MISSING AFTER DIVE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 118, 14 November 1925, Page 7

MISSING AFTER DIVE

LOSS FEARED WITH ALL HANDS

Ml A WAR EMERGENCY CRAFT.

(nUITIO MESS ASSOCIATION— COI>T»I«tT,)

(AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND OAIiU ASSOCIATION.) LONDON, 12th November.

The submarine Ml, which, during exerciseS) was seen to dive fifteen miles south of Start Point on the morning of 12th November', and has not been seen since, was one of three war emergency vessels, each carrying a twelve-inch gun. The construction of this type has sitice beeh prohibited by the Washington Treatyi The ships, though first regarded as'\ good diving craft, did not live Up to this reputation.

The class \vas the outcome of Lord Fisher's proposals in 1915 to mount a big gun on. a so-called submarine monitor.. The 12iti gun, which is mounted inside a shield, must be loaded on the surface, but can be fired when the boat is either afloat or submerged. As a matter of fact, after she was launched in Vickers's yard in 1918 Ml was not used as a submarine monitor, as the Admiralty felt it would be disadvantageous to demonstrate that a submarine monitor was practicable in case the enemy should adopt the idea. Instead the submarine was used-for spottijg work in conjunction with cruisers and for Cbastal bombardment work. The clafes has a displacement of 1950 toiiSj dud a surface speed of 15^ • knots.

ANXIETY AT PORTSMOUTH

Intense anxiety, is felt at Portsmouth, from Where a lafge proportion of the crew Was drawn. No details have so far been allowed to transpire concerning the circumstances <jf the. disappearance. It is belieVed that the Vessel carried a crow of about eighty. .It left Portsmouth early in the morning with the parent ships Maidstone arid Alecto Ross, arid the remainder of a group of submarines. News if the mishap was only known when the Admiralty issued a statement that the submarints -left Portsmouth tit 3.30 o'clock in the morning, and that after diving Ml was last' heard of by Wireless at 10 o'clock.

Mine sweepers are sweeping the area where she was last seen, in the hope of locating her whereabouts. It is improbable that divers will be sent down owing to the depth of Water. At the time of the disappearance there was R strong wind and the sen was rougli.

Ml whs equipped with the latest apparatus for communicating with the surface, and experts are of opinion that she will be able to stay under water without harm for at least "two days, so it is too early to abandon all hope, but a signal from Admiral Oliver, the Commander-in-Chief, to the fleet: "Much regret, appears Ml, lost with all hands," is regarded as ominous. Unfortunately large submarines ara difficult to handle- when submerged. Thd inflow of water when diving must bo carefully regulated. Tire least hitch may take a. 'submarine tco low for recovery. Thus, if something goes wrong with the compressed air it may not be possible to check a dive as it gains momentum. The gre.at danger is the difficulty of correcting a diving error with sufficient promptitude. The Admiralty has issued the names of four officers, including Lieutenant Casey, an Australian, and sixty-four other ranks aboard the submarine. '• «