Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-25
Submarine Safety Promised by
Successful Escape Hatch Test

Satisfaction at the prospect of great
er safety in the operation Of the Nays
submarines, and grim recollections of
the tragedy which originally brought the
| S-4 to public attention, mark COM
ments on the announcement of success
full experiments with an escape device
installed on the same vessel which last
Winter proved death trap for its crew
off the Massachusetts, coast.
so there Is safety in submarines,
| after all" exclaims the Milwaukee Jour-
nal. And We are encouraged in the
hope that never again will men caught
beneath the surface find their tomb in
the very ship that was built for their
protection. But what long list of dis
asterS 1t has taken to arouse the initia-
tive Of the Navy! One recalls the state
mentS from Washington at the time
men were dying in the S-4 and the
country was aroused that nothing could
be done to make summarizing safe. You
couldn't put lifting eyes on the ship
and you couldn't prepare way for the
men to escape. But in one short year
both things have been accomplished on
this experimental vessel. Let the les
son be not only for submarine construc-
ton, but for all naval work. Human
initiative can provide safety when it
overcomes human inertia. There Is the
very thing we have always had to con-
tend with most in our Navy-inertia"
THE United States Navy has met q
great difficulty and conquered it." de-
clares the Bangor Commercial. 1.-THE
result of the experiment undoubtedly
means that the submarines of this Gov
eminent will all be equipped with the
escape hatch unless some more valuable
method Of escape be discovered. and
doubtless other navies will take similar
action. One Of the great weaknesses of
submarines has been the practical GER
tainty that the lives of the crews would
be sacrificed in the event of the failure
Of the craft to rise after submerging.
Many navies have suffered such disas-
tiers, and In each the sympathies of the
world have been stirred. The disaster
off Provincetown, terrible as 1t was. has
brought remedial action. It stirred the
invention Of man to successful effort.
Crews Of submarines will continue to
take hazards. but with the new equip
ment the ratio of danger will be vastly
decreased"
Submarine tragedies in recent years."
the New Orleans Tribune explains.
"have grown In magnitude because of
the ships greater size and larger crews.
The public has regarded these fatal &C
cidents with more horror than the
drowning of as many men In other cir
cumstances would arouse. There Is
dramatic element In submarine DEATH"
AS to insistent demands for safety, the
Tribune says: There is more In build
ing submarines than consideration for
the crews safety. Primarily these are
battle craft. Other things must be
sCbservient to features of construction
which promote swiftness Of attack and
retreat and wide cruising radius. If
safety were the primary consideration,
there would be no subs" OF the new
devices that paper concludes that their
practicability seems assured"
The men who made the recent ex-
periments are hailed by the Butte,
Mont, Standard as "the first men
who ever have escaped alive from the
tomb of sunken submarine without
aid from the surface" and the men who
went down on the S-4 in its disas-
trous experience are declared by the
Standard to have been the means Of