When we are
on the ocean we can go down by using our diving rudders, and in
much quicker time than by filling our tanks."
"How is that?" asked the seeker after the Pandora's gold.
"Filling the tanks is slow work in itself," replied Tom, "and
they have to be filled very carefully and evenly, so we don't
stand on our stern or bow in going down. We want to sink on an
even keel, and sometimes this is hard to accomplish. But we are
doing it now," and he called attention to an indicator which told
how much the M. N. 1 might be listing to one side or to one end
or the other.
"A submarine, as everyone knows, is essentially a water-tight
tank, shaped like a cigar, with a propeller on one end. It can
sink below the surface and move along under water. It sinks
because rudders force it down, and water taken into tanks in its
interior hold it to a certain depth. It can rise by ejecting this
extra water and by setting the rudders in the proper position.
A submarine moves under water by means of electric motors, the
current of which is supplied by storage batteries.
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