The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-06-03
Last Hope Seems Lost
 For Men Aboard Ship
(Continued from Page D

nothing for hours as they searched about the outside of the hull.
 Then came the faint signal from the men inside. Hours passed, anC there were no more sounds, so pes. simism among officers directing res. cue operations increased. Exception. ally strong spring tides were hamp. ering the divers, and they could gc down only at periods when the cur rent subsided.
 It was suggested today that 1t was the strong current which caused the Thetis to settle down and lie paral- lel~with the bottom.
 High tide came this morning at 1:57 a. m. (EDT)
 Just before 1t reached the peak the divers went down to resume res- cue work which had been all but abandoned last night.
 No Hope of Life
 The Cammell Laird Company constructors of the Thetis, off, cially gave its men aboard the ship no hope of life. Officials sum- moned relatives of its technicians aboard the ship by telegraph today and when the relatives were assem- bled at the yards at Birkenhead announced that the firm was sorry to say 1t could hold out no hope.
 Dr. A. M. Jones, returning to shore from the rescue destroyer Brazen which first located the The- tis, said:
 Everybody aboard the Brazen, and the four men who escaped, gave up hope hours ago."
 But the admiralty stubborn1y re- fused to give up. A spokesman said today that there was absolutely no doubt that tappings had been heard from the Thetis after the deadline, though they were very faint. He said that lacking definite news, the admiralty still held hope that sal- wage crews might succeed in pump ing fresh air to the Thetis and that some of its men might live.
 The picture which those at the rescue scene could visualize was a terrible one. Four men had been brought out alive, using their Davis Lung" escape apparatus, A hours before. All were temporarily broken men. At least one had died in an attempt to escape from the sub- marine.
 Already Beyond Hope
 It was feared that some, perhaps many, of the men in the Thetis were already beyond hope. Any who were alive were living on borrowed time.
 Above the surface tiny wavelets were dancing gaily in the bright sunlight of perfect morning. War ships, tugs, trawlers, launches lay helplessly about the area of Great Ormes Head where the submarine lay. Thousands of people stood on the Welsh headlands looking out over the scene-vacationists at coastal resorts and the people of the region.
 At Birkenhead, across the mouth of the Mersey from Liverpool, wives, sweethearts, children of the men left aboard the Thetis, their faces drawn with grief and exhaustion, waited sttl in the faint hope that some good news might arrive. At one time yesterday they had been told by one cials of the constructing company. Canmell Laird, that the Thetis was on its way up the Mersey. safe.
 Horrible Tragedy Going On
 But down in the black depths of the bay. there was no doubt that . horrible tragedy was in progress, under the i30 feet of water and inc side the thin side of the Thetis.
 The last man up alive. '. ?. Shaw civilian techniciah of the cammeli Laird Company, gave the London Daily Express q brief description--- and that was 24 hours before.
 "Men lying sprawled in the eom- partments giving up hope but no panic e.. awful last (xhnrs-