The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-15
Submarine Grounds on Cali
fornia Coast in Early Morn
J ing and Crew In Danger
BRAVE COAST GUARD
MAN HERO OF DAY
After Numerous Failures Line
IL Finally Gotten to Ship and
Her Crew Brought Ashore
!. in Breaches Buoy

Eureka, Cal, Dec. 1.-THE crew or
the H-3 il safe. The two lieutenants
und twenty men who fought death for
Hours as the submarine, which went
ashore early today, pounded on the
rocks, were brought across the $50
yards of water separating the strand
"a boat from the beach in 4 hreec hes
buoy early tonight. The rescue came
after day of alternate hope and fear
b9or the lives OF the divers crew. The
A-3, commanded by Aeutenant-C Com
mander H. r. Rogusch. grounded IN
q heavy fog off Samoa, two miles
rorth of the Humboldt BAY bar.
The vessel lay some distance on
shore. and at II o'clock was rolling
! At an angle OF 10 degrees To the
watchers on shore the news that those
aboard the diver were alive came in
blasts from the vessels whistle
. Through the same signals they told
that two OF their number had been In
iured. AT first there seemed little
chance of the divers crew ever reach
Ing land alive. The principal hope OF
| them Law in the tide and later this
hope was justified in part With the
rising OF the tide the H3 was swept
1sh feet UP the beach from where
she struck, This enabled the shooting
III til aAe IN ircr that carried life to
the Seamcr tonight.
Another Menace
Death in worse form than drown
Ing was near the mon when chlorine
gas was generated in the interior of
the subma suc. They escaped asphyx-
iation orig h- budding together in
u coming tower
J. The only hope of rescue was from
The shore. for while the Cheyenne
mother ship OF the H-s. and her sis
fx.rz hH q Z
Relief stood by. they We're unable to
he of aid, because Of the shallow
water in which the diver lay.
/ he lifting OF t@e fog this morning
Fho~a6fssne plight Of The submarine.
As she rolled with the waves her
coming Mower struck the bottom. pre-
venting her from rolling completely
over. No sign VI IF. could he seen
aboard. but presently the sound OF the
whistle was heard Tho whistle was
sounded at intervals all day, Two
short tiastS-aIl safe-was the most
frequent signal,
Once during the afternoon d seaman
Gfrea death in a futile effort TO make
sksf line which had been shot across
by lfe-savers. He was driven below
by the waves breaking over the craft.
Later Ave men appeared on deck and
chopped away some OF the wreck ed
Euperstructure. At that time the air
signals had stopped and officers OF the
Cheyenne believed the men had been
forced out of the hull by gas and had
taken refuge in the coming tower.
Success Al Last.
The real work OF rescue began at
Z o'clock, when n line was shot across
and made fast
A breaches buoy was rugged up and
one by one the undersea navy men
were drawn ashore. the last setting
loot on dry land at O'Clock. At that
time the diver was about 10 yards OFT
shore and riding In n fairly heavy sea
Hero of the Hour.
Werner Sweins Is the hero among
xh rescuers sweins thrilled the a.
600 people who watched his heroic
Work from the beach. and when he
came ashore on the hreeches buoy he
vas cheered time and again. Sweins
was ono OF the eight surf men who
nut out in the coast guard lifeboat, in
charge Of Captain Ellison. at &:o5
o'clock this afternoon. After n thrill
.gng ride through the breakers the cut
stsr made its way alongside the Hs.
ewsins lsaped to the submarine and
+3lfe-sAstHE-crs withdrew
v1atsr craft and washed Swsins of.
He rrasped a rope and drew himself
hnnk, This was repeated n second
time
While the surfman chung to the
superstructure Of the submarine he
kicked the coming tower in an effort
10 make the crew OF the HIS. who were
all secure below. open the hatch and
let him In. His efforts were finally re-
WArded
Swcins then rugged the ropes and
tackle aboard the HIS and at 4:45
o'clock the first member of the crew
was sent ashore In the breeches buoy.
Two minutes and a half were re-
cuIrcd to land each man, Citizens on
= VIZ beach aided the-efew the
(.heyenne In the rescue work
The HIS was built In Seattle. being
completed In February. 1919. She dis
placed ass tons. and was $50 feet long.
Lieut. Bogusch played an important
mart in raising the lost submarine F'-4
from the bottom of Honolulu harbor
nearly two years ago.