The Submarine in War and Peace: Its Development and its PossibilitiesLake, Simon
History
The Submarine in War and Peace: Its Development and its Possibilities
Lake, Simon
Submarines (Ships)
The Williamson brothers--Ernest and George Williamson--have, by the use
of the Williamson extensible and flexible collapsible tube, invented by
their father, Capt. Charles Williamson, and fitted with an observation
chamber, succeeded in taking some wonderful moving pictures of
under-sea life, which have been shown throughout the world and have
thus given pleasure to millions of people in this country and abroad.
I am indebted to the Williamson brothers for the loan of some of their
wonderful under-sea pictures taken in the vicinity of Nassau, in the
West Indies, where the waters are particularly clear, and the under-sea
floral gardens, noted for their beauty, have been visited by tourists
for many years, who view them through the glass-bottom boats. This
method discloses some of their beauty, but does not begin to do them
full justice, as compared with a view from under the water in their
natural perspective. When viewed from above it is much like judging of
the beauties of architecture of a city from a balloon, as one can only
get a plan view.
The Williamson brothers commenced their experiments in submarine
photography during the summer of 1913. Their first experiments proving
satisfactory, the following year, 1914, they fitted out an expedition
and visited the West Indies and there took several thousand feet of
films of submarine motion pictures, showing some of the submarine
gardens, divers fighting with sharks, an old wreck, etc. These were the
first moving pictures of under-sea life that had ever been produced.
"Still" under-water photography had been done by Dr. Francis Ward in a
pond on his estate in England and by several others, but none of these
experimenters had ever succeeded in getting the wonderful results such
as those secured by the Williamsons in their 1914 expedition.
[Illustration: A SUBMARINE GARDEN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
Submarine Photo by Williamson Bros.
This photograph, taken in the vicinity of Nassau, shows a great variety
of tropical submarine growth and fishes.]
Since 1914 the Williamsons have produced many remarkable submarine
scenes in the film productions known as "Twenty Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea," "The Submarine Eye," and other photoplays.
[Illustration: SUBMARINES FOR HYDROGRAPHIC WORK AND WRECK FINDING
Permission of Scientific American
A sweep line extending between the two submarines running parallel
courses locates any intervening obstructions. (See text.)]
As it is of historical value to record some of their experiences, I
quote from Mr. Ernest Williamson's notes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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