The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-12-19
Rough Sea Halts
Rescue Of Men

I AVS0NON VA ASASAs
/ CONTINUED flon, page one)
the Morse code to q diver along.
side on the sandy bottom.
! The messages follow:
Diver-ls gas bad?
Submarine-No; but the air. How
long will you be now?
Overflow many are there
Submarine-There are six. Will
you be long now?
Diver-We are doing everything
possible.
The message that told the fleet
that men still lived on the Sd
came from the torpedo room. From
the other compartments there was
| no encouraging word.
Hole Ripped Through Plates
A great hole, ripped through the
heavy steel plates starboard at
amidships and just forward Of the
ship'a four-inch gun, left little
doubt Of the fate Of officers and
men on duty there when the speed
ing PROV Of the Paulding Glove its
way into the submersible's side.
Aft Of the coming tower there
was silence, too, but there was also
hope, however slight. Divers had
been unable to elicit q response to
their tappings because Of the mass
of wreckage which obstructed the
decks.
On the surface, the frenzied yet
orderly efforts at rescue went for
ward with zeal. Three mine layers
which stood by continuously since
shortly after the crash formed q
triangle about the spot.
The Mallard and the Lark stead
led the Falcon, aboard which Ad-
miral Brumby and his staff directed
the operations Of the divers. Two
submarine tenders, the Wandank
and the Bushnell, were prepared to
help while short distance away
four destroyers restlessly awaited
orders.
Will Use Pontoons
Farther off, the naval tugs Saga
more and Iuka raced under forced
draft against q handicap Of heavy
seas and adverse winds to bring six
pontooAs from the Brooklyn-New
York navy yard.
The pontoons were similar to
those used to raise the S-51, which
went down off Block Island two
Years ago with loss Of 33 lives.
Naval officers pinned their hope of
effecting a rescue on these, should
attempts now in progress fail to
lift the wreck with compressed air.
The pontoons would take. at least
two days to attach under the most
favorable circumstances but wealth
er conditions were said never to
have been worse for such work.
( 4 IL Choppy
"A brisk, cold breeze and choppy
sea numbed divers and made their
work hazardous.
Should it appear that there was
immediate prospect of bringing
the submarine to the surface with
air, an attempt will be made to in
troduce an air line into the compart-
ment where the six are.
Two men were aboard the rescue
fleet, on whom the navy banked
especially high. Both we're veter-
ans Of the Ssh operations.
One was Captain E. J. King, who
salvaged the wrecked hull of the
Block Island disaster ship and who
raced by seaplane to take over di-
rect charge Of similar work here.
The other was Commander Ellis
berg, retired, Of Westfield. N. j.,
who supervised diving wosk there
and whose emergence from the
quiet Of his retirement was volun-
tary.
Commander Ellsberg was at home
when he heard the news.
No sooner had he been sworn in
Saturday night than he was ordered
to active. duty.
The commander embarked late
last night and today, after a swift
run across Massachusetts, bay, was
ready for work.
20 Divers on Hand
Nearly 20 divers were on hand to
await his orders.
Another reminder of the S-51 was
the news that the derrick ship Gen.
fury Of the Merritt Chapman-Scott
company was on its way to the
scene.
Two ships of the Century type
and owned by the same company at
tempted to raise the Ssh, but that
craft, although Of the same line.
might be employed here with more
| success.
Commander Ellsberg said he be-
lieved 1t might be possible to bring
the bow Of the submarine to the
surface by attaching two pontoons
to its nose. At least two days would
be needed.
Thomas Eadie and w. ]. Carr were
the naval divers first to reach the
wreck, which lay 102 feet below the
surface and almost at the scene o.
the crash, 1900 yards off the Wood
End coast guard station on the out
side tip Of Cape Cod.
MEN SIGNAY. FOR