The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-03-27
TRAPPED IN A SUBMARINE.
And How Trapped Sailor Made His
Escape.

his teacher talked "Boyle's law and
Archimede's principles and later
thanked his lucky stars, is told IN
the March number of Popular Sci
ence Monthly, by Joseph Brinker:
What was Boyle or the laws that
gasses and liquids under pressure
obey to him?
The time came, ten years later,
when they meant life or death TO
him. 1t happened during the war,
when he was on the crew Of Brit
ish submarine.
His boat was lying idly on the
surface of the water. All of the Of
icers and crew except himself were
enjoying holiday ashore. He went
below to work in the engine room
and left the coming tower hatch
open. Then something happened
the Young man never knew just
what-and the boat lurched down by
the bow.
He thought of the coming tower
hatch. and rushed forward to close
it. But the water was already pour
ing in with such force that he was
unable to accomplish his purpose.
He returned aft to the engine room
and locked himself in by means OF
a watertight door which separated
the boat into two compartments.
He was safe temporarily, but
the other half of the boat was filling
with water and the submarine was
sinking lower and lower:
The engine room was in complete
darkness, due to the short-circuitlng
of the electric system. Everything
he touched shocked him.
The salt water on the storage
batteries generating suffocating chlo-
rine gas. He rushed blindly at the
engine room hatch and tried to force
it open. But his strength was no
match for the pressure of the wa
ter outside; and, even if he had
been able to open it, he would have
been no better off, for the water
would have rushed in and drowned
him before he could possibly get
out.
"Realizing that his last chance
was gone he grew quite calm and, as
is the custom of dying folk, reviewed
the things he had done and those he
ought not to have done while here
on earth.
AS he came to that day in school
when he unwillingly learned of pres
sure he stopped. Water, gas, pres
sure-what about them?
Then he remembered that, in the
case of body submerged in water,
the combined force of gas within and
the strength of the body material
must equal the force of the water
without, or the water would crush
the body in. Just so the combined
force of the air in the submarine
and the steel hatch equaled the force
of the water pressing down on it. If
he could make the force of the air
in the boat equal to the pressure of
the water on the boat, then the hatch
would be relieved of the strain of
holding off the water and would be
easily lifted.
How could he increase the force
of the air? Then he thought of
Boyle's law, which he had been fore
ed to memorize on the long-ago
schoolday-the volume Of gas va
ries inversely with it's pressure. II
he decreased the volume of the gas
in the submarine he might increase
the pressure enough to make it
equal that of the water. This done
the hatch would be in equilibrium
and consequently easily moved.
His next problem was how to de-
crease the volume of the air. There
was only one way to do
this-by letting the water in.
If he did that he would be
taking a last desperate chance.
for he did not know how much COM
pressing the air needed before it
would exert a force equal to that of
the water outside. If this failed him,
he would drown without doubt.
He decided to take the chance
So cropping in the dark, he opened
the bilge valve and let the water in.
AS it crept up about his waist he
philosophically decided that he would
much rather drown than suffocate
anyway. But when it reached his
waist he grew somewhat nervous and
thought he'd better try the hatch.
"He pushed against it, and it