You can read the following story on the Internet:
The North Atlantic, the endless ocean is calm and lazy, and a buoy is floating among the smooth ice waves, there is an old telephone on it and it rings endlessly. The crystal clear air carries this chilling trill, this cry for help to several cables. On the other end of the line … at a depth of 60 meters … 28 people really hope that someone will hear this call, pick up the phone and save them. It was a call lasting two days.
Everything was a little different, but no less exciting
At the beginning of the 20th century, S-series submarines were being built in the United States of America.
36 of them were produced. It was quite a successful project for its time. Some submarines of the S series survived until the 40s and even took part in the Second World War - they patrolled the Aleutian and Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Curiously enough, American designers even tried to design the placement of a reconnaissance aircraft on board the "S". Here are some unique and rare photos that prove it.
Promotional video:
On the deck of the submarine, number S-1, a cylindrical hangar was equipped. It housed a collapsible Martin MS-1 biplane. But further tests did not show any advantages of a submarine complete with a seaplane, and further experiments in this direction were stopped. The sailors posed for posterity in front of it, and sent it to the scrap.
Submarine number S-5. She was launched in 1919, and in August 20 she began sea trials. All systems and mechanisms were tested in the North Atlantic, near Cape Delaware. Everything went on as usual, the crew got used to their warship, and clearly followed the orders of the captain. All tasks were completed, and only the last exam remained - an emergency dive.
The ship's captain Charles Cook gave the command to dive. With this command, the most important thing is not to forget to close the valve of the main ventilation line, which supplies the submarine with outside air. But the foreman, who was in charge of this valve, either hesitated, or was confused, or was thinking about something overland and pleasant ….
In short, he did not have time to close it. A terrible thing happened: simultaneously water poured into all the compartments of the boat through the ventilation system in a powerful stream. Until all the necessary valves were closed, the boat gained many tons of water and lay down on the bottom. The bow compartment with torpedo tubes suffered the most - it was completely flooded. The depth in that place turned out to be shallow - only 60 meters, but you understand, this added little to optimism. Because it was technically impossible to send a distress radio signal through the water column then. The crew knew perfectly well that no one would ever find them on that damn day off Cape Delaware …
And then on the Internet folk art is connected to this story and away we go: In general, the crew of the S-5 submarine found its own Coolibeen. I suspect it was either a radio operator or an electrician. He found a long cable, connected it to the ship's telephone, attached the telephone to a signal buoy, and sent it to the surface. This is how an ordinary phone call rang out in the open ocean. Icy crystal waves, and above them a chilling "dr-r-r-r-rin!" …
Phone signal "Save Our Souls!" rang out for a long time. A very long time. Ten o'clock. You will say that 10 hours is not long, and you will be extremely wrong. Because for people locked in the depths, every minute stretches like an eternity. The problem was aggravated by the fact that the area was not very navigable, and only gulls and albatrosses could hear the telephone SOS. And then the captain, who bears the wonderful naval surname Cook, made a very important and strong-willed decision. Speaking in Russian, he decided to put his ship "on the priest." Look, the depth is 60 meters, and the length of the submarine is 70, which means that if you manage to put it vertically, with the bow on the ground, then the aft part will protrude above the water. And this is already something - such a "float" is hard to miss.
The idea, of course, is very risky. The main danger with such a maneuver is the acidic electrolyte from the batteries, which can spill and poison people with its poisonous vapors. But the crew believed their captain. Together, the officers and mechanics developed a detailed procedure for each sailor, and one could only hope for an accurate calculation and coordination of the actions of the entire team.
And then the command, unheard of until now in naval practice, was heard: "Get ready for surfacing astern!" The steel cigar of the submarine smoothly moved the stern … it began to rise … and after a few minutes the submarine was already standing almost vertically, with a slight inclination, gently resting its bow on the ground. Can you imagine what was going on inside at that time? Tons of water poured into the bow compartments, sweeping away everything in its path. The sailors at the ready pulled the last mechanic by the hands and barely managed to close the hatch leading now down. The crew gathered in the aft float compartment. All were alive. And over the ocean, the lonely and sad phone call continued to be heard … It frightened the seagulls flying past and swimming killer whales for almost two days.
And then the submariners were incredibly lucky. So, by a lucky coincidence, a military transport "Alantus" passed nearby.
First, the watchman saw on the surface a huge buoy of amazing design with protruding screws, and then … he heard the phone ringing … and then the sailor decided that he was going crazy.
When the sailors of the "Alantus" came up on the boat, one of them picked up the receiver and asked: "Hello, what kind of ship is this?"
He was told: "American submarine S-5" …
The sailor with the pipe was extremely surprised, confused and discouraged, but out loud he said completely different words, obscene sea (… your mother!), And then he could not think of anything better how to ask: "Where are you going?"
To which he received a gorgeous American answer: "Straight to hell!" On this day, not a devil in Hell, nor angels in Paradise, did not wait for twenty-eight people already included in their lists. The commander of the submarine and the sailors of the "Alantus" disrupted all their plans.
The divers were rescued. Captain Cook was the last to leave his ship. This brave and savvy officer, 20 years later, will become the commander of the battleship "Pennsylvania" and together with him will survive the air attack of the Japanese kamikaze in Pearl Harbor.
After the war, Charles Maynard Cook Jr. rose to the rank of admiral and was appointed commander of the 7th American Fleet in the Pacific Ocean.
And his sunken submarine S-5 in 1921 was struck off the naval list and completely forgotten about it.
How did they get her out? Then everything was a matter of technique. The Atlantus sailors quickly prepared for work all the tools they had and made a hole in the boat of the required diameter. The submariners crawled out with difficulty and literally fell to the bottom of the boat. By tradition, the captain was the last to leave the submarine.
The battleship Ohio State later attempted to tow the half-submerged submarine to repair docks. But, apparently, during this time, even more water accumulated in the hole made, as a result, halfway through the towing cable broke, and the ill-fated S-5 submarine still went to the bottom.
There is a more historical explanation for this artistic story:
The story is excellent, of course, but the events are described "extremely freely" - there was no talk of any phone or buoy with a tube, this is someone's speculation - a boat sticking out over the water astern and became the subject of curiosity of the captain of Atlantis, who did not even have on board radio to call for help, and all that was able to pump them oxygen and drinking water through the hole that the submarine sailors dug and through which they were able to communicate with the approaching ship.
"Atlantis" beckoned another passing ship, which has already begun to cut the hole, and also reported to the Navy
The crew of the boat is 38 people, everyone safely escaped without receiving serious injuries, everyone continued to serve, only one almost drowned while trying to blow through the tanks and surface (when the boat got up on the bow because they could not pump out the water, both the main and emergency pumps did not work) …
And yes, the photo is not Photoshop, it really is the stern of the boat with rudders and propellers from a distance, very similar to a buoy, but at such a distance from the coast there should not be a buoy, this attracted Captain Atlantis.