I felt that there was only one thing necessary to add to it, and
that was the odour of cooking. Cooking, by the way, on a submarine
is uncertain and disagreeable. There was a little electric heater,
I found, which might possibly have heated enough water for one cup
of coffee at a time.
In fact, space was economised to the utmost. Only the necessaries
of life were there. Every inch that could be spared was given over
to machinery. It was everywhere, compact, efficient--everything
for running the boat under water, guiding it above and below,
controlling its submersion, compressing air, firing torpedoes, and
a thousand other things. It was wonderful as it was. But when one
reflected that all could be done automatically, or rather
telautomatically, it was simply astounding.
"You see," observed Captain Shirley, "when she is working
automatically neither the periscope nor the wireless-mast shows.
The wireless impulses are carried down to her from an
inconspicuous float which trails along the surface and carries a
short aerial with a wire running down, like a mast, forming
practically invisible antennae.
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