Inserts show both ships.
[Illustration: Painting: Torpedo crossing behind the path of a small ship.]
Copyright International Film Service.
ESCAPING A TORPEDO BY RAPID MANEUVERING
This destroyer escaped a torpedo from a hunted submarine by quickly
turning. Generally the torpedo travels at about fifteen feet under
water.
The German High Sea Fleet, at the beginning of the war, consisted of
forty-one battleships, seven battle cruisers, nine armored cruisers,
forty-nine light cruisers, one hundred and forty-five destroyers, eighty
torpedo boats, and thirty-eight submarines. Under the direction of Von
Tirpitz the navy had become democratic and had drawn to it many able men
of the middle class. Its training was highly specialized and the
officers were enthusiasts in their profession. The navy of
Austria-Hungary had also expanded in recent years under the inspiration
of Admiral Montecuculi. At the outbreak of the war the fleet comprised
sixteen battleships, two armored and twelve light cruisers, eighteen
destroyers, eighty-five torpedo boats and eleven submarines. The Allies
were much more powerful. The French navy had in the matter of invention
given the lead to the world, but its size had not kept pace with its
quality. At the beginning of the war France had thirty-one battleships,
twenty-four armored cruisers, eight light cruisers, eighty-seven
destroyers, one hundred and fifty-three torpedo boats and seventy-six
submarines.
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