An item reported that American naval and army experts reported about the successful experiments with the device of John Hays Hammond.(1) With this device could radio controlled with explosions loaded surface vessels u used for attacking vessels of the enemy. It was believed that similar results could be achieved with submerged vessels. In the new budget for fortifications was 417.000 US dollars reserved for building a test submarine.(2)
Notes
1. John Hays Hammond (13 April 1888 San Francisco, USA-12 February 1965 New York, YSA, inventor who was nicknamed The Father of Radio Control and specialized in the topics of radio control and naval weaponry.
2. This use of submerged vessels is conflicting with the intended proposal at the peace negotiations done by the USA to ban submarines as weapons. Another Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië of the 19th reported that the dimensions of the submarine were to be 80 feet length and 7 feet diameter to be built in two years. During the experiments was the vessel controlled from a coastal station over a distance of 7 miles.
