LIFE IN A SUBMARINE

Hokitika Guardian, 2 January 1926, Page 4

LIFE IN A SUBMARINE

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DANGER THREATENS.

(Naval Expert in “Daily .Mail”)

Submarine crews are trained in'the use of the air lock and safety helmets. The helmet is similar to that of a diver and i.s worn with a short- tunic which fastens round the waist.

When disaster comes upon a boat the theory is that the crew go into the air lock, put on their helmets, open a hatch, and float in safety to the surface. But in praclico things seldom rim along pro-conceived lines. Hard experience lias taught submarine oiii(crs and men that the chances ot safety appliances being of use to the crow of u boat alter an accident has befallen her are so minute as nut to be worth troubling about. Consequently they have little faith in these devices. Our submarine service records ennluin only one authentic instance of a man saving 1 1 is life byblowing himself to the surfaie from a submarine wrecked in deep water. That one. occurred at Harwich during the

'I tie vessel Imm which t liis muu escaped was an E limit; if ii had been a K or an M. or any of the newest types, lie could not have performed his wonderful lent.

WHERE MISTAKES ARE FATAL In the earlier submarines the commanding officer, standing on the control plat form, had all Ids crew under his eye. That b not the case in th" later i lasses, and this fact adds to the risk of mishap. For the safe handling of a hail I when midcp water il is. essential that everyone in her should do the right, thing at the right moment. If for any reason one man tails temporarily the t "immunding officer of a boat divided up into compartments cannot take prompt action to retrieve Ihe error as lie was able to do in the older types. where Ids crew was grouped around him. A boat submerges either by a static dive- That is. by dropping straight down, which is only done in a case of emergency, because it is dangerous —or by driving; herself helical Ii the surface by tilling her diving rudder. Before the order to dive is given, everything is dosed tight, down. Being in a submarine alter she has ■‘dipped” is a sensation much akin to that of being in a tube lift, so far as atmosphere is concerned. The Imat/s interior is brilliantly illuminated by electric lights, and there is absolute silence within it. e-oepi lor the hum of the machinery. On the riiilml

platform beneath the conning Inver stands the commanding officer. Another officer is at the periscopes, in uhiifi he can see mirrored ihe surface ol the water above for a .< nmdderahie distance. There are men at the diving rudders, men at the- ballast Links, ready to admit more water into them or blow water out as may he required. One mao watches the depth gauge, others the many different appliances with which the boat is fitted. Each inito is skilled at his job and must he quick obeying orders, for the mistake of one may mean irretrievable disaster for all. CRUSHED BY WATER PRESSURE. Although the atmosphere is warm and stuffy, it is not uncomfortable. No artificial means are used lor purifying. as the air which the boat takes in while at the surface lasts her until she rises again. After a boat has been submerged for a long period her interior gets fuggy, but rarely to a distressing extent. (treat care has to be exercised less the boat should dive too deeply. Somelimes the submarine will do that in spite of the watchfulness of her crew. If she gets so far down that the weigh! of water overhead destroys her buoyancy. she has little chance of coming up.'

A submarine under water is in one respect like an airship; she must have oven pressure all round her if she is to move in safety. Tf rsho sinks too deeply—say, more than 30flft.—the pressure of water will prevent her from rising and will crush in her hull. Once water enters the Ixiat there is little chain e for the crew, because the water gets into the batteries and they give off deadlv fumes. LOCATING WRECKS.

All boats are fitted with a submarine signalling apparatus, hut if the vessel is badly holed there is no chance to use this or any other safety device.

How long the crew may live entombed in a wrecked submarine is entirelv problematical. Everything depends upon the ingress of water to her interior. The generally accepted view is that in disasters occurring in deep water in the open sea the end comes verv swiftlv.

One of the great difficulties in locating a. wrecked submarine lies in the impossibility of knowing how far she has travelled under water. It may be only a few yards or it may be many miles. For finding a wrecked boat two methods are employedsweeping with, a wire stretched b-e----tween two other ships, or using n secret instrument.