NAVAL TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 154, 25 March 1922, Page 9

NAVAL TRAGEDY

BRITISH SUBMARINE LOST WITH ALL HANDS VESSEL CUT IN HALVES BY DESTROYER BY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.' —COPYBIGHT London, March 23. A destroyer collided with submarine H 42 during manoeuvres off Gibraltar. The submarine was lost with all hands. Tlie H 42 rose to the surface twenty yards from the destroyer Versatile, which was steaming at twenty-seven knots. The submarine was cut in halves. The Versatile stood by for hours, but no sign of survivors was seen.—Aus.N.Z. Cable Assn. [The following particulars of submarines of the “H” class are given by "Brassey’s Naval Annual”: —Surface displacement, 440 tons, submerged 500 : surface, h.p., 480, submerged 320; surface speed. 13 knots, submerged 10 knots; oil 16 tons; armament four 21in. tubes; complement, 22.] NO CHANCE OF ESCAPE FOR CREW VERSATILE BADLY DAMAGED (Rec. March 24, 7.45 p.m.) London, March 24. The submarine H 42 was rising to the surface at the manoeuvres when it was telescoped by + -he Versatile, which was going at a speed of twentyseven knots an hour. The submarine came to the- surface within twenty yards of the destroyer, so a collision was inevitable, the destroyer cutting right through the tiny vessel. The Versatile stood by for some hours, but hope of any rescue was the smallest. Water rushed in, and the submarine instantly sank in lialf a mile of water. All hands must have been drowned within two or three mintues, without a chance of escaping. The. Versatile was not taking part in the 'manoeuvres, but was under orders io return to England, and was on the way when the accident happened. ’ Her bows were so damaged that she was towed to Gibraltar stern foremost, with two compartments flooded. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. NUMBER CARRIED BY SUBMARINE COMMANDER’S /FINE WAR I RECORD (Rec. March 24, 7.45 p.m.) London, March 24. Tho commander of the submarine. Lieutenant Sealey, had. a distinguished war record, especially in the Baltic. Lieutenant Price, second in command, won the D.S.O. as a midshipman for heroic .service in tho Dardanelles. Thirty-three of the crow belonged to Portsmouth, where they spent their Christmas leave. Pathetic scenes were witnessed at the dockyard gates, where mothers nnd wives waited all night long, hoping for details or even news of rescues. It is not certain that all the crew were on board, but some reports state that as many as forty died, as .extra men iwere on board for training. In the House of Commons it was officially stated that H 42 camo to ths surface thirty nr forty yards from tho Versatile, which was stjwttiing at twenty knots. There was no spare crow on the submarine.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. SYMPATHY OF THE KING AND QUEEN (Rec. March 24, 7.45 p.m.) London, March 24. The King has sent a message to the commander of the Atlantic Fleet: “I was greatly shocked to hear of the disaster. I wish the deep sympathy of myself and tho. Queen..to bo^ conveyed to tlie familes of the missing.” —Aus.-N.Z. Cable -Assn. SISTER SHIP’S NARROW ESCAPE SUBMARINES LOST IN WAR AND PEACE TIME (Rec. March 24, 7.45 p.m.) London, March 24. The accident follows close upon the narrow escape of a sister ship, H 24, last month. The destroyer concerned then, the Vancouver, belonged to the same flotilla as the Versatile. The H 42 was damaged in a collision in 1919, and is not worth salving. Most of tho H class were Duilt in Canada during the war. The Navy has now lost ten submarines in peace tune, and forty-seven in war time.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. [During the Atlantic Fleet’s exercises off Majorca last month the destroyer Vancouver collided with submarine H 24. The latter had its conning tower and periscopes shorn off, but there was no loss of life.]