COMPLAINT BY PRESS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21363, 5 June 1939, Page 7

COMPLAINT BY PRESS

Uncertainty Of Rescue Work United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received June 4, 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 4. A message giving details of the Thetis was sent to their Majesties in Canada. Hawsers have been placed under the submarine and it is hoped to raise her on Tuesday. RearAdmiral Fraser, Third Sea Lord, has gone to the scene. The Press complains of the uncertainty about the progress of the rescue work, largely due to the brusque uncommunicativeness of officials of Cammell, Laird and Co., towards 100 journalists representing newspaper agencies in Britain, France and America. A deputation of journalists were allowed to pass the outer gates only after they had sent a joint letter to Mr R. s. Johnson, managing director, who gave the first

authentic account since the submergence two days earlier. Editorials demand the ruthless pressing of the proper answering of all questions relating to the loss of the crew of the Thetis and the failure to effect a rescue. Earlier Reports of Tragedy An official report earlier stated that the vessel has been located on Friday, with its stern eighteen feet out of the water, fourteen miles from Great Ormes Head. The Admiralty states that in addition to five officers and 48 men of the submarine’s complement, four other naval officers and a pilot are aboard the submarine. These, with twenty representatives of the makers, Cammell Laird, and eight of Vickers, Armstrong, make eighty-six. Rear-Admiral Watson, commanding the submarines directing operations, does not doubt that the fore part of the Thetis is flooded, but those who have been saved report that none is trapped in there. He suggested that something went wrong while the crew were demonstrating the flooding of the fore torpedo tubes. Experts say it is impossible to pump in air unless there js an outlet for foul air. Observers flying over the site where the Thetis sank, said she was entirely under water at 5.30 p.m., despite the fact that it was low tide.

Efforts to augment the air supply are being continued. Earlier in the afternoon compressed air cylinders were lashed to the stern of the Thetis to prevent her from sinking. The spring tide was rising when the tail of the Thetis was located. The local difference between low and high tide is twenty-seven feet, and for this reason if her nose is caught, the entire tail is likely to be submerged at full tide. Divers are maintaining communication with those inside the submarine by tapping the hull. The Llandudno lifeboat was launched at 1.30 p.m., taking a doctor to the scene. It is estimated the air supply will last those imprisoned until 1.40 a.m. to-morrow.

It was reported later that the hawsers on the Thetis parted after they had been attached to the hull. She now' rests on the sea bed on an even keel.

A later Admiralty report says the Thetis is apparently at an angle of 45 degrees, with her nose on the bottom. The King was informed by wireless that all aboard the Thetis were alive. The theory at Birkenhead is that the stern’s weight out of the water indicated that the bow is caught in

old wreckage. Six salvage experts w'ho helped to raise the German Fleet at Scapa Flow were flown from the Orkneys to assist in salvaging the Thetis. The Orkney salvage steamer, with a special compressor, also is going to the scene. Cammell Laird’s expert, Mr Shaw, who came to the surface this morning, landed at Birkenhead, pale and drawn. Cammell Laird later stated that steel ropes were passed under the bow. It is hoped to remove the Thetis shortly. Officers Escape The Admiralty confirms a report that Captain H. B. Oram, Commander of the Fifth Submarine Flotilla ,and Lieutenant F. G. Woods escaped from the Thetis and are now aboard the destroyer Brazen, which first located the submarine. Captain Oram and Lieutenant Woods escaped from the submarine at 8.15 a.m. by means of the Davis apparatus.