It must be added that Admiral O’Neil, who has but a poor opinion of the value of submarines in war, has written as follows: “.... On September 25, 1900, during some manœuvres of the North Atlantic Fleet off Newport, Rhode Island, the _Holland_, on a very fine evening and under exceptionally favourable circumstances, steamed seven miles as a surface boat only outside Newport harbour, and like the torpedo-boat _Porter_, claims to have put the battleship _Kearsarge_ out of action, which was not allowed by the umpire, as it was decided that the _Kearsarge_ had already been put out of action by the torpedo-boat _Dahlgren_.” Since this exploit of the _Holland_, no American submarine has taken part in manœuvres with the fleet. FRENCH SUBMARINES. From 1898 onwards French under-water vessels have often engaged in mimic warfare, and many of the French papers have published glowing accounts of their wonderful performances, but one has to accept such statements with caution. In the following story of their doings care has been taken so far as possible to represent what really took place. [Illustration: THE SUBMARINE IN ACTION. ] The torpedoing of the _Magenta_ in December, 1898, by the _Gustave Zédé_ is a famous chapter in the history of French submarines, and one of which all Frenchmen are naturally proud. M. Lockroy in his book “La Défense Navale” has recorded the incident. The manœuvre commenced at 3.17 in the afternoon, and the torpedo was fired at 3.28. The _Gustave Zédé_ plunged at 3.20 for the first time; she emerged five times, and the longest appearance was 1 min. 30 secs., the shortest 30 secs. The three cruisers, _Magenta_, _Neptune_, and _Marceau_, knew the exact moment when the attack would take place, and also the exact position of the _Gustave Zédé_, yet though they trained their quick-firing guns upon the submarine, the judges decided that she would not have been hit. M. Lockroy says that if the boat had carried her optical arrangements she would not have needed to come to the surface. “The eyes of all on board were fixed on the sea; officers and men stood watching the crest of the waves, and every minute there were exclamations, or some one fancied he had seen the submarine. We imagined we saw it everywhere, and it was nowhere. “In point of fact it was proceeding quietly and invisibly towards its mark. “Suddenly a precise and exact observation was made. The cupola of the _Gustave Zédé_ had just appeared 400 yards away, still abreast of us, notwithstanding the distance which we had covered.