TRAGIC SEA DRAMA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 May 1939, Page 7

TRAGIC SEA DRAMA

SINKING OF SUBMARINE SQUALUS ACTION AT MOMENT OF DISASTER MAN WHO CLOSED BULKHEAD DOOR. SAVING THIRTY-TWO MEN BUT DOOMING OTHERS. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. WASHINGTON. May 25. The Navy Department announced that it is convinced “'there is nobody alive on the sunken submarine Squalus” and ordered rescue efforts to he abandoned. Details of what happened when the Squalus sank are now becoming available. An electrician’s mate named Mannes, aged 26, who closed the bulkhead door, saving 'the lives of 32 of his shipmates, but sealing the doom of 26 others, said that when he partially closed the door the cries of five shipmates induced him to hold it open momentarily while they joined those destined to live. “I realise there must have been men trapped in the after compartment,” said Mannes, “but at such times as this there is no time for sentiment. We are trained rigidly to act, so I gave no consideration to the fate of my shipmates any more than I 'would have expected similar consideration had I been in their place.” When 25 of the survivors had been brought to the surface it was disclosed that the men appeared to be in good condition, although two were taken away in ambulances, apparently suffering from exposure. Scenes of unforgettable drama took place during the attempts to rescue the crew. The Falcon was moored by four anchors directly above the stricken submarine. Round it 16 other naval vessels were standing by, while on the fringe hovered scores of coastguard picket boats and small fishing craft carrying reporters and photographers. Overhead zoomed aeroplanes. The sun shone down brilliantly and the sea was calm, though an oil film had been spread out to facilitate the lowering of the divers with the giant steel rescue chamber. This has a rubber gasket which, with ringbolts, made a watertight connection covering the hatch of the submarine. When the contact was made, the trapped men opened the hatch and were brought to the surface in relays till only the 26 doomed men remained. Quite two hours and a half elapsed between the time when the first and second batches were brought up. It was a bitter act in the tragic sea drama when the rescue chamber was lowered for the last time to the sunken submarine. The rescuers, after the chamber had been firmly sealed to the Squalus and the air pressure built up, pried at the escape hatch. In every mind was the question: “Will we find water or air?” The hatch was raised an inch and then flung wide. Below was only water sloshing over the coaming. Above, the Falcon’s officers heard the news over the telephone and turned silently and grimly away. There only remains the task of. salvage, which will begin immediately in an effort to determine the cause of the disaster. There were hints of sabotage which the tabloid newspapers have treated in sensational manner, but there are no facts to 'back up such theorising. The Navy Department announced that an investigation would begin when the submarine was raised.