"About this time the United States Navy Department was mildly interested in the performances of submarines in France, where they had attained some slight degree of success. The designs for these boats, I am sure, were based on certain fundamental points of my _Fenian Ram_ design. As I have said previously, there were a number of foreign officers present at Delamater's Yard from 1879 to 1881, while the boat was in course of construction, and it is hardly to be expected that they failed to take notes. However, the knowledge they secured did them very little good, because, while they secured a lot of valuable data, their inexperience caused them to disregard the most vital points, with the result that their boats never attained any degree of success. However, I do not wish to convey the impression that the United States Navy Department was at this time considering building submarines as the results of the French experiments; far from it. Had it not been informed of the success of my _Fenian Ram_, which was far more interesting and wonderful than anything the French had done, and still remained unconvinced? I was totally sick and disgusted with its actions, and was seriously tempted to abandon all further attempts to convince and awake it from its lethargy. About this time I wrote an article, "Can New York be Bombarded?" with the intention of bringing before the public the pitiable condition of our fleet and coast defences, and showing how a few submarines would place us in a position to ward off an enemy's attack from mostly any point on our coast as effectively as if we had an adequate shore defence and a fleet equal to Great Britain's." The article referred to treats of other types of ships. This is not of interest now, but we quote what he says concerning "THE SUBMARINE, OR DIVING BOAT "This boat has a speed of eight miles per hour; she can remain under water for two days, or longer, without having any connection with the surface. She can be steered by compass when under water, and her course may be laid and corrected without obliging her to remain more than a few moments on the surface. This can be done without ever appearing over water. She can move at any required depth, and is more thoroughly under control when completely submerged than when on the surface. Her horizontal and vertical motions are controlled automatically or by the pilot.