SUBMARINE H42

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18513, 25 March 1922, Page 9

SUBMARINE H 42

COLLISION WITH DESTROYER. SMALLER VESSEL CUT IN TWO. ALL THE CREW PERISH. LONDON, March 23. A destroyer collided with submarine H 42 during manoeuvres off Gibraltar. The latter was lost with all hands, 22 in number. H 42 was rising to the surface, and was 20 yards from the Versatile, which was steaming at the rate of 27 knots. She cut the submarine in half. The Versatile stood by four hours; but there were no signs of survivors.—A. and N.Z. Cable. GIBRALTAR, March 23. It is believed that the death-roll on H 42 is 30. The destroyer Versatile was proceeding to England at the time of the aofident. —Reuter. ADDITIONAL DETAILS. THE COLLISION UNAVOIDABLE. DESTROYER BADLY DAMAGED. THE KING’S SYMPATHY. LONDON, March 24. (Received March 24, at 7.45 p.m.) Submarine H 42 was rising to the surface at manoeuvres when she was telescoped by the Versatile, which was steaming at the rate of 27 knots. The submarine came to the surface within 20 yards of the destroyer, so the collision was inevitable, the destroyer cutting right though the tiny vessel. The Versatile stood by for some hours, but the hope of any rescue was of the smallest. The water rushed in and the submarine instantly sank in half a mile of water. All the crew must have been drowned within two or three minutes without a chance of escaping. The Versatile was not taking part in the manoeuvre, but was under orders to return to England, and she was on her way when the accident happened. Her bow was so damaged that she was towed to Gibraltar, stern foremost, with two compartments flooded. The commander of the submarine, Lieutenant Sealey, had a distinguished war record, especially in the Baltic. Lieutenant Price, the second in command, won the D.S.O as a midshipman for heroic service in the Dardanelles. Thirty-three members of the crew belonged to Portsmouth, where they spent their Christmas leave Pathetic scenes were witnessed at the dockyard gates, where the mothers and wives waited all night long hoping ’ for details and news that the men had been rescued. It is not certain that all the crew were on board, but some reports state that as many as 40 died, as extra men were on board for training purposes. The accident follows close upon the narrow escape of the sister-ship 8124 in February. The destroyer belonged to the same flotilla as the Versatile. H 42 was damaged in a collision in 1919, and is not worth salving. Most of the H Class were built in Canada during the war. The Navy has now lost 10 submarines in peacetime and 47 in war-time. The King sent the following message to the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet : “I am greatly shocked to hear of the disaster. I wish the deep sympathy of myself and the Queen to be conveyed to the families of the missing.” In the House of Commons, it was officially stated that H 42 came to the surface 30 or 40 yards from the Versatile, which was steaming at 20 knots an hour. There was no spare crew on the submarine.—A. and N.Z. Cable.