a week ago Saturday - made a second trip - and can tell you more about that one than about the first one. The boat sank perfectly and drove perfectly. Mr. Cummings: Let us know how you came to go there first - by whose orders? Lieutenant Caldwell: I went there entirely on my own account, not officially in any way. I went simply because I was interested in the boat and wanted to see how she worked. Mr. Cummings: You mean you were interested in your professional work? Lieutenant Caldwell: That is all. Being on duty with Admiral Dewey, I got his permission; that was all. Mr. Cummings: Now you can go on and state your experience. Lieutenant Caldwell: This first time we were towed by a tug and began preparations and made a preliminary balancing test before the Committee came down on the yacht. Mr. Cummings: What do you mean by balancing test? Lieutenant Caldwell: That is trimming the boat by pumping water in the forward and aft tanks so that the boat would remain approximately on an even keel. This is done by letting water into the fore and aft tanks gradually and it is simply a case of balancing. I did not know what was going on at the time of the first one, but understood it at the second one, and think I could do that part of it. Then we came up to the surface and waited until your Committee came down on a yacht, and then we carried out the programme as you saw. Everything inside is worked by the six men and the captain and worked very smoothly. There was no hitch in any way. The captain steered the boat; that is, in the horizontal plane, and a second man controlled the diving rudder on because it is a very delicate adjustment, a very delicate piece of machinery. There is no difficulty about it at all, but it needs training, and I would say that all of the stations in the boat require skilled men with considerable training. The air supply was always good. There was no difficulty about that. The torpedo was discharged at the exact moment the captain gave the order. As far as I can understand it ran well, but it was not discharged at a target, so that it is hard to say whether it would have struck a ship or not. I cannot say that. There was no difficulty whatever about firing it. Mr. Cummings: In case you fired a torpedo at a ship would the boat come to the top of the water and take an observation? Lieutenant Caldwell: Oh, yes; it would be adsolutely necessary to have her turret out of the water at the time of firing, because you cannot get your direction otherwise. Mr. Meyer: She would have to rise, as she did the time she fired that torpedo, and remain for 12 seconds? Mr. Cummings: Could there be a way of firing the torpedo under water? Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir. There would be no trouble about that, but you must have a sight at the time of firing and to do that must expose your turret. Mr. Meyer: Is that the only portion of the vessel that was exposed? Lieutenant Caldwell: That is all that was exposed; just that little round part on top. The Chairman: Is that perfectly water-tight down there?
Lieutenant Caldwell: Oh, perfectly. Perfectly water-tight. There is no difficulty about that.
The Chairman: Clean and agreeable? Lieutenant Caldwell: Clean and very roomy, considering the amount of machinery there is in it. Mr. Cummings: Air perfect? Lieutenant Caldwell: The air was perfect. Mr. Vandiver: What is the method of getting rid of the air after breathing? Lieutenant Caldwell: It is blown out by a fan. Mr. Vandiver: That, of course, would be when it comes to the surface, I suppose. Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes; but they can blow it out under water. To do that they would, of course, admit air from the tanks. They have air compressed up to 2,000 pounds pressure in the tanks, and allow that to come out at about the normal pressure of the air in such quantities as they see fit. To me it does not seem likely that it would be necessary to use that because you would not run along enough under water to use up the air that is in the boat before coming to the surface, and when you do that you get a fresh supply of air. Mr. Cummings: How long do you think she would run under water without coming to the surface? Lieutenant Caldwell: You mean without using the compressed air? I think she would< run as long as her electricity would last - as long as her motive power would last. I do not see any necessity for that however. Mr. Cummings: Suppose a battleship five miles off and the submarine boat lay in the river. Would you come to the surface going towards the battleship? Lieutenant Caldwell: You would have to come to the surface very frequently to see where you are steering - if in the river especially; if on a straight course not so often, but if crooked you would have to come to the surface pretty often to steer. Mr. Hawley: My understanding is that they steer by compass, and once steered straight they managed their direction without difficulty. Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir, that is correct. Mr. Hawley: Then, why do you find it important to come to the surface? Lieutenant Caldwell: The curve of the river. Mr. Hawley: Suppose you were in the open bay, as Mr. Cummings says, five miles distant from a battleship and the coast perfectly clear, traversing the entire distance between your initial or starting point and the vessel, would you then be obliged to come to the surface? Lieutenant Caldwell: In theory you would not, but in practice I think you would on account of tide and currents. Mr. Hawley: Well, how far would you travel under water without coming to the surface? Lieutenant Caldwell: If you had a perfectly plain course and your target stationary, I would not consider it necessary to come to the surface until about a mile from the target. Mr. Hawley: You would run four miles under water? Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir. Come up then to see if I were going straight to run the thing down. The steering is by compass. The compass is well compensated for deviation and it works very well. The Chairman: Is it efficient? Can you turn it quickly and rapidly? Lieutenant Caldwell: It turns beautifully; yes, sir. That was done on this trial of the fourteenth of March. She was turned under water after firing the torpedo, and came back in the opposite direction. Mr. Cummings: In the report of admiral Rogers - 'but the steering and diving gear did not work satisfactorily owing, it is believed, to the inexperience of the crew.' What was your experience in regard to the steering and diving gear? Lieutenant Caldwell: I can readily see how with an inexperienced crew she would steer very erratically. You will have to have well trained men, but there is no difficulty ; there are plenty of men available to be trained. I do not think that presents any difficulty. Mr. Cummings: They say 'the apparatus for ensuring a steady course during the run below water was not used.' That is in the report of the Rogers' Board. Was it used while you were on board her? Lieutenant Caldwell: I do not know what that apparatus is. The steering engine was used. Mr. Cummings: The Board also says: 'Steadiness of movement in horizontal and vertical planes unsatisfactory.' Did you find it so? Lieutenant Caldwell: Not at all. It was perfectly satisfactory. Very well done. It was simply skillful steering. The same way if we had a man at the helm who is not a good quartermaster or seaman the ship is not well steered; she does not steer a good course. The same way in this, you will have to have a well trained man. Mr. Cummings: Those were the only faults, if they were faults, that were found by the Board. Mr. Frost: They say in the latter report that there was much improvement in it generally, so they were corrected. Mr. Cummings: If the Lieutenant would tell me exactly what he did when he went on< that boat up to the time he went in this trial trip. Lieutenant Caldwell: I did nothing at all except to sit quietly on a stool and watch the manipulation of the boat. You can see it all, it is all open. You can see what every man is doing except the engineer who is a little hidden from this big room. It is a very good post of observation. We went in, and as I say, each man was at his station. Mr. Cummings: It is all one room below? Lieutenant Caldwell: It is all one room. Yes, sir. Each man has his station sitting on a stool. I took a position where I could watch the pressure gauge and watch the immersion. I could not have told sometimes if we were on the water or below if I had not watched that gauge, and I watched this man steering the second man I spoke of. He had nothing to do not work this little wheel which regulates the immersion and you saw how well it was done because the flags were kept on a level with the water and I could see from the gauge that we kept very well on level with a variation of perhaps three - no - not so much as that. The captain stood on these steps under the tower with his head in the tower and steered the boat and also gave the orders about filling the tanks, and generally about running the boat. The other men were stationed at apparatus or at the tanks, and the engineer had the engine running electrically. Mr. Cummings: She had electric lights? Lieutenant Caldwell: Electric lights all through, well lighted. As I say the air was always good. I didn't have any difficulty about breathing. When it became time to fire the torpedo that was fired by the man stationed at the forward trimming tank without any difficulty. Mr. Cummings: Was it fired from a gun? Lieutenant Caldwell: It was fired from a torpedo discharging tube, the same as is used on torpedo boats. It may be called a gun but it is fired by compressed air. Mr. Cummings: Was it placed in the gun while you were there? Lieutenant Caldwell: It was already in the gun. It was the only torpedo that was on board but it was very easy to see how they could be placed in the gun. There is no mechanical difficulty in that. They can carry on the present 'Holland,' they say three. The captain tells me that. I don't see any reason why they could not have four back there in that place. Mr. Cummings: What torpedo was it? Lieutenant Caldwell: The White-head. Mr. Cummings: What will it weigh? Lieutenant Caldwell: It weighs about eight hundred and forty pounds. Mr. Cummings: After the discharge did it affect the boat any? Lieutenant Caldwell: Not in the least. There was a very slight shock. They had a very ingenious scheme of automatically filling a tank forward with enough water, just the weight of the torpedo, so that when the torpedo is charged that will allow this water to take the place of the torpedo in the tube, and it does not affect the stability at all. That works very well. Mr. Loudenslager: Lieutenant, it seems to me most of the testimony we have here, has been demonstrating the efficiency of this boat as a submarine boat. Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir. Mr. Loudenslager: I want, if possible, to try to get at the efficiency of this boat as a fleet destroyer. Have you ever witnessed an experiment where the torpedo was discharged at a target? Lieutenant Caldwell: No, sir. Mr. Loudenslager: Have you ever read where they have had such experiments? Lieutenant Caldwell: I have not read of any actual experiments. I have some knowledge of ships being destroyed in battle by torpedoes. Mr. Loudenslager: By this boat? Lieutenant Caldwell: No; by torpedoes discharged from above water. Mr. Loudenslager: I am speaking about the efficiency of the 'Holland' to discharge one at a target and make it effective. Lieutenant Caldwell: I do not know of any experiments that have ever been made because torpedoes so expensive. A Member: And ships are expensive. Lieutenant Caldwell: A torpedo costs about twenty-five hundred dollars. Something about that. I have seen them just running with dummy heads. Mr. Loudenslager: In order to show her efficiency, is her machinery such as to make you believe that it would be possible to discharge that torpedo at a given target and destroy it? Lieutenant Caldwell: She has discharged a torpedo at a target. It is a well-known fact that a torpedo if it strikes will blow up any ship there is. I think the experiment is just as good to discharge a dummy torpedo and let it run at some mark. Mr. Loudenslager: Was this successful? Lieutenant Caldwell: They did not discharge it at a mark on this occasion, but on the test by the Board of Inspection, the official test of it, they were very successful. Mr. Loudenslager: They discharged a torpedo at a mark? Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir. Mr. Loudenslager: They struck the mark? Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir; they struck between the flags. Mr. Loudenslager: And that course was marked by several buoys, three hundred feet apart and which - Lieutenant Caldwell: That is approximately the length of a ship. Mr. Loudenslager: I want to get at your judgment as to what would be the chances of destruction of either one or the other of the boats. This submarine boat has to come to the surface to discharge a torpedo. What chances are there of a battleship or cruiser destroying it as it comes to the surface? Lieutenant Caldwell: Not one in a million, sir. Mr. Loudenslager: Doesn't it for a long period carry a mark on the water to show where it is? Lieutenant Caldwell: No, sir. Mr. Loudenslager: Doesn't it have a mast? Lieutenant Caldwell: No, sir, they had the masts simply to show the people in these tests. Mr. Loudenslager: Nothing would be shown. Lieutenant Caldwell: No, sir. When she did show her turret, that would be all that would be shown. Mr. Loudenslager: That would be for the person who discharged the torpedo to come up and get his range? Lieutenant Caldwell: Range does not enter into it. It is a question of direction. Mr. Loudenslager: He would have to find his direction? Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir. That is the way the boat would look in the time of action. It would not have any masts at all and would not have that funnel (indicating the funnel on the model before the Committee). Lieutenant Caldwell: The displacement of the 'Holland" is seventy-four tons. I understood the displacement of this boat is to be somewhat larger. Mr. Hawley: I would like you to make a statement in regard to one of these boats being carried by a larger one. Lieutenant Caldwell: I saw in actual practice in a Russian armored cruiser in the East - I have forgotten her name - but she had a compartment in her quarter in which she hauled out a torpedo boat and then launched it out, cut out about the water's edge, just about like launching off the stocks. If you want to transport these vessels on a man-of-war, of course they would take up considerable room, but you can build a special transport ship and carry them. Mr. Hawley: At what distance can you make these torpedoes effective? Lieutenant Caldwell: There is a good deal of question about that. It is somewhere between 400 and 800 yards. They say there is no difficulty about its running 800 yards, but the chances of hitting are so much less I would rather be about 4 or 500 yards before discharging. Mr. Hawley: Would it be effective at 4 or 500 yards? Lieutenant Caldwell: Yes, sir; It would be effective. The nearer you get, the more chances of hitting the target. Mr. Hawley: In your experience have you examined the coast defense of our country - I mean not critically, but generally, - and do you consider the construction of these boats as rendering it unnecessary to build on the large scale as now in progress and projected our coast defenses on land? Lieutenant Caldwell: I think what this boat takes the place of more than anything else is submarine mines and torpedoes. I am not prepared to say about whether or not it will take the place of the land fortifications. Mr. Hawley: Even to the extent of modifying them in some degree? Lieutenant Caldwell: I do not know about that, but what it will take the place of is submarine mines and torpedoes. Mr. Kitchen: Lieutenant, I just wish to call your attention to a statement that Captain John Lowe made in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, November 7, 1899, in which he said, 'We need right off and right now fifty submarine torpedo vessels in Long Island Sound to preserve the peace and give potency to our diplomacy.' Do you think it would take fifty in Long Island Sound, and, if so, how many do you think it would take for our complete coast defense? Lieutenant Caldwell: No, sir, I do not. I cannot conceive that he meant fifty for Long Island Sound alone. |