The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1915-05-04
New York SUM

submarine F-4 while maneuvering in
te waters off Honolulu recalls some
| of the disastrous accidents that have
/ happened to submarine boats Of the
other naval powers which have expert
mented extensively with undersea
I craft France, England, Germany and
Japan. Although the sinking Of the
F.4 is the first fatal accident the Unit
ed States navy has experienced with
submarines, their development IN the
case of the other nations has been
accompanied by many terrible fatali.
! ties All of them have last submarines
with their crews, the principal cause OF
these accidents being the result of the
submarines colliding with other yes
sells, in some cases with war vessels
acting as guardians while the ubmar-
ines were maneuveriuE. AS a rule the
submarines alone suffered from these
collisions, sinking before aid could
reach them.
In 1906 France Sustained a submar-
inc loss which not only shocked that
nation, but stunned the marine author
tiles of the world On October 16 Of
that year the submarine boat Lutin
with 13 men aboard started out in the
morning for her submersion trials in
the water near Bizerta. The vessel de-
scended and did not rise again. After
waiting for her to leappear the officers
Of the accompanying warship BECAME
anxious, but they did not abandon hope
and her fate was in doubt for some
time.
Finally it was decided that the Lutin
lay at the bottom of the sea at
depth OF 40 meters. Vessels equipped
with the necessary apparatus were
hurriedly summoned to drag the spot
where the submarine disappeared and
after some hours of work they sue
ceeded in locating what was believed
to be the sunken submarine.
On October is word was flashed to
the Minister of Marine in Paris that
the Lutin had been found at depth
of lis feet He was informed that
the vessel was lying on her side and
shat while the huh OF the vessel was
intact, the probable chances were that
the entire crew had perished
Despite all efforts the Lutin was not
raised until October 2S. The submar-
inc was towed to the Ferryville dock
nea Tunis. Efforts were Immediately
made to remove the bodies from the
vessel. They were found to be decom-
posed, principally by reason Of the
acids that escaped from the batteries.
a commission was formed TO investi-
gate the accident. On November q, |
Minister of Marine Thompson an
nounced its report.
The commission found that a pebble
had been the direct cause of the acci- ,
dent. An interior bulkhead OF one
of the water ballast compartments !
near the stern was too weak to with !
stand the pressure of the intake ofl
water and had given away. This alb
normal pressure was due TO the fact |
that the corresponding intake of
water had not closed because OF the
presence of pebble in front OF the
sluice gate of the sea valve.
According to the commission most
of the crew had taken refuge in the |
maneuvering compartment, but the |
members had quickly become affected |
by the increased air pressure. An at !
tempt had been made to open the hood, |
but had failed, principally because
of the weakened condition of the men.
The bodies of three Of the crew were
found in position which indicated
they had made an attempt to escape
through the open hood. The body of
the commander was found with the
right hand clutching the exit ladder
below the hood. His left hand rested
but he had been unable to turn the
crank because two bodies were wedged
in the cupola in space hardly sufficient
for the presence of one.
Two clocks We're found on board the
Lutin. One had stopped at 1882
o'clock. The minute hand had fallen
off the other clock, but the hour hand
showed the time approximately 11:10.
In spite of this the commission decid-
ed the imprisoned men had lived less
than Is minutes.
A French submarine also was the
victim of an accident which shocked
the world in May, 1910 On the 9th
of that month the submarine Pluviose
left Calais at Las p. m. for submer-
sion tests. Half an hour later the
steamship Pas de Calais of the Calais
and Dover Line, carrying passengers
and mail to England, left her pier
There were many Americans on board
who subsequently were witnesses to
the fatal accident.
The Pas de Calais had got well out
;nto tbo ctraon uhan hor naddlo u,haa1