Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-05-27
NO HOPE FOR
CREW OF THE
SUBMARINE
Divers Who Went Down
say They Heard Knock
ings on Inside.
MUCH WATER ENTERED
THE VESSEL


Calais, France, May 27:-Marine
experts today said itAwouid be i'm
possible to raise the French subma-
rine Pluviose, which was sunk yes
terday when struck by packet, be-
fore tomorrow. This makes it prac-
tically impossible that any of the
crew of twenty-seyen men and Off
GERS will be found alive. Divers who
went down today insist they can
still hear hammering from the in
terror of the sunken boat.
Minister of Marines Layapere to-
day wired Premier BRAND that con-
siderable water has entered the in
ner compartment of the sunken sub
marinesand that the boats crew un-
doubtedly perished.
Imagining that beneath the calm sur
face of the sea more than score of
agonized men are still fighting to keep
the breath Of life in their bodies, the
people here are watching the work of
the naval officers and men in frenzy
Of sympathetic expectation.
The ferryboat Pas de Calais crowded
with passengers bound for Dover had
Just left Calais when one of her side
wheels experienced a violent shock.
The captain, believing that his boat
had struck submerged buoy, stopped
his vessel, and a moment later the hull
of the submarine Pluviose came to the
surface a short distance astern.
! A boat was hurriedly launched from
the ferryboat and went alongside Of
| the stricken craft, but the sailors
raped In vain against her metal sides,
and in few minutes the submarine
sank again beneath the waters.
The passengers aboard the Pas de
Calais were horror stricken by the
drama enacted before their eyes. The
ferryboat, which was making water
rapidly, summoned two tugs to the
scene of the disaster and then put back
to the French shore.
The Pluviose left Calais thirty min
utes before the time 1t Is presumed she
came UP under the paddle wheels of
the Pas de Calais, though it is impossi-
BILE to conceive that she would dive In
such crowded waters.
Advices received by the minister Of
marine confirm the report of the prob
able loss of the i'll fated submarines
entire crew. The maritime prefect Of
Calais In reporting his action to the
marine ministry of sending boats to
the scene offers the opinion that the
naphtha reservoirs of the Pluviose
burst.
A torpedo boat destroyer has been
anchored near where the Pluviose
sank and divers have gone down to
the submarine. A wrecking vessel has
also gone to the scene.
The development of the submarine
type of war craft in recent years has
been attended with many accidents
and considerable loss of life. The
most recent disaster was the founder
ing Of the japanese submarine No. 6
in Hiroshima bay. The crew of four
teen was lost. When the vessel was
raised there was found in the coming
tower message from Lieutenant Sa-
kuma which told the story of the trag-
edy, the responsibility for which was
assumed by the writer.
/ The French navy has suffered Sc
verely, five of her submarines having
been sunk or badly damaged and fif-
teen of the crews being lost. One
French crew was rescued after living
in compressed air seventy-two hours.
The Russian Delfin sank at her moor
ings, and twenty-one men were drown
ed. The Kambala, also Russian, was
rammed by a cruiser off Sevastopol
and sank. Several of her men were
killed. One British submarine has
been sunk, and explosions have occur
red on two others, causing the death Of
fifteen men.
Calais, May 27.-Despite strong
northeasterly swell that is running,
torpedo boats form a circle around the
4 scene Of the sinking of the Pluviose,
keeping vigilant watch.
All attempts to pursue the work Of
rescue have ceased, ten divers having
found it impossible to descend more
than four meters owing to the heavy
swell. 1t is the general opinion Of ex-
perts that all aboard the Pluviose are
dead. Powerful tugs and dredgers are
being sent from Cherbourg to attempt
to recover the sunken boat, which is
lying In twenty meters Of water
3 When the submarine boat Ventose
entered Calais after the disaster her
officers and crew were weeping silent.
Ily.
Petrol is floating on the water where
the Pluviose sank, which proves that
her petrol tanks were stove in. A the
cry is advanced, however, that the Inn
prisoned men let out the petrol with
the view to avoiding deleterious gases.
The problem Of raising the boat,
which weighs 450 tons, from the deep
water in which she lies is a matter Of
general discussion. Most of the opin-
ion on the subject is pessimistic.