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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Does anybody have a copy of this book?

OOPS - I pushed "Send" prematurely...

What a find! And what a piece of yellow journalism.
I am particularly amused and appalled by the "question" of how long the sub could run submerged on its battery. The anonymous naval experts cited stated that it could only run for one hour, while Wilkins claimed 40 hours. Of course, both were telling the truth, with Wilkins citing the maximum endurance available at reduced speed while the naval experts gave the figure for a tactical run at full speed. By deleting that important qualifier, the writer generated the appearance of controversy, where in fact none existed, anticipating today's journalism standards.
There are many other contrived "dangers," which aside from being alarmist give me the odd feeling that the writer didn't believe that there were any REAL dangers. And there were plenty.
Inasmuch as this article appeared well before the start of the expedition, and must have been seen by the crew, could it have been the stimulus for the anonymous act of sabotage (the mysterious disappearance of the sub's hydroplanes) that ultimately thwarted the attempt?
Not that the crew didn't have real concerns. The elaborate modifications ordered for the under-ice expedition seem to have consumed the entire shipyard budget, leaving some prosaic but vital maintenance tasks undone or poorly done. Lake notes:
"I understand that the craft itself functioned perfectly, but for various reasons Sir Hubert Wilkins and Captain Danenhower were so anxious to get away on the voyage that they took a chance, and sailed with engines and electric equipment in very bad condition. An engine cylinder was cracked, two of the pumps were not in condition, the ice drill and conning-tower were not functioning properly, and I have been told that one of the large yokes of the generator motor was loose in the rack."
Now it's not unheard-of for a vessel to leave port with minor machinery problems left to be dealt with at sea, but the machinery defects mentioned by Lake could not have been fixed anywhere but a shipyard. Indeed, the boat was laid up for some time in England before proceeding north, and it's clear that not even trim dives were carried out before the first attempt to dive under the ice, because it was only at that point that the absence of the hydroplanes was discovered. One can't help wondering whether the supposed sabotage was not simply a shipyard error. 

Best,
Marc

Archivale catalog: http://www.archivale.com/catalog
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On 9/24/2010 2:57 AM, irox wrote:


Here is some more on the Wilkins attempt.

"Will the Nautilus Freeze Under the North Pole?"
Source: Modern Mechanix
Issue: June, 1931
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2010/08/25/will-the-nautilus-freeze-under-the-north-pole/

-----Original Message-----

From: MerlinSub@t-online.de
Sent: Sep 23, 2010 10:36 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Does anybody have a copy of this book?


Hi Marc, I had a folder photocopy many years in my libary.
But sold it back to the original collector.
Will send his email adress direct to you.

vbr Carsten


"Marc de Piolenc"<piolenc@archivale.com>  schrieb:

Under the North pole ; the Wilkins-Ellsworth submarine expedition, by
Sir Hubert Wilkins
--
Archivale catalog: http://www.archivale.com/catalog
Polymath weblog: http://www.archivale.com/weblog
Translation services: http://www.proz.com/profile/639380
Ducted fans: http://massflow.archivale.com/



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