“Immediately orders were issued. The guns were brought to bear upon her, and the quick-firers depressed in her direction. The submarine was no longer there. She was hidden from our fire and from our view. A minute elapsed. Though orders were given to the engineers to put on steam, and the _Magenta_ had gone some considerable distance in the sixty seconds, the Admiral and I, leaning over the railing of the bridge, saw approaching us with lightning speed an elongated body shining like gold. “It was the torpedo of the _Gustave Zédé_! It struck the ship about four yards below the water-line, and was smashed on the iron armour, but if it had been charged the _Magenta_ would have been sunk.” The _Majenta_ was twice successfully torpedoed, once while at anchor and once whilst steaming at ten knots, and the _Gustave Zédé_ showed that it was quite possible for a submarine to discharge torpedoes below the water without having its equilibrium disturbed. To accomplish the second of these feats the vessel came five times to the surface to take bearings, but on no occasion was her conning tower in view for more than 1½ minutes. The last time just before discharging her torpedo the conning tower was only seen for 30 seconds. The torpedo struck the battleship on the port side just forward of the bow barbette. After her trial the submarine proceeded unaided from Toulon to Marseilles, a distance of 41 miles in a rough sea at 6 knots, thus showing her sea-going qualities. When Englishmen took up their morning papers on July 5, 1901, there met the gaze such headings as “Submarine’s great feat;” “How the _Gustave Zédé_ torpedoed a big battleship;” “New Naval Warfare;” “French Navy the most powerful in the world.” The Paris correspondent of the _Daily Express_ sent the following telegram to his journal:—