THETIS DISASTER INQUIRY

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22768, 21 July 1939, Page 11

THETIS DISASTER INQUIRY

r*-. ■' “ERRORS WHICH COST MEN’S LIVES” CRITICISM BY SALVAGE EXPERT LONDON, July 19. . Giving evidence at the Thetis Inquiry, Admiral Sir Martin Nasmith, Cbmmander-in-Chief at Plymouth, said that he was chairman. q£ the Admiralty committee which made recommendations relating to safety in submarines in the light of the Thetis disaster. These included that; indicator buoys should.carry lights and. telephones, that there should be, a - device to prevent; torpedo' tubes and rear doors .being' opened when - the bow-caps were/ open,', improvements in air conditions when; more than the. normal crews were abdard. that the valve for the admission,of compressed air - should: be : - more accessible to divers, ’ and 'that' submarines should, carry .two mark bhdys oh tiialsi* V V. -/ He . added - that, although the Admiralty had. always considered...the safety of the personnel, if was neces*sary to concentrate on a submarine’s efficiency and fitting ’ qualities, rather thiah how to get out of them. “Our only business in goingJmto a submarine is "to use it as a weapon of wax*” said -the AdxniraL ’ . He was confident that if- thp .destroyer Brazen had not searched; for oil and then, tor the buoy J over * wide area - from the attendant tog as the result of a report from searching aircraft," the - Thetis would have been found by 10 pm. on the night of its disappearance instead of the next day; ■ ; / - , Mistake by Amraft /‘. -- He did not blame the aircraft; which- were doing their best, ,but they- had made a mistake. • Thomas Mackenzie.the chief diver* said that , when he .descended oh June 3, about 1 ant, ,he landed on the submarine at a depth of from 130 to 140 feet, in total darkness. He hammered -on the wireless mast and heard faint tapoings some distance away. He could not say whether they were definite signals, as-the tide was too. strong to permit him to retain one position and concentrate on listening. - Ernest Cox, managing director of the Cox Dank Salvage Company, said that he was positive' that the disasters to the Thetis and M2 could have been avoided If proper precautions had previously-been taken. The stem of the Thetis should not have been touched. It was one of the errors which, cost the rnen their lives. It would have stayed up for days if it had not been touched.'He urged that all compartments should have connexions for flexible-tubes to nump in air and pump out water. ; When the Attorney-General (Sir Donald Somerwell) stated that the forward hatch of the Thetis was not fitted with fastening clips, Mr Cox said:

“I am more staggered than ever. It does not give men a fair chailea. My plan for salvaging-has_ been-« washout in view of this terrible difclosure.” The Attorney-General and the Judge (Mr Justice Buckneli). objected to the words “terrible disclosure.”