Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1917-07-13
Take a Chance
Boat Goes Down



sporting chance. Not only must they
be devoid Of nerves; they must be ut
terly destitute OF imagination. No one
who cannot go peacefully to sleep In
subsea quarters and all needless, as the
testers say, as TO what minute may
be his next Is wanted I'm submarines.
Therefore the men must not have the
short, men with imagination are not
wanted In the submarine service.
Moreover, they must be the kind OF
men who set no store by physical com
fort. With all this they must be men
who have been proved by experience
to be practically immune from seasick-
ness-that Is TO say, proved In subma-
rine craft, which Of all vessels are the
most trying on the stomach In seaway.
In a trip of 1900 miles made by
certain submarine all hands were at
first totally incapacitated except the
commanding officer and one man.
though the bulk Of them recovered aft
er certain time. The thing is that
the crew must be trained by actual ex-
perience in rough weather to resist sea-
sickness. This is, of course, particu-
larry true Of the cook.
There is no record of any sickness or
ailment due to the sense OF being con-
fined In a submarine. This Is not like
ly, however, to occur with men Of the
type indicated. Members OF a subma
rine crew cannot tell after the coming
tower patches close whether the boat
remains on the surface or goes down
200 feet except by looking at the depth
indicator And therefore II they do
not let their imaginations impress them
with what might happen In case any
thing went wrong they will not be
likely to be bothered by their position.
The selection for this service Is very
close Every one who serves In a sub
marine must be highly technical and
a highly trained man. Every man
must either be a very competent ma
chinist or an electrician or a gunner's
mate for gun for torpedo work. There
must also be radio operator I'm case
the vessel carries wireless.
In addition to all these technical quail
ificattons, the men must have distinc.
tive moral attributes. They should be
men who have volunteered for this
duty and not men who have simply
been assigned to it on account OF their
technical knowledge.
What the Destroyers Undergo.
Now for a glimpse OF destroyers tout
on high explosive spree" There was
combined fleet operation down Ca
ribbean way In which dreadnaughts
and destroyers were involved Officers
from the battleship feet were detailed
as observers on board the destroyers.
They had come from vessels steady as
castles and did not realize until it
came on to blow that night what life
on destroyer means.
These" according TO the official re-
port of the commander Of the destroy
er division, did their usual stunts"
They plunged and reared until you
could see under their forward keels.
They scooped up forecastles full Of
water, shook 1t of like Newfoundland
dogs, and they rolled fully 80 degrees
The result was that practically all the
battleship observers died an unnat-
ural death long before the problem be-
gan and remained dead, at least TO
any interest to torpedo tactics, until
the vessels got back into port the next
morning. However, they acquired some
experience and certain measure OF
sympathy for those who go down to
the sea In torpedo craft.
When the civilian volunteers went
on their battleship cruise Lieutenant
f. NJ Roberts one day told them about
service with the destroyers, a lecture
delivered upon the quarterback OF the
battleship Rhode Island and which, II
delivered today. would carry the same
message.
mo special attempt" he told the vol
unteers, lis made In selecting the men
to serve I'm torpedo craft. whether they
be fat men or lean men, short men or
tall men. The character and spirit are
developed by association after their
arrival. As rule, they are older than
the men Tor boys on the battlesh!ps.
"You know that one OF the charac-
teristics Of destroyer is ability to
make high speed. To this end 1t has
always been the policy Of the naval
constructors TO keep the fittings Of the
vessel strong, but OF light weight. No
chances were ever To- a. navy
constructors In tightening the destroy
ers by removal Of any fittings that they
considered unnecessary"