The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1910-06-17
HOW TO ESCAPE FROM ! sUNKEN
SUBMARINE.
Methods Approved and Dlsapproyed.
From the Scientific American.

lished BY Siebe, German & Company.
Limited, submarine engineers of Lon
don, we find some excellent sugges-
lions on the subject of saving the
crews Of submarine boats.
The problem OF saving the lives OF
a crew of submarine vessel Is by no
means easy of solution. The equip
ment and apparatus which Is tnval-
liable on shore Is quite useless under
water. It would be quite easy to con-
struct submarine boat, the crew Of
which would be safe under practically
every conceivable set OF circumstan-
ces, but such vessel would be SO
hampered by her safety devices as to
have little or no military efficiency.
In the opinion of Messrs. Siebe L
German it is essential that the salvage
of the vessel and of the crew must be
looked upon as entirely separate. In
evitab1e delays in the arrival of the
salvage vessel ana IN getting purchase
on, conditions of tide, weather, etc.
render 1t almost certain that subma-
rine cannot be raised in time to save
hfe.
1t is taken for granted that an ae-
cident which will endanger the lives
of the crew will result In the thrush
of water in large quantities. A minor
accident to the machinery would re-
suit only in an involuntary rush To
the surface, owing to the reserve
buoyaney of the boat, and any ordf=
nary small leakage can be readily
dealt with by the machinery at COM
mand
When, however, there Is collision.
or when. by some other mischance.
hole is made In the hull, the water
enters freely, and the effect will be
the descent of the vessel to the bot
tom. This may not be very fast, but.
assuming that the water Is entering
more rapidly than 1t can be expelled.
the vessel will undoubtedly sink and
continue to fill, until she Ii either
full. or, II not holed in the
top, until the air In her Is compressed
to a pressure equal to that Of the
water at the depth In which she has
foundered. As soon as the salt water
comes into contact with the battery
or with the terminals of the dynamo.
II this be still wording. chlorine Is
evolved, and the air remaining inside
is yitlated
II anything is done, Il must be done
quickly. Accordingly the following
steps must be taken
(a) To render the crew independ=
ent of poisonous gases.
(b) To preserve the crew from
drowning in the boat, and
(c) To provide means Of escape
from the boat, and ascent 10 the sur
face.
The devices to bring these about at
present known are !:
d Air locks for escape.
(2) Detachable chambers or life
boats.
90 self-contained dress for escape.
Air locks alone are OF little use. ex-
cept in shallow water. but combined
with ~ or 90 are essential I'm all
methods of escape. The air lock may
be a portion of the boat provided for
the special purpose, or the general
cavity Of the boat may be used. IN
which case the pressure inside the
vessel can be made equal TO that Of
the water outside by simply allowing
the water to enter for IL Is manifestly
impossible to open an aperture until
the pressures at both sides Of II are
equal. The great objection to all
forms Of detachable chambers or life
boats Is their size. weight and resist
anee. II made large enough to contain
all the crew of a modern submarine.
and as such a CHAMBER would have 10
be carried as 4 superstructure. i
would be in the likeliest position TO be
injured in case Of collision. More
over, what Is further against any
device of this kind Is that the crew are
expected in a moment of considerable
excitement to undertake an entirely
novel operation which there is no
means of trying previously. Expert
ence has shown that even plain drop
safety weights fail at the critical mo
ment.
A life-saving device 10 be efficient
must be able to fnlfi1 promptly the
three conditions. n. b, and c, preY=
ously referred 10. and IN order 70
meet them a special form Of diving
helmet has been designed BY MessrE.
Siebe & German which Il quite self
contained and not dependent OF
any feature which Is liable 10 get on
of order. The helmet, which Is large
enough to allow the head free move
ment, Is aloped away to fit the Shout
ders, and is connected 10 a short
Jacket of strong waterproof material.
In front of the Jacket, Inside, IS q
pocket containing a combined
air purifier and oxygen genera
tor. consisting Of two small cham
bers formed IN one case. These
chambers are charged with a patent
ed substance which, when IN contact
with the water Yapor of the breath,
gives OF pure oxygen gas and forms
a canstic alkall. The alkaii I'm iIs
turn takes up the carbonle acid gas
of the respired air and forms an al
kaline carbonate. In this way, as IN
various types Of smoke helmet, the
same air. purified and re-oxygenated.
is used over and over again. The
total weight of the whole outfit is Il
pounds. Folded up for gLowage, It
occupies a space of IL inches by Il
inches by Is inches. The dress can
be put on without assistance in 30
seconds. When on 1t prevents a man
from drowning. and I'm proof of this
it may be said that it is now In every
day use under water with perfect
success Moreover, 1t acts as a life
buoy. and actually raises its wearer
to the surface. An additional device l.
also fitted to enable the wearer
when he reaches the surface TO In
fate flexible chamber which sur
rounds the jacket and thus to form q
life belt This provision is necessary,
for the length Of time the purifier will
remain IN action Is limited. and when
its efficiency Is impaired the door in
the helmet must be opened. which
operation can be performed by the
wearer. in order to admit fresh air
When this is done the helmet ceases
to be buoyant. Other methods, such
as the fitting of cork belts or chambers
already filled with air, have been tried
and abandoned. being found to be i'm
practicable, owing to the necessity
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