The Anderson daily intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1915, 1915-04-03
HOW IT FEELS TO
DIE IN A SUBMARINE
DIARY LEFT BY A JAPANESE
SOLDIER TELLING
STORY
Boat Through a Defect Went to
Bottom Carrying the Entire
Crew 81

" osN, AUTll Z.-tiOW II
feels to go to death i'm sunken
submarine-a painful process of as
pnyxiation-has been told by man
as he himself went TO his death. His
description OF his feeling; how the
boat went down, how the crew fought
vainly for thei.' lives, his parting
message TO his friends are all told in
diary of Lieut.. Sakuma. who. with
fourteen sailors, perished when the
japanese submarine No. was lost
in Japanese naval maneuver5 cf the
coast OF Japan on Apri! 10, 1910.
The narrative is short. and covers
only the period of hours and 20
minutes-it WAS the death oil the
writer that cut it short.
An exact photoi raDh reproduc-
ticn OF this diary as II Was recovered
from the submarine is in the library
Of congress here. II was presented
oy Commander Takatura Purgu,
cne-time naval attached 20 the Japan
csc embassy. This is the story the
diary tell as it has been translated
into English:
|! Words of apology fail me for
having sunk his majesty's submarine
Lea Nc. 6. My subofdina-es are
killed by my fault, but IL is with
pride that J inform you that the
crew to man have discharged their
duties as .ailors should. with the ut
most GOODNESS until their dying mo-
mentS.
Give Lives For Country.
I'VE now sacrifice our lives for the
sake OF our country. but my fear is
that the disaster will affect the fu-
ture development of submarines. 1t
| ;e that nnthinP
! will daunt your determination to
study the submarine until it is a per-
feet machine, absolutely reliable We
can then die without regret.
lit was while making gasoline
| dive that the boat sank lower than
we intended. and in our attempt to
close. the 2luice the chain broke. We
endeavored To- stop the inrush oil
water with our hands but too late;
| the water cnte:ed at the rear and
the beat sank at an incline of 20 de-
grees. When it touched bottom l.
was ut an agile of l3 degrees. The
current submerged the electric gem
orator. nut out the lights and .ths
electric wires were burned.
"In n few minutes bad gas was
generated, making 1t difficult for us
to breathe.
"It was at 10 a. m. on the 18th
| inst, that the boat sunk. Surrounded
by poisonous gas, the crew stood to
pump ou: the water. AS soon as the
boat sank the water was being
pumped out The electric light was
extiDguished and the guage was in
| visible. but the water in the main
tank was completely pumped ou..
| "The electric current has now be-
come useless and the hand pump is
our oE.y hope. The vessel Is In dark
ness, and l note this down. by the
| light through the coming tower ut
| 11:45 q. m.
Work For Heroes. s
..It is my opinion that men EN-
barking in submarines must possess
the qualities of cnolness and nerve.
and NUT be extremely paiu5taking;
! they must be brave and daring in
their handling of the boat. People
may laugh at this opinion in view OF
/ my failure, but the statement is true.
I'VE have worked hard to pump
out the water, but the boat is still in
the same opinion. 1t is now onc7
/ o'clock. The depth OF water here
/ is about 10 fathams.
The crew of a su9na?ine should
be selected from the coolest. the.
lsEravest, or they viii be OF little use
In time CT crisis-in such as we are
now. MY brave men are doing their
hest a
always expect death when. away
from homo. NY will i5. therefore
prepared and in the locker But this
lis OF KY private affairs. i hope MIR.
Taeuchi win send i. to my father.
Last Plea TO Emperor. 7
"A word TO his majesty. the enl--
peror. 1t is NV earnest hope that
your majesty will supply the means
OF liding to the poor families OF the
crew, This Is my only desire and I
am so anxious to have 1t fulfilled
sAy respects apd best regards to
tae following: Admiral Saitc. min
lister of the navy Vice Admiraisl
Shimamara and FULL, Rear Ad: 4
miral Nawn, Yamashita and Uarlta
---thc air pressure is SO light that 81
fear my eardr,nns win be broken
Capts, ogurl and Idle. conlmander
AIatsamura. Capt. Mafssamura, Cone
,nander Maisamura (this is my elder
brother,l Capt Funakoshias Mr. No
rita and MIR. Ikuta--it Is now 1880
p, M. NV sreathing Is so dIiiicnIta
aud painful y I thought conld blew
out the caroline. hut Il am intnxis
Gated with &c. Capt Nakano-sit inI
now 12 10 iI.i IN.
Here the narrative ended.
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