BABY TANK IS BUILT BY BOY TO NAVIGATE RIVER

Similar in appearance to the land tanks used during the war, a queer boat has been built by a boy in England. It is propelled by a paddle like a canoe and provides room for only one passenger. The novel craft attracted much attention when it appeared during a regatta on the River Thames.

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Piccard’s Submarine Balloon

A famous explorer of the stratosphere designs a remarkable undersea craft for a journey to ocean depths never before reached by man.

By Charles Wright, Aneta News Agency Correspondent

BRUSSELS, Belgium-(Special to Popular Science Monthly). By applying the lifting principle of a balloon to a diving chamber, Prof. Auguste Piccard, pioneer explorer of the stratosphere, has found a way to descend to greater depths of the ocean than man has ever reached before. He has embodied his idea in a submarine craft of extraordinary design, able to navigate more than two miles beneath the waves. As this is written, he and his Belgian assistant, Prof. Max Cosyns, of Brussels University, are preparing to entrust their lives to the invention in the Gulf of Guinea, off the Ivory Coast of Africa.
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I wonder if he ever built that thing.

Veteran Dares Atlantic In Barrel Boat

A SEA-GOING barrel—it sounds fantastic, but not to Ernest Biegazski, Buffalo, N. Y., war veteran, who plans to use just such a vessel to cross the Atlantic. The daring trip, according to his calculations, will not take more than 40 days. The oak barrel, which will comprise the hull of the vessel, will be nine feet long with a diameter of six feet, eight inches. A 600-pound keel will furnish the ballast. A hollow mast, 20 feet high, will carry the sail, a simple rig of approximately 300 square feet. A glass-enclosed hatch which will provide exit to the narrow deck. During stormy weather he will reef his sail, seal the hatch, and bob about safe as a cork.

Though the crossing is expected to take 40 days, Biegazski is taking food for sixty.

“SEA SLUG” Liner Floats on WORM DRIVE
COMBINING speed and comfort with modern streamline design, the “sea slug” liner employs an unusual means of propulsion. Instead of the screw propeller drive used on ocean ships, this craft is driven by a series of worm screw impellers.

These impellers also eliminate the common hull design. The center portion of the ship is hollowed out for the series of four worm screws. The sides of the hull float and with the hollow screws provide buoyancy for the liner. As speed of the ship increases, the hull rises, lowering its resistance in the water.
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While the idea of a cross country cruise ship was pretty far fetched, the technology described seems to work. The Rolligon corporation is actually a going concern that makes big vehicles with really big rolligons.

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CROSS-COUNTRY CRUISE SHIP

You’ll be riding on air — squashy bags of it that roll happily over every obstacle.

By Frank Tinsley

THE crazy, mixed-up amphibious train shown on this page, half bulldozer, half river boat and all Tom Swift, is only an adaptation of a vehicle now being operated experimentally by the Army.

The rolligon wagon rolls slowly but implacably on a number of limp blimps—sausage-like air bags without much air in them. These saggy bladders are a vast improvement over the wheel when it comes to moving things over sand, muck, rocks and rubble. For several years the boating public has been using low-pressure rollers for moving boats on every type of ground.
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The Mysterious Submarine

By F. D. BURKE

THE interesting little toy described in this article will, when placed in water, automatically dive and come to the surface again, repeating this performance, on an average, once a minute over a long period of time. It not only makes a very good toy for a boy but can be used also for advertising purposes. Placed in a glass tank and displayed in a show window, its actions will attract the attention and interest of passers-by, who will stop to wonder how it operates.
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Island Commuter
COMBINING many features of an automobile, an airplane and a boat, the Island Commuter cruises through the water at 50 miles an hour. The 36-foot aluminum vessel was built by Anthony Sulak to carry him between Seattle and an island 85 miles away. Two airplane propellers drive the craft on water or land. The vessel has four retractable airplane wheels which are used when it is beached. At rest, it draws only 1-1/2 inches and at top speed it planes four or five inches out of the water. The 3200-pound craft costs $24,000.

Spearing Balloons Is New Boat-Race Hazard

Balloon “busting” from careering speedboats is the spectacular sport recently devised by a racing association in California. Before the start of a race, a cable is stretched above the starting line of the course about ten feet above the water. Large toy balloons are suspended from the cable by means of weighted cords that are just long enough to enable the balloons to be touched by a mechanic standing in a speeding boat. As the pilots steer their craft under the balloons at the finish of each lap, the mechanic, armed with a spear and standing in the boat, attempts to puncture a balloon. If he fails, the pilot must circle about until the mechanic finally succeeds in spearing his balloon. Only then can the boat continue on with the next lap.

Well that certainly is an interesting way to cross a harbor. I can’t imagine why the Golden Gate beat out this design. Wouldn’t you feel completely safe driving through a “boat tunnel”?

“Boat Tunnel” for Harbor Crossing

PROPOSED as a substitute for the suggested Golden Gate suspension bridge at San Francisco is an ingenious boat tunnel of unique design which, it is claimed, can be built for one-third the estimated $35,000,000 cost of a suspension bridge. This and other advantages of the design have led authorities to consider seriously the erection of the boat tunnel bridge, which would be the only one of its kind in the world. It was conceived by Cleve F. Shaffer of San Francisco.
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HUMAN SUBMARINE Shoots Fish with Arrows

FISH are shot with steel arrows by human submarines who cruise just below the surface of the water, in a novel variation on the sport of underwater fish hunting, which has gained great popularity along the shores of the Mediterranean. Donning goggles, and closing his nostrils with a nose clamp, the underwater hunter places one end of a rubber breathing tube in his mouth, wades into the water, and propels himself just beneath the surface by paddling with the aid of curious webfoot attachments strapped to his ankles. Read the rest of this entry »

Britain Reveals Diving Canoe
Called the world’s smallest submarine, this one-man craft is no bigger than a canoe. Britain built it secretly for wartime attacks on shipping in enemy harbors. PTs or regular subs took it to vicinity of target.

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WHAT’S WRONG With Uncle Sam’s Navy?

A naval officer frankly discloses just how badly American defense has suffered through inadequate building program.

by Lieut. John Edwin Hogg, U.S.N.R.

(Note: The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and should not be construed as reflecting the official views or opinions of the Navy Department.)

AS THESE lines are written the American navy is in the worst condition of decrepitude and impotence that has ever marked its history.

Pacifist domination and sheer neglect has left us with a navy so skeletonized and anaemic as to threaten our national security. Among some none-too-friendly neighbor nations armed to the teeth and in a world seething with social, political, and economic unrest, we find ourselves with a run-down battle fleet that is only 65 per cent of the estimated strength necessary for national defense. Moreover, this precariously weakened “first line of national defense” is only 85 per cent manned!
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