SALVAGE OF SUBMARINE

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27688, 18 June 1955, Page 7

SALVAGE OF SUBMARINE

Rescuers Showed Great Heroism (N.Z. Prei.s Association—Cppy right) (Rec. 11.30 plm.) LONDON, June 17. Navy divers and salvage men were today continuing preparations to raise the wreck of the sub-

marine, Sidon, which is lying on the seabed of Portland harbour, after an explosion yesterday. Three officers and 10 ratings died in the submarine’s smashed forward section. The pressure hull was reported to have been ripped open by the force of the explosion. Air will be pumped into the hull in the hope that the stricken vessel will rise to the surface. The naval correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” said today that the cause of the disaster—the explosion of the propellant of a practice torpedo —was extremely rare. He said practice torpedoes were fitted with dummy heads, which were replaced by warheads in action. Each torpedo was subjected to a routine test before use. The explosion was so violent that it was doubtful if any of the 13 men were still alive when the submarine flooded and sank, said the correspondent. Rescuer Sank With Vessel Surgeon-Lieutenant C. E. Rhodes, a 27-year-old doctor doing national service with the Royal Navy, went four times into the sinking submarine yesterday. Each time he brought out an injured man. Then he went back for a fifth time, and did not return, said the “Daily Express” The submarine sank in 37 feet of water and Surgeon-Lieutenant Rhodes is one of the 13 missing men.

Mr Derek Jones, a steward on the parent ship, Maidstone, said: “j saw him going down the submarine’s hatch in a cloud of smoke. A minute later he came up half carrying an injured seaman. “Then he went down again. Four times he came through the smoke, bringing up a man. When he went down the fifth time, the submarine was beginning to sink. “He seemed to be gasping, and struggling with his breathing apparatus. We did not see him again.” The “Daily Mail” said that Rhode?, who was having breakfast in the Maidstone when the explosion occurred, died 50 minutes after waving goodbye to his wife and three-weeks old daughter at their caravan home on the cliffs above Portland. Rhodes’ rescue efforts occupied 35 minutes before the Sidon sank.

Other officers an'd men plunged into the dark interior and clawed the wrecked furniture and fittings out of the way as they scrambled through the sinking vessel. Sailors stayed on the submarine’s deck to nurse the wounded, and refused to leave until almost submerged by water. Four divers, rushed to the scene by helicopter, searched desperately for survivors.

The Admiralty later announced: “All hope of rescuing any men still trapped in the submarine has been abandoned.”