Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-09-09
CREW OF THE So
FINALLY RESCUED
Men Were Taken Through Hole
Drilled in Hull-StOry of Res
cue Furnishes Thrilling Tale
of the Sea

New York Sept. 3.-The plight of
he disabled submarine S-5, whose
rev of 80 men was rescued early to-
lay after being submerged for "A
aours. was first learned by the steam
ship Alanthus, which accidentally dis
covered the submarine off the Delaware
capes yesterday afternoon with 30 feet
Of her bow portruding above the water.
Captain T.. G.. Swinson of the Steam
ship General George w. Goethals re-
ported on his arrival at Hoboken to-
night. Earlier reports were that the
General Goethals had located the dis
sressed undersea vessel by means of a
telephone buoy released from the sub
merged craft.
The crew of the submarine owe their
lives, he said to the quick work of
thief Engineer W. r. Grace Of the
General Goethals, and his assistant, r.
A. McWilliams.
The imprisoned men had cut small
hole through the hull and had stuck
through a pole on which was flying
sn undershirt. The Alanthus was un-
able to rescue the crew as she had no
apparatus for cutting through the sub
marines hull The crew of the Alan
thus however. began pumping air
through the small hole made by the
lndersea crafts crew.
at was about five twenty last
night" Captain Swinson said, when
we sighted the Alanthus flying distress
signals. about 40 miles east of the
Five Fathom Lighthouse.
1--WE drew up alongside and found
her made fast to the bow Of the sub
marine by cable. This cable was
only to keep her from drifting away,
as the submarine was perfectly bouy
ant. Her after-tanks were full and her
forward tanks empty so that she was
laying in the water at an angle of GO
degrees with 80 feet of hull above
water.
THE Alanthus explained the sub
marines plight and said she was I'M
able to give any aid other than pump
ing airthrough the small hole. The
Alanthus had radio outfit but no
operator so ! sent one OF our ratio
mon over to her. BY six o'clock, Grace.
McWilliams, and four other men were
standing on the submarines hull.
drilling for all they were worth. with
only one small hand rachel drill The
Alanthus radio was only good for a
20 mile range. so we relayed their
messages with our outfit. ! sent mes
saEes to Cape May, Philadelphia, Nor
folk, and New York telling of the sub
marines plight and calling for aid, as
l didn't think we would be able to
cut through the hull with our one lit
tic drill.
AT 915, the Alanthus flashed us
that Grace had number of holes
drilled through and the men were
greatly revived. I sent out the mes
sages but still called for help.
Later the Hunt, an oil tanker. arrived,
after picking up our message. She had
an electric drill but we found it was USE
less. She stood by several hours and final
ly left, finding she could offer no assist
ance.
I'm the meantime Grace and McWil.
liams were taking turns with the hard
drill and finally at 1:20 a. m. after hours
of the hardest kind of work, a hole was
cut through large enough for the men to
escape.
THE first man was taken out at / q.
and by 2:45 the last man. Lieutenant Com.
mander Charles NJ. Cooke, Jr., climbed
through the hole.
1.-THE men from the submarine revived
quickly, after being put aboard the At.
lanthus, where they We're given hot sour
and put to e. Many were bleeding at the
moth an nose, their faces We're swoer
and their eyes bloodshot but they still haC
plenty of spirit
AN credit for the rescue belongs to the
Grace and McWiliams, if ever men We're
heroes, they were"
The submarine crew was later trans
ferred to the battleship Ohio and the At
lanthus steamed towards Norfolk.
The General Goethals. owned by tn,
Panama Railroad Steamship company wa.
On her way from Cristobol via Haiti t
New York when the accident to the sub
marine was discovered.