Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-03
Tpo From, Here a
Taken Off SIS

submarine Wouiu haNe D'o" 'oPS
,esslv lost in the depths of the ocean.
Story Told in Radios
The story of the rescue is told
graphically in radio messages re-
ceived at the Philadelphia Navy |
Yard during the early hours of.this
morning.
q" .3s a. m. From the U. S. S.
coetbals. First man had been re-
moved at 1920"
"s:12 a. m. All men of the sub
marine now on the S. S. Alanthus.
Captain came last. Men in pretty
had shape, but all recovering. None
injured"
"4:5S a. m. Submarine partly
flooded making a crash dive; lati-
tude $3.50 north, longitude, 74:02
west. All safe. Request relatives
and press be notified. So at in
clination of 60 degrees down by her
how. Is now secured to the S. S.
Alanthus, being towed to the Della
ware Breakwater. Boat can be sal
vaged. Crew and officer still on
board the Alanthus."
Another dispatch received at the
Philadelphia navy yard from the
Alanthus read as follows: =
Nose Rests on Ocean Bed
"S-5 secured to s. S. Alanthus.
Fifteen feet Of stern above water.
Probably slight negative buoyancy.
Nose Of boat on bottom. U. S. s.
vessels present: Brozos, 'Overton,
Billingsly, Putnam and William B.
Preston. Proposed towing S-5 to-
ward Delaware Capes. S. S. Alan
thus and Brozos to take towing If
Alanthus fails. Recommend service
of salvage company be Immediately
obtained to render assistance off the
Delaware Capes." The message is
sis.ad, "Alanthus."
Although the S-5 made it's fatal
"crash dive" Wednesday morning, no
word was received of her plight until 9
o'clock last evening. Then a dispatch
fsom the transport General Goethals,
received at Cape May, was relayed to
Admiral Hughes, commandant at the
navy yard here.
Was on Maiden Voyage
The So put out from Boston har-
Dor Monday morning, on her maiden
voyage. The swift and powerful
craft, 200 feet long. had just been
turned over by her builders, the Bethle-
hem Shipbuilding Corporation at Fore
River, Mass
The submarine. groomed and tuned
to perfection, was on recruiting ex
pcdition, with stops planned at Atlantic
ports. She was to take part in some
sea maneuvers on the way. and end
her first sea trip at Baltimore. In
command was Lieutenant Commander
Charles VI. Cooke, Jr., Arkansas.
The voyage was uneventful until
Wednesday morning. Then, in latitude
IS 80 north and longitude "A :02 west.
about fifty five miles off Cape Henlopcn.
came disaster. The So had attempted
crash dive" swift descent into
the depths of the sea such as sub
maripe must resort to frequently under
actual war conditions. Something went
wrong-what it was has not yet been
revealed. The submarine became partly
flooded and the machinery refused to
work.
The So had Travelled without escort
The men were trapped. The emergency
had come which every man who goes to
sea in a submarine secretly breads and
tries not to think about. The five off
GERS. all of them experts in submarine
work, used every resource in their ef-
fort to start once more the electrically
driven engines which are used to propel
submarines when they are submerged.
The crew, seasoned like their Off
GERS in submarine work, kept admirably
cool. working with quiet energy to carry
out the various expedients, tried and
abandoned, to float the vessel.
Long Wait for Life or Death
As the first few minutes of feverish
effort passed without fruit, officers and
crew steadied down to what they hoped
against hope might be a successful at
tempt to clear the jammed machinery
and get the submarine to the surface
once more before the precious supply Of
air became exhausted. AS the hours
passed it became evident to the most
sanguine that rescue would have to come
from outside.
slender cable attached to a buoy
held all the hopes OF the forty two men
on the disabled submarine. 1t was a de-
vice invented during the war, and never
tested under conditions where its sue
cess or failure meant life or death to
men trapped beneath the sea. The buoy
Is carried on the deck of American sub
marines, with device to release it from
within the vessel. 1t is for use in just
such emergencies. A submarine, when
II hnds itself crippled, releases the
buoy, which rises to the surface. 1t is
equipped with an electric siren, which
can be kept going by the power of the
Fnbmarine's batteries. With this horn
Morse messages asking for help can be
spelled out.
Buoy Held Fate Of Forty two
One of Commander Cooks first acts
when the submarine struck the ocean