New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-17
British War Craft Sinks
and Fails to Rise-NO
Hope Possible.
DIVERS HEAR TAPS
OF THE DOOMED MEN
Salvage Vessel Capable of
Raising Her Left Port
Two Days Previously.
LYING AT 100 FT. DEPTH
Dockyard Authorities Believe
That the Pumps of the Rising
Tanks Failed to Act.
rRv Cable 70 The rrlbun. ]

London, Jan 11.-Another British
submarine disaster has 10 be recorder.
Yesterday the Al sank four miles Or
more off Plymouth and failed 10 rise.
There were two officers and a crew OF
nine. and all hope OF their being res
cued has been abandoned.
A fact that adds to the poignancy VI
the tragedy is that there was no SAL
wage craft at Plymouth capable of rais-
ing the submarine. and that the one
craft of the kind recently here only LETT
that port two days ago for Sheerness,
after having raised the submarine C-14.
which sank last month in Plymouth
Sound without any loss of life. Had this
plant been available the eleven lives
might have been saved, for during the
afternoon the submerged crew COM
municated with divers by means OF
taps on the hull. Dockyard divers
state that they established communica-
tion with the inmates by tapping Morse
messages. Beginning about , o'clock.
they received replies up to 4:3O p. m.
when the taps gradually became feebler
until at last they stopped altogether.
From this time until p. M. al
though diver continued to signal. they
got no answer at all.
The theory put forward by the dock
yard authorities to account for the dis
aster is that the pumps Of the rising
tanks failed to act. but the belief is
strongly held in other quarters that an
escape of gas deprived the craft Of the
necessary buoyancy.
Plymouth, Jan 1.-two officers and
nine men, comprising the crew of the
British submarine boat Al, were
trapped to-day in their craft beneath
the waters OF Whtesand Bay. about
FIVE miles southwest of Plymouth
The Al, in company with the AS
and the A9, made plunge about noon
to-day while engaged in maneuvres.
Her sister ships came TO the surface at
the end of the maneuvres, but nothing
has been seen of tho Al since she
opened her valves and dived. At first
it was believed by the men on the other
submarines that the Al was merely
oVerstaying her allotted time beneath
the water, but when the officers re-
allied that their sister ship was In dis
tress they sent out signals for aid.
Dragging the Bay.
Rescue boats were Immediately
rushed to the vicinity where the Al
went down, and threw out graphing
irons and dragged the bay all the after
noon and until darkness set in. Their
efforts were fruitless, however, for
never once was there a tug at a chain
TO indicate that the iron sides Of the
plunger had been struck.
The graphing operations will begin
again at daylight tomorrow, and In
ths hope that the submarine will be
found boat capable OF lifting her to
to Whitesand Bay.
The Al" was In charge Of Lieutenant
Gilbert NJ Welman. who had as an aid
another officer. A number Of the sea-
men aboard were making their first
trip in a submarine.
The cause OF the accident is not
known. Naval officers estimate that
the men on board her might live at
least twelve hours beneath the water.
Sixth Of Her Class to Fail.
This is the sixth submarine of Class
"A" which has come to grief, and the
question is being raised here whether
the government ought not to abandon
this type Of boat in favor of the more
modern vessels Of the "C' and ID"
classes. The Al" was built in 1904,
and measured 80 feet in length. Her
submerged displacement was POI tons.
Her engines developed 600 horsepower.
which gave her a surface speed Of 10
knots and submerged speed Of y
knots.
Some confusion was caused when the
accident occurred to-day by the an
nouncement that the "A-1" went down
in Cawsand Bay. on the western shore
of Plymouth Sound. This confusion
was dissipatcd tonight by a report
from the Admiralty that the accident
had occurred In Whitesand Bay, which
extends from Rame Head TO Looe
Island. of the coast Of Cornwall. The
"A-1" lies on the bottom. at depth OF
about one hundred feet.
The fotila of submarines left Devon
port at = o'clock this morning for ma
npuyres. Arriving in Whitesand Bay
the Al. pygmy OF a vessel. sera-
rated from her sister ships and divet
for the purpose Of firing torpedoea
There was moderate sea running anS
the conditions otherwise were favora
! BILE for submarine operations. Whei