t HAW TO P in phut ?9 J&i Official Correspondence Reveals Thrilling Story of Rescue of Crew of American Submarine Driven Ashore in Storm Off Portsmouth, N. H. point to the enclarjTC-rccl submarine. The Wallis Sands life savins crew, Willi pun and brooches buoy, wore In.nicd along by traolor to the samo (1,-s'iu.ition. Just as the crow ar-,-jv-d wi-u-iu-rs at Fort Stark ro-!.(..: ro-!.(..: ,-il that tlio S IS had disappear- . . from i'io broakvator. "A.s.-hor liht and a port running !;.. 1-t' woro liu-n made out dimly in-si in-si I.iii'o Harbor." Lieutenant S it" r.-porl. " Vhiihility was ex-J,','., ex-J,','., ,?1V ",,,. r. The llRhts seemed to roctdo for some time and then wont out suddenly." convinced the commander Hint to clar tho shoal, wiiioh r'i.'K 01. 1 juist to the north of the V.'!:::iobaok. the course must be changed. The larboard motor had boon stopped. With the decision to change course to the left. It was started, and a minute later the submarine was felt to ground. Rechonin.s hnd been In error, and tho S IS, instead of passing Into the channel, had slid its nose upon the rocky shoal at the southern entrance of the harbor. har-bor. Tho report tells how they sent a radio message to the navy yard of their plight and asked for help, and how, despite every effort . to back, the submarine remained firmly perched on the rocks. Two itics appeared about an hour and three-iiuarters three-iiuarters after tho grounding. The S-'1S, by means of its searchhL'ilt. signalled them the position and 1 i depth of water around the sh r The tugs took up a position "no 'o ;!flO yards aslern, remained titers f'i tiftoon minules and then dop-n-ie.. into the night. The S-4S coa! In'i undorsland it. "f T V 1 nAVK t0 report ..." rVj J Lieutenant - Commander : yijm- Stewart E. Bray Is speak-. speak-. ing; Lieutenant-Command- 1 er Bray of an American submarine tho S-48 which not so long ago grounded one stormy night oft Portsmouth. Now Hampshire, and for twelve hours lay helpless under the relentless pounding of tempestuous tempestu-ous seas. "I have to report . . The Men of the Navy Department contain Innumerable documents beginning be-ginning just that way In the formal iPhraneolo;;y which has endured for a century and a half. Each tells a story of fortitude, of courage, of high resolve in the face of danger. Of such calibre Is this latest document, doc-ument, thumbed from reading by many bureau chiefs captains and renr-admlra'B and now made public. pub-lic. It Is a dramatic slory unfolded unfold-ed without superlatives; a typical naval report, detailed and exact, hut with color and atmosphere, those necessary adjuncts to a sea yarn, loft solely to tho imagination of tho reader. Suspense on Shore Was it the S-48? If It was. It C " meant that the submarine had drifU ': t.,l or had beui dashed around two ; brrakv.at, and into the harbor. And should It prove to be the S--IS. bad tho gallant crew survived this new disaster? There was one way n, tind out. Kurt Stark had a search-,..V search-,..V It was out of cominlnsion, but mTn" ni.-,iu.d across from Fort Constitution Con-stitution to rig it up. Kxperts in lirht handling arrived at 3 o'clock in tho morning and In loss than an hour the searchlight was in operation. opera-tion. I's beams swept In and out through Utile Harbor, and finally t In the middle of the expanse of water t!uy picked up tho dark hull of the S-4.S. It was 100 far off for the s -arc iiliht to do moru than discloso lhi vague hulk of the rubmarlno. lint what was that? A momentary Hashing light from out in the harbor; har-bor; then another; spaced and methodical. meth-odical. Flashlight Signals mmm0:rk vT'?i" d; if The r'est ft.'ared odor on a subma- . . . ., , , ' '" rh:e - th.at of chlorine gas began to m the sehmenstble grow by alarm- .- V. ; V:V?-;?ife;i5K be perceptible about 4 a. .... To tng proportton,. i.r,t ot all. tae S-. (. : ,.-J?: 'Mfft rn-Khon the air, the main induction commar.dcr orde-td all water t!:;ht r ,j.t..vX '-1,-.;' it VC')-1 :' v.,;s opened and the engine indue-' doors do. I o,,ow deckhand sent ...V.V.'C f't'f, k,a ai h ,,vith a man the crew to the dec: k wtth ht.bel.s - ' , , t I, S 1 J $' ,-,alioned there to close It in an or mattr-sses. ,u.n a tew mm- ( y U If , . u, ...nergencv. The mn were by this utcs, nowever. ho waves were V i 'V', time suffering intensely with the smashing tvross the deck thre,,e ' , T ' o.d. and to add to the dangers a. or to carr, the men overboard. All -s w .Plf T 0 w discharge of chlorine gas began bu five were then ordered below 'T Aff l0 pormeate the air, coming from and these live wtth the two olheers. ,L I fyi 1 the batteries used for radio. Added remamed on the bridge to battle "f, m - f - I . ,n this the la8t tUr8e nghts. which xv, ,, the elements T , V -J - ' 1 had been giving the faintest of rays. the seas now star ed to com, , II' sa,l..lv went dork. A 5 o'clock clean over the 8-4,. the report - w,tPr (ljscovered seeping over TlJ'liri. '' ' the coa..., of the battery room Two OfTicrs on Bcnrd "I have to report," bepitis Lieutenant-Commander Rray, "that tho vessel under my command grounded ground-ed off .Taffrey Point at the entrnnco to harbor of Portsmouth, N. H. The commanding ofitonr was conning at the time of grounding, being assisted assist-ed by tho only other oMicor on board. Lieutenant (jg) P. P. Spauld-ing, Spauld-ing, USNltK, who was com pie ting his two weeks' annual tour of duty on the S-'JS." . Tugs Unable to Help Lieutenant J. P. Oompfon, on one of the tugs, the .Tamos Wooley, ex plained afterwards that weather conditions would not permit the tugs 1.0 approach nearer and they had no boats lo carry a linn. One or the tugs, therefore, returned to the naval stat ion to report eon;! il ions and the other started a seareh for a lifeboat. To return to the report; the se;) by this time was beginning to grow wilder and another attempt was made to back off. "This attempt was unsuccessful," Lieutenant-Commander Bray states. "However, the bow of the vessel shortly after played ofr to the rhThl until tho head was about ten degrees. de-grees. Knowing the ship's position aground and since the -seas were making there remained, but one way open to the Commanding O nicer ni-cer to get the ship off. and that was to go ahead oh': tho starboard engine en-gine since the storage1 battery would not carry the load at this time. Accordingly this engine was rtartcd. but wi'S run for-.about thirty thir-ty seconds only because 'the ship took a decided list and started to roll. After stopping tho engine the vessel still listed to starboard at .quite a sieep angle and the head I commenced to swing to port, due to i the mounting :ica." I From this point on the dangers Lieutenant Comptou leaped tor-ward. tor-ward. "They're signalling with a flashlight," flash-light," he exclaimed. "Wait. 1 can rend the code." The officer on shore was right. Lieutenant-Commander Bray, ihe chlorine gas having become almost deadly, bad marshalled his entire crew on deck and with a small pocket pock-et flashlight was signalling insistently insist-ently for the dispatch of a lifeboat. The rest is soon told. The first lifeboat arrived at 7:30 and took off five men; more trips and another boat soon accounted for the rest, and Lieutenant-Commander Bray, the last to leave the ship, was on shore by 9 o'clock. Not a life had been lost, but eight men were sent to the hospital at the Portsmouth Navy Yard suffering from exposure, and two of these had sustained other injuries, the one bruises and the other a fractured jaw. Numbered in the eight were both officers, but Lieutenant-Commander 'Bray, before yielding to any medical treatment, insisted upon going back to the S-48 In a naval tug and superintending tha laying of an anchor astern of ner. The most feared odor on a submarine-that of chlorine gas began to he perceptible about 4 a. in. To freshen the air, the main induction was opened and the engine induction induc-tion cracked altghtly. with a man .'.miioned Lhere to close it in an emergency. The men were by this time suffering intensely with the, cold, and to add to the dangers a new discharge of chlorine gas began to pormeatc the air, coming from the batteries used for radio. Added to this the last three lights, which had been giving the faintest of rays, suddenly went dark. A 5 o'clock water was discovered seeping over the couminj of the battery room door. The leak was stopped and then a hail above announced a searchlight playing on the ship. Efforts at Rescue Behind the searchlight's appearance appear-ance lies another story. The shore had located the S-4S on the shoal off the furthest breakwater beyond Jaf-frcy Jaf-frcy Point, and Lieutenants C. Shugg and J. P. ('ompton, tho latter just back from the tug, had gone overland to Fort Stark, the nearest in the s'lbmrrisibln crew by alprm-ing alprm-ing pro pur; km Fir.:t of ail. the eoinmar;di..r ordered all water t'i;,ht duors dost it o1. iow decks smi sent tho crew to the deck with lifebelts or mattr.-sses. Within a few minutes, min-utes, however, tho waves were smashing a. toss the dock, thro-jicn-ing to carry the men overboard. Ail but. fi v e were 1 1 1 e n o r d e r o d b e low sad These live, with the two oflicers, remained on the bridge to battle with the elements. "The seas now started to coma cleau over the S--1S." the report roads, "and before the conning tower tow-er hatch could he closed four or live tons of water had found its way into the control room. The ship at this time was rolling about lifteen degrees de-grees to port to sixty degrees or seventy decrees to starboard, and it was all that those on the bridge could do to hold on. This violent rolling lasted for about thirty minutes min-utes whim it started to subside." Troubles Below Deck At 2:30 in the morning Lieut en-ar)t-Can;nu:i:der Bray went bolow to Only two officers on board and one of th?so a naval reservsit. who. tho report later states, "showed himself as possessing coolness and courage amidst, more or less un-f un-f ami Mar surroundings." A nice tribute that to Lieutenant Spauld-Ing. Spauld-Ing. a civilian from Worcester, Mass., on temporary duty. The Submarine Grounds As she neared the Whaleback Light, which twinkles at the mouth : of Portsmouth Harbor, tho S-4S was running through a heavy snow, j tho tide was ebbing and a strong wind was blowing from the northeast. north-east. With the port propeller shaft bent, the submarine had but o::e w engine available and was making , about three knots. Snow had clog- gcd the admul.h instrument und was beating into the eyes of Lieu-tenant-Commar.der Bray. Accurate j bearings were impossible, but sueh j reckonings which could be made get warm. Tie had ben on the bridge smce the grounding, seven hours earlier. Within the next hour troubles piled up galore. The pump room, was half ftill of water which could not be pumped out. The battery bat-tery room was dogged shut, but the blowers were still running, discharging discharg-ing into the engine room. Footing could hardly be maintained because of the heavy list. Fear of chlorine gas prevented the opening of the f battery room door and the securing of dry clothing and the ship's records. rec-ords. Then at 3:30 the pilot light of the batfery blowers went out and the ship's lights began to grow dim. They knew there was water in the battery room, but the danger of starting rivets end seams prevented any effort, to blow out the flooded compartments. So the voice tube and the battery discharge from the engine room were closed.