Evening star., 1939-05-28
i. S., a Leader in Submarine
Safety, Does Not Hide Findings
Navy Skaters Precedent by Making Its Devices
Best in the World, Available
to Every Nation
By Joseph H. Baird.

The United States Navy leads the
world in the development of submarine
safety devices. How. in their first major
tests. these inventions saved the lives of
B3 officers and men on the Squalus under
conditions which 10 years ago would
have meant their virtually certain death,
has now been written into naval history.
What some readers may not know,
however, is that the United States Navy,
which usually keeps its scientific expert
mentation a well-guarded secret has
violated precedent by presenting its
wealth of safety discoveries to the fleets
of the world.
Secrecy ends where humanitarianism
begins" as one officer phrased it, 1--WE
are glad to contribute everything we can
to safety of life at sea-"
Americas intensive effort to devise
means Of saving the crews of sunken
submarines began in earnest about 1927.
With the S-4 and S-51 disasters fresh in
mind, the Navy Department ordered a
broad program of experimentation The
Leaders IN this work were Frank NJ Hob
son. civilian engineer in the Navy De-
partment: 1t. Comdr. Charles B. Nom
sen, Chief Gunner c. L. Tibbals, now a
retired lieutenant-all of whom con-
centrated on underwater breathing de-
vices-and 1t. Comdr. A. r. McCann,
who studied diving bells
A laboratory was set up at the Navy
Yard here, including a tank in which
deep-sea preSsures could be simulated.
There 1t, Comdr. Momsen, Mr.. Hobson
and Mr.. Tibbals did their spade work on
their famous lung" At the Navy De-
partment 1t. Comdr. McCann designed
the safety chamber which was RESPONSE
BILE for saving the SO lives on the Squalus.
Tests at sea later were carried out off
the coast of Florida and elsewhere.
Apparatus Made Available.
Months of strenuous, often dangerous,
work and thousands of dollars went into
these experiments. But when, at last,
the McCann bell" and the lung" were
perfected and had met series of tests
to prove their absolute reliability, naval
attaches of every sea power represented
In Washington were called to the Navy
Department. They were shown the
lung" shown photographs of the ex-
periments conducted off Florida. given
diagrams OF the apparatus and told that
this new boon to safety would be made
available to them.
The same policy of open experimental
ton has been followed on the other sub
marine safety devices developed by the
Navy. However, for unknown reasons,
foreign navies have been slow in taking
full advantage Of this research. None
Of them, so far as Is known, has adapted
its submarines to the use of the safety
chamber which proved so effective in
1escuing the men of the Squalus.
While America leads in perfecting sub
marine safety devices, other nations have
not been idle and have contributed to
the universal store of nfe-saving knowl-
edge.
Germany, which pioneered in the
large-scale development of the sub
marine, developed, as early as the World
War, crude forerunner of the present
''lung," which enables men to breath
while ascending from a sunken sub
marine to the surface. This wartime
lung a large, cumbersome device, was
carried on some German submarines
during hostilities. So far as experts
here know, however, there is no record
of its use under emergency conditions.
When the U59 was sunk near the end
of the war off the British coast in 100
feet of water, several of its crew reached
the surface alive. Strangely, however,
they did not attempt to use their ar
tiflcial ''lung."
The German type of lung" has, of
course, been improved since the war.
American experts studied it some years
ago before the Momsen- -Hobson device
was perfected. They decided, however,
that it was too large and cumbe1som
to meet the strict standards they had
established. 1t weighed 10 pounds, as
compared with 3 pounds for the present
American apparatus.
The Italian Navy has developed de-
vice which is unique. 1t consists of a
tube or capsule" just large enough to
hold the body of one man. This is shot
out of an opening of the submarine,
especially designed for this purpose.
and rises to the surface by means of
Its own buoyancy. When the occupant
of the capsule" reaches the surface, he
Is supposed to dive out in the water and
close the tube, which is then drawn
back to the submarine by means of
cable.
Several Objections.
Several objections are found by Amer
lean experts to this form of rescue de-
vice. AS only one man can be sent to
the surface at time, considerable
period is required to save a large crew,
and this might be hazardous under con-
ditions where gas was forming rapidly
In the undersea craft.
The Italians also have developed what
Is known as the Belloni submarine es-
cape apparatus. This is, basically, a type
of lung" although 1t differs radically
from the American design. It consists
of flexible helmet which is pulled over
the sailors head and secured by straps
under his arms. Men wearing the de-
vice are shot out through the hatch.
The Belloni invention, unlike the Amer
ican lung, cannot be used as a buoyant
agent to keep a man af1oat after he
reaches the surface. Sailors using 1t
must wear life preservers, adding to the
intricacy of their equipment and the
time required to clear a distressed sub
marine.