Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-29
SUBMARINE RS
SINKS IN PACIFIC

SAN PEDRO, Cal, Sept. 2S.-Only
two men lost their lives when the
submarine Rs sank in Los Angeles
harbor last night, it was officially
announced today by Rear Admiral
Hartman o. Stickney, commander of
the. Pacific fleet train, and an eye
witness of part of the disaster. A
third man who was missing and who
for a time was thought a possible
victim of the accident, has been &C
counted for, together with all other
officers and men CT the submarine.
Divers were working in thirty feet
Of water this morning alongside the
RS endeavoring to fix hawsers to
the craft which would make it pos
sible to raise her to the surface. 1t
was possible, according to naval men,
that anyone inside might have es-
capped to an alright compartment in
which life might be sustained Tor
forty-eight hours.
COMMANDER REPORTED
LAST TO LEAVE SHIP
LOS ANGELES, Cal, Sept. rs
Lieutenant I. r. Chambers, VINO was
in command of the submarine R-o'
is reported to have been the last
man to make an escape from the
craft when it sank late last night
in the outer harbor at San Pedro,
with a reported loss of two mem
bers of the crew.
After Lieutenant Chambers left
the submarine ne Immediately be-
gan to aid members of the crew I'M
able to swim to get to lifeboats and
pieces OF floating tip:bers.
According to story told by wit
nesses # the accident who were
aboard the tender Camden and the
sister ships, the Re- was ted UP at
o'clock last niwnt with two haW-
sers binding her 20 three sister ships
and two hawsers connecting the
string OF submarines with the moth
er ST. y
T7ior to the disaster the entire
crew, It was said. WAS i2sidt the
tull getting torpedoes ready for bat
tie practice. Suddenly the rear tor
pedc ture apparently yielded to pres
sure and opened The vesseI began
to fill rapidly ard the members OF
the crew rushed for IKE cCnrlnE tow
err. One of the first men to reach
the outer side of the Submarine was
seen to- cut thG E&Wsers releasing
t!>c csher submarines.
Just as the m@n. believed 20 have
been SIaulsberg, VINO was reported
drowned, reached the coming tower
ladder there was what. SCENE Q 20 pc
d gas explosion 1co II Is sald the
man was thrown clear OF the tower,
a stream of water following him. Inc
man. believed to Fav4 bear l0retfen,
| reported drowned, never reached the
| tower ladder, it is said, and is pc
| lieved to have gona down with the
The Re- was Of the holland type,
| built n 1918. I.ieutenants ;. y
Jutt and J. M. Steel wer" junior Of
ficers. 4
ty officers and men and efforts are
| being made to check the accounted
| for and the missing to determine II
any more men were lost. Up to mid
night no statement had been issued
| by navy officials.
1t is said that the submarine went
down bow first. AS soon as the
alarm was sounded searchl1ghts
from all ships of the fleet lying at
dnCIlOE Ill lie 4lciI DOI WOlO Ill hNN va
| to the scene of the disaster
According to the Examiner, execu-
tive officers of the submarine base
and the Pacific fleet were immedi-
ately called into a conference aboard
| the flagship Mexico. Advices re-
| garding the reported sinking were
| telegraphed to the navy department
at Washington and preparations Wer'
made for rescue work.
The Re was tie up to the tende
| Camden when she sank. That the
death list was not larger and that
only one submarine was involved is
thought to have been on the stricken
presence of mind of one sailor whose
name is not known, who, it is said
when the Rs began to settle, ran
up the fore peak and cut the haws-
ers by which the submarine was
moored to the Camden and two other
vessels of type similar to the re-.
Divers are working feverishly in
the hope that one sailor who is
thouhgt have been on the stricken
vessel may still be alive in the YES
sci which is rest on the harbo
floor under 35 feet of water. The
belief was expressed that should this
man still be in the Re- he may be
alive providing he was successful in
| closing the compartments into which
| the water rushed through open tubes.