Evening star., 1933-08-27

41,ast -. -" --tN
- HE United States Navy = very thor
~, oughly equipped to deal with future
submarine disasters. This statement
should not be taken to mean that It
will always be possible to rescue the
crew Of q amken submarine or even
to recover the submarine itself. II the cause Of
sinking Is collision with another vessel, the
submarine win usually sank 90 quickly that 1t
Il impossible for all wa&er-tight compartments
to be closed. and soma. II not M. Of the crew
win be drowned. The greater part OF SUD
marines water-tight huh b submerged when
. submarine is On the surface. What We see
when q submarine II on the surface b the
superstructure and the conning tower. Tho
superstnlcture u not watef-tight Therefore.
when q large opening Is made In the huh, the
submarine drops like . plummet There Is not
that usual interval which We associate with
ahipwrecks wherein there Is time to launch lie
boats
An. idea of this terrific inflow Of water can
be gotten from the fact that when the y. s. s.
S-5l went down from collision with the steam
ship City Of Rome no one on the bridge was
saved. The helmsman was found In the after
end Of the submarine. swept down and aft by
the rush Of water The water had also swept
up heavy steel deck plates and carried them
along the passageways.
y
marine is diving and cannot come up, due to
some failure Of its internal machinery. In
such case there Is time to work calmly to
repair machinery or, II that cannot be done, to
ascend by blowing tanks with the reserve air
supply As last resort the crew can escape
by opening . hatch and ascending with the
Almg." They can do this II the water In which
they have sunk Is not too deep. The IS" type
Of submarine can Withstand . water pressure
Of 200 feet The "V'' type. the latest sub
MARINE can Withstand 800 feet Of pressure.
II they went much beyond these depths their
hulls would be crushed In. For this reason
diving "off soundings," a. it Is called, Is ex-
tremely dangerous But it has to be done. In
war time submarines cannot choose the location
Of their dives.
CUBMARINE crews are drilled constantly for
- emergencies and are trained to split into
two groups, one going forward and one att
closing water-tight doors after them % that
they can reach the forward and after compart-
ments, which are fitted for escape with the
submarine escape Device the lung" II the
collision were in either one OF these compart-
ments all would have to rush to one end Of the
submarine II tho water Is not too deep they
will be abse to escape By opening the hatch
and going up with the '2ung," which has been
tested to q depth Of 800 feet.
The first consideration after . submarine
disaster is to rescue the crew. The second
confederation Is to recover the submarine. For
rescue and salvage work the Navy has sub
marine rescue and salvage vessel on every
station where there are submarines. There are
five of these vessels-the Pigeon on the China
station. the Widgeon at Pearl Harbor. T. H.;
the Ortolan at San Diego. the Mallard at the
Canal Zone and the Falcon at New London,
Conn. They are equipped with all the gear
necessary for raising . slnken submarine. In
Guiding great pontoons for raising them.
Annual tests are carried out by these vessels
for training their divers. A submarine simu-
1ates q disaster by submerging In . spot un-
known to the rescue vessel except As to general
vicinity. The rescue vessel, with the aid of
other submarines equipped with Underwater
listening devices locates the submarine and
sends divers down to hook up air hoses to her
salvage connections. The rescue vessel stands
clear and blows her to the surface.
The original training Of the divers for the
rescue vessels Is done at the Deep Sea Diving
School here in Warrington. A class Of divers
Is convened every six months to 90 through
six months Of intensive diving training. At
present there are nine men undergoing training
The candidates are carefully selected for their
physical qualifications. Small men are not
excluded, as small wiry men often make good
divers. However, the ideal physical type Is
fairly large. strong and not fat. Courage In q
diver Is indispensable, and courage usually goes
with intelligence. The candidates must be
rated men, and men who have made . rate In
the Navy are usually intelligent
Tho first week Of training Is done I'm the
school building In . large tank. The tank has
port holes through which the instructors can
observe the divers and direct them through
tho telephones In the divers helmets. The
student learns to adjust his air supply and ex-
haust valves 50 as to obtain the proper buoy
ancy In his suit. II he has too much air, his
suit bulges and he Is unwieldy, or he may blow
himself to the surface like . balloon. He works
to obtain . slight negative buoyancy 30 that