Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-23
MercifuI Ne7O M0ention Of United States
Macy Scientists Enables 1aUo-W/ay Com
munication Win Undersea Craft Stranded
by Disaster on the Bottom O the Ocean.

where the current is controlled, and the ma
chinery by which the cable is operated. There
is a motor generator, amplifer, a repro
Queer and batteries. The hull of the sub
marine acts as a diaphragm and sound con-
ductor to the reproducer
At the end of the telephone cable-a strong
cable many times larger than telephone wire
there is double diaphragm and a double
electromagnetic so that either side of the APP
paratuS which comes in contact with the sunken
vessel can convey the msssages to and fro
1t is watertight and is built to Withstand the
rough handling incident to lowering 1T to
submarine.
THE first crude forms of the instrument were
tried out in the tanks at the navy yard in
Washington, where the great depths and in
creased preSsures of the ocean could be dupli-
Gated The first developments required great
lung power for communications to be estab-
lshed Gradually, however, the instrument
was refined until the more ordinary tones of
the voice could be used.
It was subsequently tried out by divers and
on various types of surface vessels and finally
installed on the Falcon for tests between that
ship and a submarine in actual operation.
Ultimately the telephone may be used as
a method of official communication in case
of war, but its main benefit will accrue from
the possibility of getting in touch with the
men inside sunken submarine. First, it will
enable those who working above the wreck
on the rescue ship to find out Immediately
whether not there Is life aboard the sub
marine-the only real reason for hurry in rails
ing the submarine.
once contact has been established the main
purpose of the telephone will be to keep those
in the submarine apprised of what is being
done to rescue them and to solicit their help
if it is needed but, above all, it will keep them
hopeful Also. suggestions may be conveyed
to them concerning improvements that might
be made in their conditions.
The main feature in any submarine rescue
is time. Naval officers have repeatedly said
that the element of time was the only thing
that kept them from saving the members OF
the Inflated S-4. The terrific gales which
rocked the ocean made it impossible for the
Falcon to maintain her position and for the
divers to continue their work.
But plans and developments for the rescue
of the crews of sunken submarines have now
progressed so far that it is hoped the time
needed will be appreciably shortened In any
rescue work the first step is, of course, to locate
the sunken ship. Apparatus has been perfected
both in the United States and by the navieS
of other countries of the world which will en-
able naval authorities to locate sunken sub
marine in very short period of time.
The first thing to be done after the rescue
ship anchors over the spot will be to send down
the telephone to find out how many men are
alive inside the ship 1t has been estimated
ItlaC at the very longest, IeIepnOne cOHnmuDlca-
tons with the new device may be established
in three minutes. Even If the telephone APP
paratus struck a portion of the wreckage of
the disabled submarine at some distance from
the compartments in which men were shut, any
sound within the hull would be picked up by
the telephone. If there was knocking or any
faint noises that might indicate life in part
of the submarine remote from the point of con-
tact, the current to the electromagnetic could
easily be switched off, the contact thereby
broken and the apparatus shifted to another
part of the vessel to make communications more
distinct and satisfactory.
I$t has been estimated that the telephone
cable line to a sunken submarine will be good
down TO a depth of at least 200 feet and pos
sbly farther, although even the newest and