A Tragic Silence

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 712, 11 July 1929, Page 9

A Tragic Silence

NO ANSWER FROM THE DEEP Lost British Submarine NAVAL TOWNS MOURN FOR DEAD ( United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australia* and X.Z. Press Association ) (United Service J Received 11 a.m. LONDON. Wednesday THE Admiralty report on the submarine disaster, in which the H 47 was lost with all her crew except two. shows that the Ll2 also had a most narrow escape.

She was carried down 40 feet at an, angle of 50 degrees, bow down. The captain, officers and men on the deck were thrown into the water. A considerable amount of water entered the submarine before the hatches were closed and she was able to rise to the surface. A British Official Wireless message says the Rear-Admiral Commanding Submarines, who proceeded from Pembroke to the position in which the submarine H 47 was sunk, has issued a preliminary report, which states that both the H 47 and Ll2 were cruising on the surface at 8.10 a.m., when the collision occurred. The Ll2 struck the H 47 on the port side at right angles, just abaft the foremost control room bulkhead, the bow of the Ll2 penetrating about two feet. The H 47 sank in a few seconds. She is considerably down in the bows in a depth of 55 fathoms. Orders had been given to close the watertight doors and abandon the ship. Prom the evidence of the commanding officer and of the rating who escaped from the control room, it does not appear that the doors could have been closed at the time. “I am convinced,” the admiral adds, “that there is no possibility of any of the crew of the H 47 having remained alive for more than a very few minutes.” The submarine L 69 dived today to try to comunicate with the H 47 by sound telegraphy, but received no answering signals. Diver Bell, a very experienced deepsea diver, has been taken off the battle-cruiser Renown by the destroyer Torrid, but the sea is rough and unsuitable for diving operations. In any case, the depth of 300 feet at which the H 47 lies makes it doubtful if a diver could reach it. AN AMAZING ESCAPE Petty-Officer Hicks, who was saved from the H 47, was shot off by the force of the collision, and as he sank he grasped a stay wire of Ll2. Although he was carried down several fathoms, he was still hanging on when the LI 2 returned to the surface. The King has sent an expression of his deep grief at the disaster to the Admiralty, and conveys his heartfelt

sympathy to the relatives of the 24 dead.

Professor Leonard Hill, who is assisting in the rescue work, dived near by the sunken submarine and tried to communicate by using a bell, but there were no answering signals. BEREAVED FAMILIES Gloom has spread over the nav tl towns of Devonport. Portsmouth and Chatham, where many of the bereaved families reside. Groups of men and women soon gathered at the naval barracks, where they stood discussing the calamity. The salvage work is in charge of Rear-Admiral H. E. Grace, a son of the once famous cricketer, the late Dr. W. G. Grace. Diving operations are being conducted from the battleship Rodney, and a new deep-water diving apparatus is being tried out. Sixteen naval vessels and two flying boats are on the scene.

CREW KILLED BY ACID

TANKS WOULD UPSET, SO EXPERTS SAY DRAMATIC STORY TOLD (United ServiceJ Reed. 1.10 p.m. LONDON. Wednesday Bad weather today hindered the search for the sunken submarine, which is now realised to be the grave of 20 gallant men. A survivor on the Ll2 dramatically pictures the scene after the collision. He said: “There was a terrific bang, and we were all flung down. As the Ll2 dived at an impossible angle, fumes began to rise from the acid tanks; but every man sprang to his feet, and carried out the commander's orders. “There was no panic. It seemed years to me; but it could have been only seconds before the commander, by superb seamanship, brought the Ll2 to the surface.” Experts say that when the H 47 sank the acid tanks would upset, instantaneously killing the crew.