M. Waldeck-Rousseau subsequently went on board the _Gustave Zédé_, and after spending three-quarters of an hour on her he went away “in an enthusiastic frame of mind.” M. Camille Pelletan, reporter of the Budget of the Ministry of Marine, said:— “That a submarine should plunge beneath the surface of the water, and that it should then be able to discharge a torpedo, does not prove very much. There is no vessel of this description, however indifferent it may be, which does not accomplish as much. The whole question is to know its navigable sea-going and manœuvring qualities. If the _Gustave Zédé_, therefore, in or near a harbour, torpedoed an ironclad, that, I repeat, proves nothing. The unfortunate thing is that it does not appear to have accomplished even that on the occasion referred to, for all efforts to find the torpedo have failed, and it is thus permissible to suppose that it missed its mark. I do not think that M. Waldeck-Rousseau could have seen the submarine effect its submersion and make for the _Bouvet_. The foremost quality of a submarine—its special guarantee of security—is that of being invisible. The _Gustave Zédé_ will speedily have to be laid up if she betrays her presence so clumsily, but I have not much difficulty in reassuring myself. At the most, the _Gustave Zédé_ could only have been seen when, instead of the vessel being nine feet below the surface, her optic tube, and probably even her cupola, were emerging above the water, an operation which is necessary for the discharge of the torpedo in the desired direction.” In July, 1901, the _Morse_ made an attempt to torpedo the coast-defence ship _Jocyte_. According to one report the _Morse_ was ordered to sail from Cherbourg to Havre, and go for the gunboat _Coeyte_, which would be found moored in the Roads. Reaching Havre at night-time, the _Morse_, while still an hour’s run out, plunged, and continuing her voyage at eight knots an hour, approached the _Coeyte_ unperceived, and launched three torpedoes against, her with success. The _Morse_ then came to the surface, and was recognised by Admiral Fournier, who was on board the _Coeyte_. A feature of this particular experiment was the long preliminary voyage made by the submarine. Reuter, however, sent the following message relating to the same experiment: “The attempt made by the submarine _Morse_ last night to torpedo the coast-defence ship _Jocyte_ (_sic_) did not succeed, owing to the state of the sea, but the manœuvre gave certain results as showing the ability of the submarine to approach without detection. The swell prevented any torpedo from being fired.” A Dalziel message is still more emphatic as to the failure. It states that the gunboat knew long enough ahead of the approach of the submarine to repel the attack. No torpedo could be discharged because of the swell.