ESCAPE FROM SUBMARINE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 16 November 1928, Page 5

ESCAPE FROM SUBMARINE

NEW DEVICE TESTED. Successful deep sea tests with the American Navy’s new breathing device intended to enable men trapped in sunken submarines to reach the surface safely, have brought the experiments to the final stage—that of actual escape ol men from a flooded submersible. These experiments were conducted with the Siiimbarine S-4, off Cape Charles, Va., in October and, and it is probable that each of the 78 submarines in the naVy will be equipped with the devices. Three naval diveiis descended in a diving bell to- a depth of 155 feet and arose, garbed only in divers’ underwear and equipped with the new device. Breathing high atmospheric oxygen through a mouthpiece from a rubber bag which rested against their chests, the men came slowly to the surface and reported no discomfort. The apparatus, based on the knowledge that it was not only sea press lire, but the lack of pressure upon reaching the surface, that balked escapes from great depths, is considered by its. inventors and high naval authorities as the most practical evbr proposed for submarine rescue work. It was devised to he used in the escape compartments of submarines, which are fitted to be operated as diving bells in emergencies.