Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 130, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1910 — ESCAPE FROM SUBMERGED SUBMARINE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ESCAPE FROM SUBMERGED SUBMARINE.

DIAGRAM EXPLAINING A DANGEROUS TEST, HILE there are many to question the value of the submarine as an engine of war and many to hold the opposite view, there are very few with sufficient hardihood to deny that the typo mmmm * s d an 6 er t>us for those who man them, whatever they may be to an enemy. The very nature of their mission makes them jsggjiQ heir to more different kinds of danger than any other craft ; that floats or sinks. Those who believe in them have as-

?f; e< L th£ V hey are - immune from many of the ordinary perils of the sea, that they have no boilers to burst, no masts to carry, no rigging to be strained, no sails to split, and no concern about stormy weather, as they can plunge beneath the surface when seas run high. Ensign Kenneth Whiting, at present in command of the submarine Porpense, now stationed at Manila, a few weeks ago took his vessel out Into e bay, and, with a small boat in attendance, undertook an experiment that has made him famous. The young ensign had conceived the idea that a man could make his way out from a submarine by way of the torpedo tube. A torpedo is the only weapon that a submarine carries, and as the boat must discharge the niissi e while submerged it follows that there must necessarily be some appliance for ejecting the missile and closing the orifice immediately after discnarge. The little that is known of Ensign Whiting’s exploit Is contained In the official report which the commander of the submarine flotilla recently forwarded to the Navy Department at Washington, and which the department 1 romulgated in circular form, to be read on the quarterdeck of every vessel In commission. It says: Ensign Whiting entered the torpedo tube of the Porpoise through the alter door of the tube, the cap - of the forward door being closed. He then grasped the strong back of the crossbar of the cap and ordered the a er door closed. As soon as the after door was closed the gunner’s mate stationed at the cap engine opened the cap. The cap in opening forward and up hauled Ensign Whiting clear of the tube, so as to enable him to use his qrms to come to the surface and to prevent his being shoved back into tin tube by inrushing water.- The whole operation consumed about seventyfive seconds.” • ** , This same Porpoise came perilously near drowning her entire crew a few years ago. The vessel was maneuvering around Newport when she suddenly showed a disposition to seek the bottom. She quickly found It. and came to rest on the, seabed. Overhead was a hundred feet of water. Too m .’!!\, Water had been ta * ten ln as ba!last and something had gone wrong with the automatic valve which should have controlled the inrtish. Luckily a hand pump was found, and, working for their lives In the fast vitiating air, the crew managed to force out enough water from the ballast tanks to bring the submarine to the surface.