CAPTAIN ORAM'S RISK

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 4, 5 July 1939, Page 11

CAPTAIN ORAM'S RISK

ESCAPE OF FOUR MEN

STOKER'S STORY OF DISASTER

(By Air Mail, from "The °ost's" London Representative.)

LONDON, June 5.

.. One of the very few incidents to relieve the tragedy of the submarine Thetis was the chance taken by Captain H. P. K. Oram to assist the salvage vessels in their search for the disabled ship. When the Thetis had been under water for 20 hours and the crew did not know whether she had been located, Captain Oarm volunteered to become a human buoy to mark the spot where she sank. He offered to use the Davis safety apparatus to reach the surface. Messages from the men were tied to his wrists, and before he climbed to the escape chamber he left instructions that after a reasonable lapse the men left behind were to escape in pairs" if possible. Each pair, he suggested, should be made up of one man of the submarine's crew and one of the experts from Cammell Laird, builders of the Thetis. - . . The Davis apparatus is much the same as a diving suit. Its main feature is a collapsible breathing-bag, with an oxygen cylinder and a canister inside the bag containing chemicals for purifying the exhaled air. There is a tube with a mouthpiece through which the man breathes. "JUST A HAZARD." The story of Captain Oram's risk was told by a seaman observer who was at the scene of the rescue operations. "It was just a hazard," said the seaman. "Captain Oram did not come up as the result of any signal being received. None had been received in the submarine and they did not know whether their position was known. He came up purely on chance, to see if help was at hand, and, if not, in the hope of attracting the attention of some passing vessel. He was* most surprised to find H.M.S. Brazen there and to be picked up immediately. '"The Brazen apparently was just about to give the service signal, the dropping of a given number of explosions in the water, for the submarine crew to abandon ship, when he appeared on the surface. The signal was given, and three more came. up, i out no more, and everybody wonder-1 ered what had happened." Captain Oram has been in the submarine, service for the past 20 years and for the past 18 months he has been Captain in Command of the Fort Blockhouse, Submarine Depot, at Gosport. Captain Oram was involved in a previous submarine disaster when 23 officers and ratings lost their lives off the Pembrokeshire coast on July 29, 1929. He was in charge of Ll2, which collided with H47. The latter sank in 20 seconds, and Ll2 also sank, but was later brought to the surface again. Captain Oram, with others on the bridge, was swept into a heavy sea, and one of them was drowned. FOUR HUNDRED DEPENDANTS. There are, it is estimated, more than 400 dependent relatives of the men who perished in the Thetis. Wives and

children of naval officers and ratings make up about 250 persons. The dependants of the naval occupants of the submarine will receive pensions automatically. Widows are entitled to pensions and, usually, there is a contribution towards children's upkeep. The only guide to the pensions the dependants will receive is the case of the victims of the M 2 disaster, in 1932, when widows of ratings received 10s 6d a week with a compassionate allowance of 5s a we^k. Values have changed since then, and it is understood that the Admiralty may consider granting larger pensions. STOKER ARNOLD'S STORY. Leading-Stoker W. C. Arnold, on his return to Birken/iead from hospital at Portsmouth, related the story of his experience. He was obviously much affected when he spoke of his lost companions. He said: "We dived at about 1.30 or 1.40, and we had been down some time when her nose suddenly shot down. I was working at the time and I did not feel any bump or realise that we had hit the bottom. I was in the pumpingroom. I had gone up to investigate a small leak for my own sake for the J future running of the boat, and was i trying to make 'lie bulkhead watertight. There was a rush of air from the fore torpedo space." Stoker Arnold, showing great emotion, then described the dramatic scene iii the submarine when it was realised that somethin- was amiss. SHOUTS TO "SURFACE." "There was shouting," he said. "People shouted from the control room to 'surface.' Next, the lads who were in the fore head torpedo tube came scrambling out. They got out of that compartment and then the second, compartment into the accommodation [space. Then we shut the door. We had been trying to shut ii before, but could not manage it for a few seconds. But we did it then. The boat, was still hanging in the water at an angle—a very steep angle, the steepest I have ever known in a submarine. There was no water at all in the chamber I was in. ' "We knew we were down, but there was no panic. There was no feeling whatever of disaster in our minds. There was plenty of joking. We were all sure the boat was coming up and we were going to get the boat up ourselves. I would like to say a special word about the poor chaps who were down there. Although there were all those clever experts in the boat, even a seaman, if he had any suggestion to make about means of getting up, was able to give it. Everything was considered. There was no argument between the experts and the sailors or workmen about anything." EFFORTS TO DO SOMETHING. Continuing his description of the scene Arnold said: "The firs* lieutenant, Lieutenant Chapman, then went to the forward escape chamber, hoping to get through the flooded compartments, open the door, and then open the suction and pump out. He could not do jit. The pressure inside the escape [chamber was too much for his ears. I Then Lieutenant Woods and PettyOfficer Mitchell tried, and there was a third attempt. But this was no good, either.

"Then it was decided to abandon the ship. Things went on and on. Different jobs of work were done and we went up to the stern. "Captain Oram and Lieutenant Woods next decided to do their best tr get out, and they got into the chamber and away they went. We knew they had gone because we could see daylight shining through the water into the escape chamber." Referring to his own escape, Arnold said: "I do not know how to put it. I will just say that Shaw and I decided to make a bid for it. We got out and felt sure that all the others would follow us at frequent intervals. I cannot tell you how I felt when they did not." Asked what was the condition of the air when he left the Thetis on Friday morning—about 20 hours after the submarine had dived—Arnold uttered one word, "indescribable." The lights, he added, were still burning.