Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-16
CAUTIOUS WORK
ON SUBMARINE
IS CONTINUED
Continued from page one)

an attempt will be made to break out
the submarine from the bottom.
Dangerous Diving.
Even with diving reduced to an
exact science, as is the case with
Chief Gunner G. D. Stillson's party
journeys to the ocean bottom 300 feet
below the surface are by no means
pleasure jaunts. There il extreme
danger every time a, diver goes down,
not only from the excessive depth at
which observations must De made, but
from fouling of the divers gear with
the many cables which connect the
F-4 with the dredge Gaylord. When
a diver is working at extreme depth
and all four men on the F4 job are
dropping further than was believed
possible a few months ago-it is i'm
perative that his lines fall absolutely
clear. 1t requires considerable maneu.
vering to go down above the F-4 and
still keep clear of obstacles.
Yesterday afternoon S. J. Drellishak
was the man selected to go below. He
dropped from the ladder of the div
ing float shortly after 2 o'clock and
in just four minutes was standing on
the sunken submarine. For Is min
utes Drellishak walked on the sea-floor
and on the vessel, examining the con-
dition and holds of the lines, and max
ing careful mental notes as to prob
able strains should raising operations
be commenced.
Previous to his descent the diver
spent half an hour with Naval Con.
structor Furer and Lieut. Smith, going
over the work that had been done
above water and getting clearly fixed
in his mind the position of the three
lines and the exact results that were
expected from his dive. He was not
to make an extended survey of the
submarine but to give reliable informa.
tion as to how the wire brides are
holding.
Phone Trouble.
There were moments Yesterday
when the anxious watchers on the div
ing float and dredge feared that Drel-
lishak was In trouble in the ocean
depths. Although the diver has a tele-
phone inside his helmet and an opera
tor at the other end of the line listen.
ing in every moment of the time that
he is submerged, communication is by
no means as easy as it would seem.
BY an ingenious arrangement the diver
himself has no -buzzing in his receiver,
but the head set Of the man above
registers bedlam cut loose most of
the time. 1t is very difficult to get
what the man below is saying with
the air roaring through the helmet.
To add to the trouble. yesterday, one
of the connections inside the helmet
worked loose, so that Drellishak could
hardly be heard by Gunner McKenna.
at the other end of the phone. Drel.
lishak secured al the information re-
quired on his trip, to the bottom, but
he paid the penalty in physical ex-
haustion- His ascent was as slow as
those of his two companions who had
gone down before, to guarantee against
an attack of caisson disease, and al
though he was able to help himself
up the ladder and out of the water,
he was pretty we'll used up when
helmet, shoes, belt and breastplate
were finally removed. The divers who
came from the Atlantic coast to assist
In the salvage of the F-4 are In re-
markable physical condition, however,
and experiences that would send ordi-
nary men to bed for week are mere
Incidents of the days work to them.
This morning Drellishak was as right
as ever, and quite ready to go down
again on call in spite Of yesterdays
strain.
Overhaul Gear.
While tugs and seows are transfer.
ring lines the diving party will take
advantage of the temporary lull to
overhaul all gear and equipment and
recharge the air TASKS. The diving
barge will be towed alongside of the
Maryland this afternoon, where work
can be done conveniently and every.
thing will be put in first-class shape
for the next descent.
AS to the time it will take to &C.
tually raise and tow the sunken sub
marine into shoal water, no one con-
nected with the work will hazard
even guess. No one realizes better
than the navy men the delays and dis
appointments which may be expected
on a salvage undertaking of this kind.
where success will mean the making of
new worlds record for under-sea
lifting operations. It may be two
weeks or two months before the con.
ming tower hatch of the F-4 comes
off. No one can tell.