Evening star., 1932-01-27
Location of Wreck Undeter-
mined as Scores of Ships
and AirpIanes Search Chan
mel for Clue to Position.
STRONG TIDES HALT
EFFORTS OF DIVERS
Delicate Sound Apparatus Fails to
Get Signals From Trapped Grew.
Vessel Equipped With Latest
Devices for Rescue From Bot
tom of Ocean.
By the Associated Press.

A4Opc VI ooN4LIS JIlt OE men IN tQe SUD-
marine M-2, which sank off Portland
yesterday, dissolved with the fading
day.
The wives Of the crew, most of them
watching operations Of the salvage YES
sels from the docks, received telegrams
from the commander of the submarines
mother ship, the Dolphin, that he
feared the men were lost.
Even the women who had borne up
most bravely gave way to despair at
this.
Chances Grow Simmer.
A statement from an admiralty off,
cial late this evening said hope had not
been given up entirely, but chances Of
rescue were growing more slender
with each hour
Everything depends on whether the
ship is damaged and has filled up he
said, If she is not damaged there still
ought to be enough air to keep the men
alive"
A check of the personnel list tonight
indicated that there might have been
more men aboard than was thought,
including two members of the Royal
Air Force in charge of the small sea-
plane the submarine carried, seven
submarine officers, and SO men.
There were TumorS the ship had been
located on the bottom by airpIanes
especially equipped for the work and
communication had been established
with the men inside, but these reports
were denied by the admiralty office
Another rumor said one of the planes
had sighted a large patch of oil on the
surface. but it developed it was only
mud stirred up by drags Scraped along
the bottom by the salvagers.
The admiralty office sent a man over
to Calais to talk to the captain of a
coasting vessel who was reported to
have seen the M-2 heave up by the
bows and go down stern first.
Divers Unable to Work.
Although they had little hope Of res
cuing any Of the men alive, the salvage
vessels stayed on the Job, dragging
Dead Mans Bay, where the ship Went
down in II fathomS to the bottom Of
the English Channel.
They tried to send divers down but
strong currents made the work perilOus,
and these operations were discontinued
until the tide should fall. later tonight.
1t was thought that the crew could
live not more than 48 hours inside the
M-2, and it was ominOuS that although
the most delicate listening apparatus
was being used, there was no sound of
the tapping that the trapped men
might make on the inside of the hull
The workers were not even enCOur-
| aged by a certainty that an object they
| detected on the Channel floor was the
I submarine. Throughout last night de-
StroyerS, mine SWeeperS and other naval
vessels SWarmed around the place Of
| hope and played their searchlightS upon
! it, while arrangements were rushed to
send divers down.
All the reScuerS knew was that there
was something on the bottom there that
gave forth a metallic ring when it was
struck by drags. On this evidence the
| navy pinned what faith it had in a
| rescue.
Along the shore a crowd strained
| anxious eyes watching the circles Of
| Pickering lights three miles out on Dead
Mans Bay. Wives, mothers and sweet
hearts of the submarines crew. most
of whom live here or at Plymouth, we're
among the watchers.
The submarine went down at 1890
a m. yesterday during routine practice
| exercises. The Mp is a sister ship of
! the MI which was lost in November,
| 1925, off Start Point, Devonshire, with
a toll of 68 lives. 1t has been popular
| in the Navy as a fine diving ship"
since it was built in 1920. 1t carried
small airplane in a watertight
| hangar.
Sailors Called from Movies.
The first news Portland had of the
sinking of the ship was a rumor that
| something had happened" to one of
the submarines. This was confirmed
when sailors were hastily called back
to their ships by orders read from the
stages of moving picture theaters.
An official at the headquarters of the
| naval commander in chief at Ports
mouth said the last message received
| from the M-2 was at 1901 am when
she reported she was about to begin
exercises. which would include diving
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