The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-09-24
BOAT is HELPLESS
ANDA|R PRESSURE
REFUSES TO WORK
Plates Buckle Under Pressure Of
Sea and Next Moment
Comes Death
DOOMED MEN FLEE
AFT BUT NO ESCAPE
Big Rent In Bow Indicates SUBJ
marine Struck Reef and
Was Torn

!
current possible. a:
But too great current might blow
out the fuses; and that is probably
what occurred here. - .l.".
The motor stopped; the boat was
helpless; her air pressure, it is presum-
ed, could not exPel the water. Perhaps
she had sunk, by this time, to a depth
where even the emergency line Of 125
pounds to the square inch was unavail-
ing. A test Of the automatic blowers,
designed to expel the water from the
tanks at a dangerous depth, showed
them in good order and that they had
worked, but could not operate against
the external pressure. .,I.s
In such situation, her diving rud.
ders would be useless without Roadway.
Death remained.
How il came is conjecture, but con.
lecture enlightened by stray glimmer-
ings of fact. ,s.e.
Suppose the opening, large or small,
to have been torn in the bow, or, even,
suppose the plates to have buekled un-
der the pressure of 1872 pounds to the
square inch, which it is at 800 fert,
and imagine a great gush of sea water
entering the bow forward. ..
There had been little time for
thought; there was less now.
George H. Ashcroft, gunner's mate,
was at the door between the forward
and middle compartments, where a
man always was stationed. He was
overwhelmed bgthe torrent. He prob
ably died there, for his body was found,
head down, AZ Me- boat lay; or on his
feet, hal she BON ip her proper posii
ton; and the corpse was jammed
against the wall.
Flee Into After Compartment
Perhaps single cry came from the
throats of the doomed men, and they
fed aft, into the engine compartment,
and away from the food Two stand
ing in front of the switchboard were
caught there, and there they died. These
men were Charles H. Wells, machin,
list s mate, and Frank N. Herzog, elec
trician.
But the others had turned aside from
death for a little time, and they had
gained the after compartment, and ha,l
closed the door against the wall of
water.
The door withstood the pressure for
space, for it was forced in, as was
the bulkhead, by the terrible force from
without.
This door, it is believed, was not
completely watertight. But, water
tight or not, it mattered little. The
men may have died very quickly.
The door of the forward compartment
was cast almost to the rear of the
middle compartment, and near tbs
bodies of Wells and Herzog. Explosion
of the batteries would follow the rush
of salt water into the sulphuric acid,
if they had not exploded before, but,
as indicated, this might have been a
secondary and not a primary cause Of
the disaster. W. h7t q.
Looking at the plan Of submarine
from the bottom, eight tanks would
be seen amidships, three on each side
and one small emergency tank with
each set. The batteries would be seen
between these tanks. Forward woul
be seen a tank Of fuel oil, and aft the
motors and engines. Bursting of fuel
oil tanks would account for the mass
of Oil that spread over the sea the
afternoon of March 25.
Submarines have been in tight places,
but only to depth Of 200 feet, and
'ound it difficult 10 come to the sur
| FACE then.
Difficult to Explain
If this theory of the hole forward be
ing caused by the impact on a reef !,
held, it is necessary to explain why the
divers did not report it before the
high seas of May 25. Perhaps it was
that they did not see it when they
were working in 300 feet of water, AZ
they were at the bow and stern, usual
ly, and spent only few minutes at the
bottom. However, there were divers
at the boat May 20 when she was in
about ffty-four feet Of water, but no
public statement as 10 the big rent
was made then. 1t may be, of course
that the rent was torn further by the
chains. To settle this point absolutely
would require detailed information, but
as said, the belief is held in some quar-