Evening star., 1941-06-22
Submarine
Continued From First Page)


marine salvage ship Falcon
anchored above the 90 18 miles off
shore, he said:
Oliver descended 37O feet. Had
difficulty in breathing. Brought to
surface. Will continue attempts by
varying diving techniques."
Dive BY Night.
AS SearchlightS played on the calm
waters of huge square marked as
the resting ground of the Inflated
%, officials announced that the
diving operations would continue
/ through the night.
The glare from the little hand
lamps carried by divers could be
seen at infrequent intervals, appar-
emily signifying another courageous
attempt was being made to reach
the submarine far below.
With clock like precision. every Is
minutes, the Falcon sounded with
an oscillator the call-letters of the
O-9-on the most remote chance
that the knock" from the machine
that sends out waves in water would
be picked up.
Among the crew members of the
Falcon were two men who knew the
horror of being trapped at the ocean
bottom-and lived to tell the story,
They are William Isaacs of Wash
ington, D. c., and Allen G. Bryon OF
Greenville, S. c., survivors OF the
Soualus, which foundered a few
miles from the grave of the 90.
Deepest Working Dive.
Crocker's efforts to reach the deck
of the 90 were called by Admiral
Edwards the deepest working dive
ever attempted" Others aboard the
Falcon called it "the most danger
GUS dive" in submarine history. "a
5OO-foot descent was made IN Ha-
Waii under test conditionSD
Crocker's first attempt was halted
soon after he sank below the sur
face. He had trouble with his tele-
phone connection with the Falcons
deck. and as a moments misunder-
standing of orders in deep water
might mean death, he was hauled
up while repairs were made.
Actually, Crocker's first attempt
was a half-dozen attempts. as ne
was lowered Just below the surface
repeatedly and then hauled quickly
back until what seemed to be
short circuit in his earphone was
Strengthened out.
Crushed by Water.
Even before his dive, it was the
consensus of submarine experts
that the hull of the % had been
crushed by the tremendous squeeze
of the water around it. How soon
the submersible shell crumpled
after she went into a deep test dive
early Yesterday morning may al
ways remain a mystery.
Not until last night, however,
did oil. air bubbles, bits of cork
from the inner hull and pieces OF
deck planking come to the surface
in sufficient quantity to allow a
fleet of search vessels to mark the
spot.
And not until the early hours of
this morning did the.first graphing
hook make direct contact with the
O-9. Then Navy blinker lights
flashed the word in code to all of
the vessels around the Falcon. The
% had been found after more
than IA hours of search.
But there was mo sign of life
aboard" and Navy men privately
had conceded hours before that the
Atlantic had claimed 33 lives-the
exact number snatched from her
when the submarine Squalus went
down a few miles to the westward
after she sank in 240 feet of water
during trial dive.
The rescue of all but 26 of her
men, by means of a diving bell,
made submarine history. But even
at that depth 1t took the Navy two
months of dangerous and tiring
work to raise the craft. Actual
salvage at a 440-foot depth never
has been attempted.
In response to questions, Secre-
tary Knox said the accident to the
o. would not alter the Navy's in
tent to use the older types of under
sea craft as part of the defense
for 10 years before she was re-