It was a pleasure to speak at the Portland Public Library last month, and nice to see good attendance. At times it seems that interest in WWI topics is rather thin, but this group was not only interested, but asked a lot of good questions about early ASW devices and tactics. My wife had warned me beforehand that my presentation seemed too technical (schematics of the C-tube, a photo of the internal components of the K Tube compensator, and so on), so I was pleased to be vindicated by receiving a lot of highly technical questions, and especially pleased to be stumped by someone asking the displacement of the Standard 220 hp motor. Now, that's an audience! The best I could offer off the cuff was to note that it was a 6-cylinder engine with a 10” bore - which is to say, it had to have an enormous displacement. Now I need to pull out the engine manual and look it up.

I would like to give a talk sometime in Bath, Maine, early home of Lt. Dole, later home to his twin, my grandfather, and a notable maritime city. Does anyone have a venue recommendation, or a contact there?

-- Todd Woofenden, Subchaser Archives editor