SUBMARINE SAFE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27985, 4 June 1956, Page 11

SUBMARINE SAFE

False Alarm Over Telemachus

(Rec. 10.30 p.m.) SYDNEY. June 3. The Royal Navy submarine Telemachus. on her way to New Zealand, signalled that she was safe today 90 minutes after the Royal Australian Navy launched an air-sea search of the Tasman.

The search was organised after an expected message from the submarine failed to come through to Naval Base Headquarters, Sydney.

Telemachus is making an ocean gravity survey of the South Pacific. The submarine’s sister vessel. Thorough, had left Sydney Harbour and six Australian Navy ships were ready to depart when Telemachus, 250 miles south-east of Sydney, signalled that she was safe.

Fears were felt for her safety when a signal, confirming that she had surfaced, was not received by 8.15 a.m., one hour after she had been due to surface. The urgent message “subsunk” was sent to all Australian Naval Authorities and to the Admiralty, London.

Messages broadcast over Sydney radio stations ordered back from short leave the crew members of six Australian Navy ships. Then, at 9.45 a.m., a signal, giving the position of Telemachus, was received from the submarine, and the search was abandoned.

Telemachus had sent the prearranged surfacing signal earlier but the message had failed to come through because of storms.

Telemachus has aboard 60 officers and ratings and two scientists, Messrs H. M. Traphagem. of the Lamont Geological Observatory, New York, and S. Gunson, of the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources. The scientists, using special equipment worth £12.000 installed in the submarine, will obtain data on the composition and structure of the earth’s surface.

The submarine is due to arrive in Wellington next Thursday. On her 8000 mile voyage she will also visit Fiji and Tonga.