THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH. FRIDAY,
APRIL 9,
1937.
THE SUBMARINE
POSEIDON
Retold by
Guy Ramsey
KIMMING along the surface of the China Seas, 21 miles north of Wei- British submarine hai-Wei, the Poseidon prepared to fire a torpedo. was carrying out exercises. It was June 9, 1931.
She
She was a superb craft. The trained skill of shipwrights in Barrow had fashioned her gleaming sides, her blunt nose, her conning tower that cut through the waters. Her 260 feet of length carried iwo eight 21-inch torpedo tubes: six for'ard and aft. A single 4-inch gun dominated her deck when she was afloat and was lowered below when shu sank. She could make 17% knots on the surface, 10% submerged. She displaced 1,570 tons on the surface, 2,040 submerged.
She was a She was a One ship. happy ship. One of her seamen had written to his mother, unhappy about her boy who defled the natural boun- daries set to man by travelling in the depths: "These bonts are wonderful and much better at sea then most big shilps."
But these bouts-there were four of them in the "P"class: Perseus, Proteus, Pandora and Poseidon- authorised in 1927, laid down in 1920, 1020, commissioned in launched in 1930 were not lucky. Proteus and
bound for the Pandora,
Clini Station, had come in collision and had to wait in Gibraltar for repales. Poseldon herself was to be named Python-but snake names are tradi- tlonally unlucky for the Navy; so she was named for the Greek god of the sea; the cruel, bearded brother of Zeus who was jealous for his dominion of the deep.
TRAPPED UNDER
THE SEA
the
of the China Station to make their breathed, rebreathed air and reports and to take all steps possible sweat of human bodies.
Stumbling in the darkness, drench- for the saving of ship and crew. The Berwick, the Cumberland, the air- ed in perspiration of fear, the men
They were waiting, waiting in the hope that as the submarine Alled the pressure would be
equalised..
Colour Chart
for a REDHEAD
MAKE-UP...
Powder base: Richel.
Face powder: Natural (if our skin is very fair), other- wise, rachel or racliet jonce.
Rouge: Orange, coral, red- head.
Lipstick: Geranium, orange, cardinal, redhead.
Nail polish: To match lip- sticks
Eye-shadow:
Bronze-preen,
shadow 'blue (for blue eyes).
Mascara: Brown.
CLOTHES
the
Weak henna rinncz every now and then bring out colour.
to
HAIR
Day: All the greens, except enes with a yellow tone, black, navy bitte, bird's-egg blue, prey. Night: Sea green, Jade, black, white, silver greu, parma vfolet, copper (if you dare match your hair).
4 ! l*lafu*ll
mess boy, what to do with the "Third would yet gel the hatch cover off Lung."
again.
NUDDENLY the nerves of one
Someone cracked a joke that rang true, not false. Someone started the song of the day. "I want to be happy, but I can't be happy, till I make you happy too." The chorus
ed to the oxygen bng about his chest, echoed us if the men were in a dunce It did not bubble. It was empty.
he crooked. "Tanit empty.
hall or the canteen. "I want to bos listened to his own tonk. It
happy" gave way to another song:
fraught with meinerles that hallow too was silent, silent because it was it: "Tipperary”
empty, "Listen to mine, you fool. Mine Isn't bubbling either. But there's plenty left in it yet," said Willis. Splendide mendax in very
THE
THE sea came crawling and truth.
creeping in. It wasnt The water crept up to the chin. their numbed feel. It was round The men stood on their toes,
Now, their freezing ankles. It was icy al now or never was their chance. their calves.
Hands reached for the hatch-cover. Clearly Willis explained that the Straining, tugging, pushing, pulling.
sweating, be opened. only when sliding.
bending their choppy sea, taiting littin god-The sloop Marazion, the des- No hope-or only that which lasts the pressure
Inside the submarino shoulders to It, teaming at it with Stormcloud, the submarine with the basle fact of life. No rea was equal to the pressure outside: Broken nalls, thrusting with bursting
Medway-a
for ad hope. No chance even to get
otherwise the sea hearts workshop where any repair could be to à gun and put a swift end to the finging back in to thw build rush in and gasping lungs, they
wrought. who stood on the "frontier" drown-
stock in wind and weather, Normal-
changmarine inevitably offers slafled, divers
A
little mark to a look-out. Also, equally inevitably, a look out on
a
A torch gleamed in the darkness, man went to the valve and began to open.
ing him and all others aboard. One It lifted an inch, a foot. It was
ly, exercises were held ten mileg ways, but this time the locality was carried out, heavy tackle was stored, inevitable slow death,
compressed air machinery was in-
werd -maintained-
One after another, the four hand torch like that schoolboy
ง raced the position.
for
his birthday. Petty flood the vessel:
men-Willis the last of them-shot The six men stood by the hatch upwards through the sea that still Admiral McVay, commanding the treasures on submarine, set low in the water in the disposal of the British authorities
United States Astone Fleet, put Tracer Willis tespade gunner's mate
senlor rating among the six mentre away the cover. 11 jamined, strove to enim them, moving at It lay stubborn in its place, held eighteen Inches a second, taking a not see for ahead, especially in choppy sen whose waves rise higher any of his command. He despatclied for'ard, loolt command of his to there by the dead weight, the killing minute and a half to break the sur-
the submarine salvage vessel Pigeon Group. than himself.
He fell on his knees and prayed. weight of the sen. Again they bent face. The 1,753-ton steamer Yuta, own ta the rescue.
their shoulders. The air was grow Three hours and a half since the only 20 fathom There was ed by a Chinese company, command.
of Not a religious man by the normal ing rank and foul. Their
strength,
ength, crash,
Searchlights Japanese master, came lum water 21 miles North of Wel-haj-we: standard. An ordinary allor, grey for lack of fresh oxygen...too early
lowered to cd by a bering down the sea-lone. Only 120 feet. It was little for divers. of eye, steady of hand, sure of him- yet to fix the "Third Lung" into gleam opaquely through the depths when separated by yards did the There was a hole in the submarine, self. The familiar words of the position-war ebbing. The cold sweat of the sea. Divers in goggling hel-. two ships see each other. There was Surely, surely the men could get out. Lord's Prayer, numbled a thousand of terror mingled with the hot sweat mets and weighted boots clumped
But 120 feet of water exert a times at Church Parade, steadied of effort. the staccato bark of orders in Eng- gigantle pressure and drown the cracking nerves of the men.
The risk was that the racing pulses and jangling, Suddenly the hatchway yielded, along the ocean floor weaving haw
sers with clumsy hands. Machinery lish, Siren howled, hoarse
men made ready. "On life revolved to pump air to them and saving
called Wills. force apparatus,'
air into the drowned sub- Two bodles rocketed to the surface, marine. Before the rest could move the hatch There was hope. Hope for the 18 cover jammed down again,
men still aboard. Hope even for the sunken, half-million-pound ship. Two-men-rocketed-to-the-surface. Oxy-acetylene fames cut throughs
the weather
á sudden shrill chatter of Chinese,
mournful.
and
the sea would rush in men in the hull, before they could w.fight their way the hatches or the the Poseidon, gave the gaping rent in the bows.
A whistle screamed, Lleutenant-Commander
Galpin in the
Capit command
The phrase "Thy will be done," that might have fallen like the knell To check it, the order was given: of doom, rose like a challenge. "Helm hard aport"-the
Water-tight doors." Ten men -recognised-rule- of the sea. Then
officer in the Chinese, ship got tered: he was going to hit this
Eng- men for'ard
nt flus-
with
વી
lives, depended
the
were
grew
men
nümidships, “nix As the "Amen" was spoken, Willis Ush boat with her White Ensign. By order strove, to carry out the got to his feet. He rigged a sleek Holt and Lovock. They shot through the shell-but
men astern succeeded. hawser for the men to stand on. Ho the fathoms of sea, the inches of all story. The divers could stay down all the souls of his ancestors, he was But the men in the bows were faced struggled to a cupboard and tugged that still lingered in swirling traces, no longer. It was certain death to
"Thurd Lungs"-the new
grensing waves. crippled bulkhead, bent and out the going to hit her. He flung his hand wit
put
continue. escape apparatus issued to and picked them up: Holt supporting Thero on the telegraph. Instead of order- twisted by the collision. They pull- Davis
the blue-faced Lovock. Only later Morse signals banged on the Metal were rumours of tapping, ing "Hard aport," he ordered "Hard ed and pushed, sweated and strained, every man aboard a submarine.
The astarboard."
ship, their own
did he learn he had been supporting hull with a spanner. When K 13 A square rubber "lank" of oxygen a corpse. It was just two hours and Bank off the Clyde in 1917 men had Again his hand sought the tele- on that stubborn door. They lies on the chest. A great goggling a quarter after the crash. graph, to ring, down
been rescued after 24 hours. "Reverse Red and tore at it with frontle fin- engines. Hord astern."
gers. At last it closed-all but a headpiece goes over the face. Clips
Below in the submarine another. Back went the ships, braving the crinkle that could not be corrected, clutch at the nostrils. A thick tubo
like an elephant's trunk snakes from hour passed: another hour,
60 storm. Back to the brav through which the sea came crawling hose to chest. The device purifles minutes, 3,600 seconds. The water ing death, went the
They sunken THE engines, stopped, then and creeping.
breath and
banging on the allows it to be rose to knee, to thigh, to groin, to listened, THE
began to revolve in re-
breathed again, the nitrogen-soda navel, to chest, to armpit, to should- Weasel. But no answer came. to the whisky of oxygen-preventing er, to throat. The lungs with which, buried in 12 feet of mud and al- Within three days the ship was verse, striving to stem the inomen-
AS the ship sank, the cicc the nent gas from producing intoxi- they breathed Atric Ught plant failed. tum, to check the way under which
were now only the she was still travelling relentlessly
ortificial lungs of the Davis appara- vuge operations-ond the eighteen tus, Pitch darkness, darkness dank and
men-ten astern, eight amidships towards the veering submarine. But the rudder drove her a
whose epic is written only. in the right damp with the condensing breath of Patiently he explained to the crew
They were waiting, waiting in the Book of the All-Knowing—were ongles
towards, instead of away from the crew, wet with the infiltration of how to put them an, rehearsing the
orders. One seaman hope that as the submarine led the abandoned with their half-million- the Poseidon. Bow met bow: heavy the sea, merid with the scent of brine. well-known merchantman gainst the der sub Darkness soon to grow brackish with began instructing the little Chinese pressure would be equalised and they pound death-trap of steel forever.
The plates of Poseidon
ripped asunder. The great tank of
oll was pierced. The oil gushed out. The sea gushed in. The boat tilted, canted, shifted her perfect balance, and
began to sink.
Tedashi Iyelshi, the Japanese cap- tain, ran to the bridge. The engines were stopped. Boats were ordered away: boats Alled with lifebelts for the submarine's stricken crew. The boats were lowered-and the Chin- sailors clapped the lifebelts round their own bodies, chattering
the
cation.
Russia
O the astonishment of
To
the whole world, Rus-
In their light, shrill dialect that has sian warplanes and pilots
given its name to the Chinese
Mah Jongg-the Twittering of Spar-have won the superiority of
TOWS.
the air from German and
aircraft in the
Galpin, five of his officers, 26 of his crew, performing miracles of Italian
spoed and address, got through the Spanish war. conning-tower hatch even
ship
WAD
a's the
Springs A Surprise
even to the most efficiently
the most effcient Nghter in the world,
And Russk is building thousands of fighters like this. Like the other types, it is simple to construct and easy to maintain.
WHAT
These 9,000 warplanes are split force into four separate sections--night equipped opponent.
WHAT about the personnel bombers day bombers, recon- Then the day bombers. These
W of this
remarkable air sinking. Between the This has been the first acid test naissance machines, and fighters. again seem to be copies of those built force, and the military tactics em order "Engines astern" and the crash of the new Russian air force. Young"
by other nations. But, in contrast, ployed in operating it? there clapsed just 15 seconds. Be Russians have always boasted thint
they look extremely enclent, and I tween the crash and the vanishing they have the finest air force. So
have been told that they are. Again, of the Poseidon there passed just have the Germans. Spain seems to
prove the Russians right. two minutes.
TAKE. first of all, the night gigantic force can take the air. Two
minutes and
31 mea
What Is the reason for this
bombers. Examples that the norrow hatch. They superiority? Have the Soviets bet I have seen are definitely inferior to through
Germans fighting tho
and kicked their way to the surface and ter warplanes and better
Italians. The arrived like negroes. They had to pilots than other nations?
general design is not so efficient, break
they, are slower, and the motors are only the surface of the not
not of the same quality. water, but to get through a solid foot
of all that lay, a solid, glutinous, slimy layer on the brine; oil lighter than water, constricting to the limbs, Impossible to swim in.
WE boats came alongside THE
Tir crews hauled tho men aboard. Then cruised about, picking up a man here, a man there.!
But when the roll was called on the Yuta's deck 24 names were call ed in vain.
Iyeishi and Galpin went to the darship of the Commander-in-Chief
RECENTLY I saw the latest I Rusdan fighter. It was a small monoplane,
as
Dolished
In the first place, the Russians are sing a new idea in tactics. Their commanders believe that an over-
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OUR BRITISH crosswoRDS
ACROSS
4 Go in real change.
8 Might describe rubber, but has
no rigid application.
This disease is not uncommon in Africa.
10 Have a shot at giving the
favourite about a length.
the Instrument is cleverly
11 losed, without doubt. ·· 16 Pacific islands. 18 Many a man with this.
12 Are you straining this nerve just
now? 13 Disclose.
14. A scene from amateur opera.
35 Giving, but not necessarily. In
generous fashion.
16 He hopes to get the bird.
17. A fitting puzzle for the patient, 120 A woodland break.
24 This will go to the rick.
hint.
25 Epithet for a sharp has made his name
27 What was once Spain
halt 9 across.
19 Disorder mostly due to, S.
American
metal.
21 Byron wrote this,
22 A measure is used in U.S.A. to
detain immigrants.
1
23 Damaged through being teased? 26 This in men is of the other sex. 20 A plant.
whelming number of moderately effi-ng episode that will stick
clent machines can beat a smaller number
of highly efficient battle- mense size of the force.
That is the reason for the
Secondly, they are convinced that As a unit the machines seem to carrying four guns and said to have dogged tenacity on the part of the TURST, the aircraft. So far, be coples of the night bombers in a maximum speed of 380 m.p.h. It pilots will always beat a man with the Soviet Air Force has service with other nations, and not was constructed of metal and wood, less tenacity in a better machine.
It was well been an experiment in military avia- good coples at that. Most of them was a single-senter. tion, built up on enthusiasm and not are monoplanes. Average speed is streamlined."
in the region of 120 m.p.h.
Workmanship was superiority of material.
ns that seen on the German machines, U.9.S.R. bas about 9,000 Balanced against this inferiority But it looked capable of doing. Its machines, equalling the total of all is the fact that they are cheap, work efficiently. Craft of this type the European air forces together.. ⠀⠀ quick and easy to build and mains are in service In Spain.
Competent observers say that tain; so that they can be replaced *** only about 2,000 of these machines without great coși. aro equal in qualify' to the first- line machines. of other nations The odd 7,000. are obsolescent.
The
Secondly, the Russians can put several thousand of them into the air at once, if need be an overwhelming
One of the extraordinary aspects
Russia has an astonishing mum- her of pilota. People competent to Judge put it at 150,000 at least.
This number is increasing every day. More than 5,000 of the 150,- 000 aro The reserve of pilots la continually
women.
in this machine was that, in looks being reinforced. It Is kept up by anyway, It appeared to be a close teaching any one to fly who is it to
Jearn. copy of the British Spitfire fighter.: destined for the R.A.F., told to be
Victor Burnett
33
A
In a boy's memory.
35 Nonsensical talk,
36. Put in a fold to enlarge.
87 Carte blanche method for the
artist?
17.
DOWN
1 This may help the tired cabinet-
maker to stick it..
# A feat.
3 Advice for an inebriate milor.
his bad mark.
puzzle.
5
A cold remedy.
6 The way of the world.
7 March before this.
10 The House of Lords is,
course, unrivalled, but not this way.
30 A noted English rebel,
Includes
31 Quite enough from a tree.
32 One might shoot this in a canoe. 34 A leading feature of humanity.
Yesterday'a Bolution.
FORBEARS LOFE||
BAUBA B 1 E
TIMEFUSE OPIATE
SING
ER S AND EW
LISTEN
HERE
ORD
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