Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-01-31
CREW RESCUED
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whose clothing had frozen in the
night-long struggle with gale. sea
and cold, had to be carried from the
deck of the submarine to the coast
! guard boats.
| Officers investigating the position
OF the S-4S today reported that she
was in no immediate danger. The
! two breakwaterS of Little Harbor
protect her from the seas, where she
lies In IL feet of water at low tide
on soft bottom. At high water the
| vessel is submerged except for her
coming tower and part of the super
structure. Her bow is pointed sea-
ward. Members of the crew said
that at flood tide the ship lifted to
| the seas.
; All water-tight compartments and
matches except the upper coming
tower were closed by the crew be-
! fore they abandoned the vessel.
| The chief damage to the subma-
! rine appeared to be at the head,
where she pounded on the rocks of
Point Jaffrey for several hours last
night. The front turret room is
flooded and the front control and
battery rooms also are partially
flooded, although the officers were
not able to ascertain whether the
latter two had been punctured. The
| aft control room was said to be in
fair condition. The propellers, div
ing planes and rudder were reported
badly damaged. The port bilge keel
Is denied and some dents are visible
on the port side when the vessel Is
out of water.
The S-4S struck on the rocks out
side the little harbor breakwAter at
! 7.34 o'clock last night while on her
! way from New London, Conn.,, to
the Portsmouth Navy Yard for over
! hauling. Her port engine was out of
order. A terrific northeast gale
/ driving snow and rain forced the
: submarine ashore while her sister
ship, the SOL and the naval tender
| Chewink. accompanying her from
New London, anchored safely. At
times, according to Commander
Bray, he vessel listed 70 degrees.
The force of the storm prevented
naval tugs and coast guard boats
from reaching the S-4S in response
to her radio calls for help. Search
lights from Fort Constitution were
played on the vessel and an effort
was made to bring breeches buoy
| equipment to the scene. The radio
tailed finally and at last the lights
on board went out, leading watchers
on shore to fear that the vessel had
foundered. Early today she was lift
ed by a wave and driven between
the breakwaters into Little Harbor.
AS water from leaks in the bow
trickled into the battery room, chlor-
Inc gas fumes spread through the
snip and the crew were driven to
i the decks, where they bore the force
of the storm for hours. 1t was $50
o'clock when the first coast guard
dory reached the submarine, and in
flve trips the men were taken ashore
to the fort. With the crews were
rescued two dogs, mascots of the
S-4S.
Two units OF the United States
submarine fleet are now fast on bars
, on the New England coast. The
SIP grounded on the outer bar of
Orleans Harbor. Cape Cod, January
IL, and is still held in the sand.
! Coastguardsmen and naval officers
concerned in the rescue work char
actertzed as little short Of marvellous
, the escape Of the S-4S from destruc-
ton on the jagged rocks Of the outer
harbor. Caught on the reef, a con-
tinuation of the battering wind and
sea would have dashed the submar-
| Inc to pieces, It was said.
| With rescue workers unable to
approach or assist the standard craft,
combination of wind and tide and
! sea lifted her from the reef in the
dark early hours of the morning and
/ sent the helpless vessel plunged in
darkness as the result OF the falling
| of the lighting system and Isolated
through the disabling Of her wire
| less. drifting toward the granite
/ breakwater. In some manner she
/, slipped safely through a 100 foot
open space in the breakwater to be
driven to resting place on a mud
bank In the quicter waters Of Little
Harbor.
Meanwhile the crew retreated ana,
closed one compartment after an
other as deadly chlorine fumes crept
through the submarine.
AS the boat drifted and at last
went aground one member Of the
crew signalled with a hand fiashligi1t
, the telegraph S. o. S. in the hope
that rescuers would find the position
of the vessel which the crew itself
did not know. An observer at Fort
Constitution, scanning te sea in the
ho2e of catching q glimpse of the
submarine which had suddenly van
ished in the darkness and storm, was
the first to see the feeble, Pickering
signal which showed the submarine
to be still above water and her crew
still alive.
The final hours of waiting were
passed on the decks of the stranded
craft owing to the chlorine fumes
within. Only one Of the 81 men res.
cued at last by the coastguardsmen
was reported tonight to be very much
the worse for his experience, how
ever The extent Of injury to this
crew member, William Mccarthy,
who hailed from Georgia, was bruis-
es sustained in the course Of the
rolling and the collision and a pair
of frosted feet.
While the vessel was grinding on
the reef, according to her command
er. the men on the bridge were able
to see the rock on which they were
stranded each time she rolled. Once
members of the crew reported Com
mander Bray seized Mccarthy and
dragged him to safety as he was
about to fall over the ships rail.
Naval constructor H. E. Saunders,
superintendent of submarine con-
struction at the Portsmouth Navy
Yard, made a preliminary inspection
of the wreck today. The craft will
not be hauled into deep water pend
| ing receipt of his report. Further
damage is unlikely under existing
conditions, 1t was said.
Carried Crew 81