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Trials of Submarine F- The First Vessel of Its Type to be Built in Puget Sound--lIts Performances Satisfactory Unusual interest has attached. to the present official government trials of submarine F3, because this diving craft is the first of this. type ever built on Puget Sound. F3 was built at Seattle by the Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co., under the plans and the contract held by the Electric Boat. Co... ot. Groton, Gonn: . Follow- ing successful preliminary tests, the submarine has performed satisfactori- ly to designers and builders thus far and it is belieyed that the govern- and Elliott Bay, for the submarine is a strange craft in these waters. Work on F3 and F4, the contract for which was awarded at the same time, has been held back by the re- jection by the government of defect- ive engine material* including a de- fective crank, shaft™ 'This. 1 16 state ed, was the fault of neither designer nor builder, both of wiiom have been extremely conscientiotis' in trying to meet with every eae of the government. SuBMARINE F-3 UnbercoING Her TRIALS IN ment board will have no_ hesitancy in recommending the acceptance of the vessel by the navy department. Already F3 has been subjected to several of the tests required by the government and_ shortly it is ex- pected to complete the final trial. This is being done under the direction and observation of a government trial board, of which Capt. C. F.. Pond, United States navy, is. the president. Not a few vessels, filled with inter- ested spectators, have followed F3 in her wanderings about Puget Sound Pucer SOUND Photo by Webster & Stevens, Seattle The official trials of F3 were begun June 17. The vessel was first sent to Port Townsend, 39 miles down Puget Sound, where the Electric Boat Co. has had a nautical mile laid out. This mile was checked for the gov- ernment by the coast and geodetic survey service and pronounced cor- rect. This course was used. for trials. 'under a light condition, awash condi- tion and finally a submerged condi- tion. Part of the course was used for determining the vessel's turning radius, these trials being made after standardization. Following this the submarine returned to Seattle for further trials in "Elliott Bay, using the plant of the Seattle Construction & Drydock Co:¢as a base. These trials included four hours full speed fuel consumption test, three hours battery discharge, one hour sub- merged at high speed and finally bal- ancing under the surface at various depths. Then: followed a 24-hour en- durance trial .if the Straits of San Juan 'de Fuca: es torpedoes were. aa by F3's_ tubes. Instead of -usin "the regular' tor- pedoes ins vogue bie navy, the loss of which fixes a heavy penalty upon the builders, the Electric Boat Co: Netcast ean obtained permission to use "dummy ~ torpedoes. Consequently several cast iron dummies have been made and it is stated that these are sufficient to demonstrate whether or not the tubes operate satisfactorily. Tests yet -to be made include those of submerging to a depth of 200 i.. Ending {ie center of gravity by inclining the vessel under water and trials at a depth. of 15. tt. > When, the, "crait: ts, submerged to a depth of 200 ft. with a crew. inside, an extremely heavy weight is dropped to the bottom by means of which the submarine pulls herself to. the bottom with a motor windlass. During this test those in- side are in telephone communication with the surface and, should anything go wrong and necessity require, the. cable can be instantly severed with , a cable cutter. At 200 it. the press: sure is 92..lb) to the Square im¢n,% which speaks for itself as to the strength of construction in these ves: « sels, a ae From unofficial information it. is learned that on the first trial over the course the required speed was attained. This is regarded as a most satisfactory achievement as the heavy oil . burning engines come to this coast assembled. To place them in. the boat they must be taken apart and rigged up perfectly. F3's pre- liminary trials covered a period of but ten days for the purpose of tun- ing up and adjusting the machinery. According to the same source, F3 developed a surface speed of over 14 knots, while, submerged, she did