Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-10-17
PLUNGED ONCE TOO OFTEN.
French Submarine Disappears or Bi-
serta, Tunis-Search Being Made.

l
Bi,crta, Tunis, Oct 1C-The French
| submarine Lutin left this port this
morning for plunging experiments. Sig
| nails received at 10 o'clock tonight re-
ported her disappearance. Two torpedo
| boats and three tugs have gone out in
| Sc arch of the submarine. No news of
| her recovery has been received.
The Lutnc is Il single screw steel
submarine designed by Maugas and
| bull, at Todhcub in 1901 She carries
a complement Of nine men. She is l3l
feet long. with 4 diameter Of feet
6 inches. Her displacement l. ls5 tons
and he speed l2.2o knots on the sur
fac" and knots Submerged Her mo-
tive power is derived from cl.c,rir az
cumul;!ttrS.
The reported loss of the Lutin re-
calls the catastrophe to the French
submarine boat Farfadet July &, 1905,
at the entrance to the port of Sidi Abb
dailah. TuniS. Commandant Rotier. OF
the Farfdiet. noticed at the moment Of
plunging, that one pf the doors was no;
| closed properly and rushed u try and
adjust it. He was too late the water
uSIilliS III Win anu lHIpN lHS
out the commandant ami two men
The boat then sank. Fourteen men
perished. The submarine eventually
was raised. Her machinery and hull
suffered no serious damage.
On March IS, the British Submarine
Al, was run down by a steamer while
submerged near Portsmouth. All her
crew were lost.
NaI~,
marine As. sank off Queenstown, only
one Of her crew being saved.
A third British submarine sank off
Plymouth. June s. 1905. after an ex-
plosion on board II Of her crew were
killed.
1t now appears almost certain ac-
cording to news received al a late hour
tonight that the crew of the Lutin
has suffered a horrible fate, similar to
that which overlook the crew of the
submarine Farfadet here last year.
The crew of the Lutin numbers IA
men, under command of Lieut. Phoe-
pom. Admiral Bellue, commander Of
the Tunis naval division, who went out
on tug. returned at a late hour to-
night and said that owing to the heavy
seas and the obscurity il was impos-
sibls to continue salvage operation un-
til dawn. The tugs and torpedo boats,
however. will remain near the place
where the Lutn made her final plunge
all through the night. One of the
boats reports that its drags encounter
ed resistance as though vessel was
lying at the bottom.
The government salvage steamers
belonging TO this port which are at
present absent in raising French
schooner wrecked on the coast. viii
return in the morning and particinate
in the work.
The British counsel general here
proposed To the French resident gener-
al to telegraph to the British admiralty
al Malta for salvage assistance. This
of1er was accepted and powerful SAL
wage apparatus will be sent at once to
The scene Of the catastrophe
Paris. Oct. 16.-M. Thomson. the min !
inter of marine, has received an official
deSpatch from the naval commandant
at Biserta. confirming the sinking Of
tht submarine Lutin. The message
says:
The submarine Lutin, while nxer-
clHlng off the Jettyes disappeared from
the view of the ACCOMMODATING tup
Search and dragging operations we're
begun Immediately and resistance was
felt at depth of 100 feet near the