A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 99, 26 April 1912, Page 3

A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

BRITISH SUBMARINE A 3

SINKS' “LIKE A STONE.”

The London correspondent My the Sydney Daily Telegraph writes, under date- February 9th: —-The place- which the British Navy holds in the affections of the British people is demonstrated in many ways hut in m. way is it mo,re sympathetically displayed than in the interest shown in : ny accident to a British warship in Line ol peace, which results in loss oi life. The disaster yybich occurred oil to. 1 Isle of Wight shortly aftci midday on February 2nd, when submarine A 3 collided with HALS. Har.ard rued as a sea-going depot for submarines, and sank like a stone, with lour officers and ten men on board, came as a shock to the nation. In tlio 'adder, nature of the disaster there s an absence of those thnlkng details r an heroic struggle against •'oath, which ' surround most of fhe stiv es I sensational shipwreck, hut nevertheless the public are fine 1 )' c< a. incod that the unfortunate uu n iirprsoned in the sinking submarine met their deaths with, the nhieh is a, inseparable part (d the traditions <v the Brit : sh. N. vy.

lO! g. Hazard an 1 Antelope, aieonipanies by six submarines attached to the Portsmouth flotilla, wont to the east end of the Is 1, ot Yv ight on the morning of February ‘2nd to carry out instructional evolutions. It was during the progress of these evolutions that the disaster happened. The Hazard was steaming along on a straight course at a speed of about ton knots, the submarines attacking her, and the tender Mettle standing hy to pick up torpedoes. Submarine A 3 was observed from the Hazard

diving at a distance of about 2000 yards. From tint time she was never seen again. In the ordinary course she would have discharged a torpedo at the Hazard when 400 or 500 yards off, but hot necessarily from the side on which she started to dive. It is conjectured that on this occasion site had resolved to cross the Hazard’s course, and then turn and attack from fhc other side. Suddenly the Hazard received a blow on her starboard from an unseen object. From the air which bubbled up to the surface it was evident that she had been struck by the submarine, which had probably smashed her conning tower against the ship’s side. As the Hazard passed ot: the unfortunate submarine received a terrible blow from the larger vessel’s propeller, which ripped open her plating. As she went down a large volume of water rose to the surface, indicating that the submarine had immediately filled with water. Assistance was summoned hy wireless telegraphy, hut it was recognised from the first that there was no prospect of saving a single life. ! It is supposed that the fourteen men on hoard were overwhelmed by the battering inrush of the water. A submarine is particularly vulnerable, and n little wound is apt to prove fatal. She is the most delicate of the naval sisterhood, not by reason of frail construction, but because of her very fitness for the duty she is built to perform. ‘ If she sinks easily it is because it is her business to sink, and the prison-like characteristics which make escape so hard when she sinks by accident are the guarantees of safety when she sinks by design. In the case of A 3 nothing was being 'attempted which had not been done in the usual routine hundreds of times before. On an average four submarines carry out similar exercises five days weekly. Lieutenant Ormand, the officer in command of submarine A 3 when she went down, was officially in command of A-l, but as his vessel was under repair he had taken the place of Lieutenant Craven, who was in command of A 3, but had been given shore leave. A sad feature of, the case is that Lieutf nant Ormand had been married only two months before ho met his death. The second in command was Lieutenant Thornton, but the other two officers who perished—Lieutenant Campbell and Lieutenant Richardson—had only been attached to submarine A 3 for instruction in subtil a vine seama nsh ip. The A 3 was one of the earlier types of submarines built for the British Maw, and was practically obsolete for ail purposes' except that of coast and harbour defence-. She was a vessel of 204 tons displacement, and had a horsepower of 110 when submerged and 450 when on the surface, giving a speed of seven knots below water and 12 knots on the surface. The A class of submarines, which originally consisted of the unlucky niunbei of 13, arc regarded as unlucky by the ni ,vy. On March 18th, 1904, submarine Al, while manoeuvring near the Isle of Wight, was struck by the Union Caetle liner Berwick Castle . and went down with two officers and nine men. This accident occurred only a few miles from the spot where A 3 met with disaster. On February 16th., 1905, when submarine A 8 was off Portsmouth, some fumes given off by the petrol exploded, causing the death of Sub-Lieutenant Skinner and live men. Four months later ASjsank off Plymouth, and Sub-lieutenant Fletcher and four men were drowned. On all modern submarines an air-trap is Formed as part of the ship, so that in the event of a mishap the men can immediately make For the aii-tiap, adjust a special apparatus, something after the style of a diver’s helmet and jacket, and, escaping by the hatch, ■ ,-ise to the surface. There was no air trap constructed on A 3, as she belonged to one of the earliest types of submarines and, therefore, the men were not provided with these chemical respiration helmets; but, even if they had been provided with them, it is regarded as unlikely that 'they would have had time to put them on before they were overwhelmed hy the inrush of water. As soon as the submarine A 3 sank, efforts were made to locate nci by the Hazard and other vessels which, had answered the wireless messages for assistance, but it was not until 7 p.m. that she was found. She was lying in 45ft. of water, in a position which: was unfavourable tor salvage work, as the spot was swept by currents so rapid that divers dared not venture below except at slack water. In addition, there was a heavy swell from a hitter north-easterly wind, which hindered the work. At the time of writing not a single body lias lieen recovered from tin’s wreck, although salvage work has been continued whenever the state of the weather and the tides permitted. The Admiralty is hut poorly equipped with appliances for raising the vessel, and the operations may extend over some weeks.