Evening star., 1915-03-26
FEAR j. s. P[UNGER
LOSTAT HONOLULU
"a Submerges, But Fails to
Rise, Commander Smith
Reports.
OIL FILM IN 80 FATHOMS
IS ONLY HOPE OF RESCUE
Failure to Release Marker Buoy or
Send Up a Man, However, In
dicates a Disaster.

I
| harbor under at least 80 fathoms of
| water-probably more-the United
states submarine F-4 lies helpless with
her commander and crew In what is
| feared to be ono Of the worst subma-
rine boat accidents in the worlds ma
val history.
effort known to naval practice to
raise the sunken boat or get a signal
from her crew have failed. Her marker
| buoy. which should come to the top
emergency, has failed to appear; the
| surface OF the water at the harbor en-
trance is covered with film of oil
from the submerged boats tanks.
Navy Department officials fear one Of
two calamities-that the F-4 struck a
rock and that her crew were drowned
in the inrushing waters. or that there
was an internal explosion.
First United States Plunger Disaster
While hope for the men has not been
given up, the gravest fears are enter
tained that they may have been lost
in the first submarine boat disaster Of
the United States Navy.
On the face of meager off1cial reports
from the Honolulu naval station, which
said the F-4 disappeared at 9:15 O'Clock
yesterday morning. after making a dive
during maneuvers, anG that constant
graphing and diving have failed to
locate her. naval officers fear the boat
may have slipped over ledge on the
volcanic rock bottom Of the harbor into
some deep pocket out OF reach OF neip;
The diving record Of man Is 24o
feet; the worlds diving record OF a
submarine-made by an American boat.
the FL, sister ship OF the F., IS
2s3 feet. If the FL by accident or
otherwise has gone deeper, It is feared
tho tremendous pressure OF the waters
has crushed her shell.
Although fitted with the latest device
in safety air locks, through which
man can be shot to SAFETY at az sreal
a depth as thirty y-f1ve fathoms, the men
on the FL aPparea,'gg ,Ppm ang tnat have faes e
pied with the fact that they nave not
released their marker buoy. makes ON
cials fear something terrible has nap
pened down in the dark
One Submarine Raised.
Several years ago one OF the carrier
type of submarines was submerged OH
Newport, r. l., for twelve hours. anu
grave fears were entertained. out sne
reached the surface with the crew IN
good condition.
The fact that the FL had been SUP, 70,
merged successfully to depth OF 1sa
ssdsrsd a favorable Indication for the
recovery Of the F-4, provided she Is not
in 720 feet of water as nrst repoIss
said statis.ics Of the os Honolaiu hya5ER Rar
bor to be generally 300 feet deep. oue
a short distance from the entrance 70
the harbor there is precipltate 1eo 1eo
cline where the depth reaches to 1'soo
feet.
ofacial Reports Disaster.
Early today the Navy Department re-
ceived this dispatch from Commander
Charles e. Smith, commanding the nrst
submarine division Of the Pacific heet
.F-4 left tender at am. for sub
merged run March 25. Failed to re-
turn to surface. Entrance OF haroor
with fuel oil. Diving and dragging.
Commander Smiths mention OF the
| entrance of the harbor being covered
with oil created grave alarm arm -. at .sae the
the F-4 had struck rock. although
1t was pointed out that Lieut. Louis
Alfred EIDE, in command Of the sub
marine; G might ah,sn nave hap uso~n hurden oa ne ~
| But the alarm of officials was In
creased by the omission in Commander
Smiths report of any reference to q
signal from the submerged craft.
Sill Have nope.
| Commander Smiths dispatch men-
tioning a thirty-fathom depth gave
some hope that the F4 might not be
more than 1s0 feet down. In which
| case there might be a chance for the
rescue Of her crew II the work were
done promptly.
/ Until the present time the United
States Navy has been particularly for
tunate with its submarines.
| Not a life has been lost in their op-
erations, although some OF the ships
have sustained minor accidents. such
as are not uncommon to the hazard OF
| submarine maneuvers. European navies
1 however, have had several serious ac-
i cidents in which submarines have gone
i to the bottom and, with their crews
never have been recovered.
i It was pointed out today that Ameri-
can submarines have one feature OF
construction intended to meet just
II such an emergency as confronts the
I F-4. On their outer skin are large eyes
in which graphing hooks being trailed
from rescue ships on the surface may
catch and the sunken craft may be
hauled into shallow water or to the
surface.