Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 127: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION quires oxygen. Tremendous advances have been made in “breathing” devices such as the Schnorkel tube which feeds atmospheric oxygen to the diesel engines: when the craft is under water. Recently a British submarine made a trip to Britain all the way from the Bahamas without once surfacing. But that was about the limit. The other big difference between the atomic submarine and vessels of the more normal type, is that the former will need refuelling only at ex- tremely rare intervals—the actual period is still a secret. Once again, coming to the surface is obviated almost entirely. The atomic submarine re- presents a real submarine for the first time in military history. Normal submarines are more like the underwater swimmer who has to come up for air and food. The atomic submarine is more like a fish. The comparatively small amount of uranium fuel will go on producing heat for considerable periods, and the propellers will continue to turn all that time. Since the oxygen and food requirements of the crew are small in relation to the devourments of engines, enough of them can be packed aboard to last the men for the whole several- times-around-the-world trip. The atomic submarine is vir- tually self-contained; a minia- ture world beneath the waves. Indeed, crew endurance is its only limiting factor. So once again man has built a machine that could function perfectly if only man himself could do so. One begins to wonder about the atomic submarine’s poten- tialities when crewed by robots)... And the operational capa- bilities of the atomic sub- marine are far in excess of normal underwater vessels. It can outpace a destroyer travelling at twenty-five to thirty knots. Cruising along comfortably at much greater depths than ordinary sub- marines can reach, the atomic craft could slip under a convoy’s defences, release its deadly ‘“‘tinfish’” and speed away again in a fashion that would make the defending destroyers look rather silly. In fact, they would not be destroyers any more, in the original sense of the term. Thus, the mere advent of the atomic submarine neces- sitates a drastic improvement in existing anti-submarine methods and vessels. 126 comicloooks.com