Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-24
NEW SUBSEA DEVICE
SAVES" NAVY MEN
ITO FEET UNDER WATER
Continued from First Page)

Taking It easy, to avoid too rapid
expansion of the air in his lungs, which
causes the dreaded bends" Lieut..
Momsen, in exactly 2 minutes by a stop
watch, broke the surface. THE Lung"
is so devised that as the oxygen in the.
bag expands and gives too much breath
to the ascending man, simple pres
sure on the bag will cause part OF the
oxygen to escape through release valve
and bring the contents Of the bag down
to ordinary breathing conditions.
Diver Eiben. with Hoy as his lock
tender, then went down and repeated
Lieut., Momsen's ascent. taking min
utas and as seconds for his ascent. Both
the men who used THE Lung and the
tenders were put in the small decom-
preston chamber Of the Crilley. Five
hours from Washington, where there
was competent medical attention. Lieut..
Momsen said he felt it was necessary
to take every precaution to prevent the
bends" although he believed that
without decomposition there would have
been no serious effect.
Reporter Makes Test.
In the afternoon Lieut.. Momsen
allowed the writer to test THE Lung"
worked perfectly and taking 1t along
slowly, / reached the surface in 80
seconds. As an added precautionary
measure a lifeline held by Chief Gum
ner Tibbals was secured around my
chest and was used to pull me up
beside the small boat after I had
reached my cork buoy at the surface,
The inventors of The Lung" expect
that 1t will be placed In submarines as
part of the general equipment. just as
service flyers are required to carry
parachutes,
with the aid of escape matches for
all the compartments In submarines. a
rammed submarine could be emptied of
Its human cargo In short time.
Submarine compartments are so
built that they act as natural diving
bell when flooded Lungs placed
orderly escape OF trapped men. The
inventors claim that the device Is ex-
pected to enable men to go from one
compartment to another before leaving
the submerged ship.
The rescue apparatus still only In Its
experimental stages, Is admittedly in
need of refinementS. The one In use
Yesterday was made by the inventors
with their own hands at the Navy
Yard here. 1t Is crude. old gas mask
tubing, heavy rubber sheeting. an auto
mobile tire valve, some small rubber
hose. such as that used for syphons, and
a small canister OF soda lime to purify
the carbon dioxide exhaled by the
wearer are the principal parts. There
are intricate valves. however. the work
ingS of which are secrets guarded jeal-
ously by the inventors,
Easy to Don.
Two tubes connect with the rubber
mouthpiece and the oxygen bag. Be
fore leaving a sunken vessel the wearer,
who can don the apparatus in from
s TO 30 seconds. can secure a supply OF
oxygen from oxygen tanks already car
ried In strategic positions aboard sub
marines In second or two. and thence
leave the ship by the aforementioned
escape matches
On the Crilley's return 10 Washington
1.-THE boat. by the way. vas named for
Frank Criiley, who was awarded the
Congressional medal for his work In
the attempted rescue OF the crew of
the rammed S~4) the tests with THE
Lung" will be carried forward.
When the reconditioned So, now In
the Portsmouth, N, H.. Navy Yard, Is
put into commission about October
this device win be given It's final tests
The actual escape hatch method OF
leaving the vessel win be tried, Lieut.,
Momsen, although he has not actually
received his orders has been designated
To command her. She will be known
technically as test hulk"
Tibhals. Hohson and Momsen expect
to take their tests OF "'rhe Lung" as
deep a. 400 OF 2a5 feet, off the New
England Coast,
"'rhe Lung" will be by no means the
only device tested aboard the H-4. The
strength and resistance of submarine
huikheads doors and escape matches.
experiments with diving bells, access 10