The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-09-04
SEVEN HOURS
OF HARD WORK
Two Engineers Toiled Like
Mad With Hand Ratchet
to Save Men in Sub
marine.
.PERFoRATIoNs IN STEEL
Holes Were Then Pried With Crow
bars Until Opening Was Large
Enough for Crew to s
Escape.
PERFORATIoNS IN STEEL

UNITED Press Leased Wire Service. ]
HOBOkEN, N. j., Sept. 4.-Three
new naval heroes today received the
plaudits of seafaring men along the
Hoboken water front They were
Lieutenant Commander Charles M.
Cooke, of the United States submarine
So and Engineers William Grace and
R. McWflliam, of the Panama liner
General George w. Goethals.
Recital of the dramatic rescue at
sea in the early morning hours yester-
day morning OF the thirty-seven i'm
prisoned members of the crew of the
submarine who had been below water
hope, practically gone for thirty-six
hours, was featured by the account
by the Goethals crew of the heroism
!of the three men. The Goethals was
one of the rescue ships that saved the
submarines crem.
For nearly seven hours, Grace and
McWilliam with few other tools than
la hand ratchet, fought through the
steel sides of the submarine, working
against time to force holes through
the she'll before the small reserve of
Ioxygen within the ship should be
exhausted series of small holes
bored, the engineers lay back, exhaust
led, while other sailors battered with
crow bars between the perforations.
Finally, the hole was large enough for
the men in the submarine to escape
and the two engineers were taken back
to their ship to rest while the rescued
men were pulled, one by one, from the
SIS. Lieutenant Commander Cooke, in
keeping with the best naval traditions,
refused to leave the submarine until
every member of the, crew was out.
The Goethals arrived here late yes
cident after the rescue had been COM
pleted.
Barely in Time.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, Sept. 4.-Res-
cue of the imprisoned sailors of the
submarine ,S-5 off the Delaware capes
early yesterday was accomplished
barely in time to save their lives, ac-
cording to stories brought ashore by
the crew of the destroyer Billingsby,
one of the vessels that went to the
submarines aid.
Her head pointing down and her
stern projecting into the air, because
of flooded forward compartments. the
submarines crew was forced to close
the water tight doors between the sec
tions and take refuge in the aft COM
partments, where they were jammed
together with practically no air Be
fore they could close the doors leading
to the flooded compartments, water
seeped into the aft compartments and,
by mixing with the sulphuric acid of
the ships batteries, generated chlor-
line, which almost suffocated the
crew.
Naval Court of Inquiry.
WASHINGTON, Sept. "A naval
court of inquiry will be called at once
to investigate the accident to the
submarine SIS, Secretary of the Navy
Daniels announced today. Daniels
pointed out that the convening of a
court of inquiry was matter of form
in all such mishaps, and should not
be taken as reflection on the men or
officers of the submarine.
Water 1865 Feet Deep.
WASHINGTON, Sept. "A vivid
description of the accident to the
submarine SIS and the plight of the
crew in the submerged craft was
given in a report received today by
Secretary of the Navy Daniels from
the commandant of the Philadelphia
navy yard.
"The SIS made quick dive for
exercise at 2 o'clock Wednesday
afternoon and a large valve. in the
air intake failed to close, admitting
large quantity of water to living
spaces" the report stated.
"The boat went to the bottom in
165 feet. Got the valve closed and
expelled all water possible where
upon the stern barely lifted out of
the water. Bow on the bottom in
clined down sixty degrees, water ran
into forward compartments. Storage
battery gave out strong chlorine
fumes. Forward compartment vacated
and sealed. Conducted all possible
efforts to expell water with no sue
cess.
"Chlorine also forced all to vacate
control room after which the thirty
eight officers and men crowded into
two small machinery spaces, aft and
soon began to suffer from bad air.
Finding the stern Just clear of