SUNKEN SUBMARINE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 50, 29 January 1932, Page 2

SUNKEN SUBMARINE.

FATE OF CRAFT’S PERSONNEL

(United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) .Received January-29, 1.0-p.m. <: LONDON, Jan. 28.- 7 The commander; of' the search party trying to locate the submarine M2-re-ports that the possibility of the lives of the submarine’s personnel is almost hopeless. .

LIFE-SAVING DEVICE. , USED IN TALKING FILM.; j An" explanation of the working /ofthe Davis life-saving apparatus MW 'which. the crew of the missing shb-,; marine!M2 were equipped, and to which hope of the rescue -of the per-, sonnel of .the vessel is pinned, has been given -to the Auckland Star >by Mr John Batten, the film actor, who is oh-holiday in- Auckland. The • ap-: paratus, which was used in a talking picture in which Mr Batten is lead,/ has a muzzle fitted over the mouth, through which breathing is done, and is fixed in position so that it cannot shift. The ‘nose is blocked. Inside the body of tbo apparatus is a cylinder of pure oxygen, at a high compression, and there is sufficient oxygen ,to last, afiout an hour and 40 minutes, provided, that it is not.wasted. There are also two emergency containers, which' can be broken and their contents used by the' apparatus, : They break’readily. In them there is air. enough for .40 minutes. Before the apparatus .is clamped in position, .-the lungs must, be denuded of all air. -Goggles are placed over the eyes. Then a button: at the base is turned and the oxygen SOWS. \

Bad air is breathed back into the: same apparatus from which comes thfe good air, there being a chemical which disintegrates the bad air.,, Great care must be used in inflating the-two bladder-like wings, ■ otherwise ■- xne precious oxygen is used too quickly , .<■. ,“If the men on board a submarine are going to abandon ship,” addecr Mr Batten, “they must flood thocompartment in which they are located, so as to equalise the . pressure inside and outside. Probably they chose the torpedo compartment, fqr there is less valuable machinery there to spoil. All the men will crowd, into the small space, and tlio heavy door leading out into the ocean, will be opened. The water gushes 'in’, in a torrent and the whole room ’..is flooded, right over the heads of the,-, imprisoned men. . The air is driven, up with the water and at just the: last minute the Davis gear.is affixed. - "M *?-

“Both pressures in the submarine--being equalised, and the room filled' with water, the men crawl out of the open door and shoot up to the : surface. But they must, be careful" of,ono thing. They must rise to the: top slowly, or else the sudden transition from great pressure •to normal pressure -. will cause air bubbles to lorm in the blood. To that end. thebladders are inflated slowly. It , is; not necessary to take great gulps of air. ‘STARK TERROR.’ “We went through all this in our picture. When the compartment, fills with water and one sees the la,st, certain normal hope cut l off, the feel-, ing is. one of stark terror. Though there are other men with the appara-: tus on, one feels absolutely alone-: The ears burn-and the head feels/as though it must split'. It will be biting wihter in‘England now; tod; and the men will be rrozen when they get to the top. Added to' : th’at it is impos-, sible to givo them any alcoholic stimulant to warm them, because the- com-' bination of alcohol and pure . oxygen causes the last stages of intoxication, ihe apparatus was first used on the British submarine Poseidon, which was rammed last year off the China Coast by a merchantman. Many pf the men were saved then, so things are not hopeless in regard to the M2.”

Mr Batten said that his company was taught-the use of the apparatus at Gosport, the submarine naval base, for tne filming of- the picture. The equipment was invented by Mr' R. H. Davis, of Sibo Gorman Company.