SOREN NORBY OF THE ROYAL DANISH DEFENCECOLLEGE BEGINS A TWO-PART TELLlNG OF AN

INCIDENT IN WHICH A DANISH SUBMARINE WASRAMMED BY A FREIGHTER AND SENT TO THE BOTTOM.

WITH THE BOATS CREW ALIVE, BUT ENTOMBED.A RACE AGAINST TIME TO SAVE THEM UNFOLDED.

On October 9,1916, Dykkeren,which 'I\':lS Denmark's first subma­rine, was onmanoeuvres olfTarbæk, intheSound, just north ofCopenhagen. On board were ninemen under thecommand ofthe29-year-old lleutenant Svend AageChristiansen,Aswas normal procedure withthese kinds olexerdses, thesubma­rine was atthetime being followedby thetorpedo-transport shipSleipner. When Dykkeren dlved at13 30,Sleipner helsted theinterna-

tionalllag signalthat told ships inthearea there was asubmergedsubmarine somewhere beneath thewaves. Shortly afterDykkerendisappeared from thesurface, thecrew oftheSleipner spotred the

688 tons, 54 metres-longNorwegian steamship Veslaapproaehing from thenonh.She was onherwav fromGreenland to Copenhagen with acargo ofcryolite and sailing ata

speed ofnine knots onasoutherlyeourse through theSound. Thecrew oftheSleipner could tell thatDykkeren had drifted olfeourseand imo thepath ofVesla. Sleipnerimmediately began tosignal Veslaofimminem danger buttheNorwegian ship did not respond.Only when Sleipner began aseriesofshort bursis with hersteam whis·tie • theinternational warning signal-did erew onboard Vesla react andthevessel's engines were setto ful!speed astern, Itwas too late, for

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moments later ihecrew on boardVesla dearly felt Iheir shiphillingihesubmerged submarine. Thelime was 14.02. Theodor Mejdal,mesubmarine's engineer, laterdeseribed themoment ofcollisionas follows:"Suddenlywe heard athuruler-like, long-drawn [out]crash that sounded like somebodydragging achain overiron plates,"Everyone knew lhal thesubmarinehad been rammed andIlChristiansen irnmediately orderedthetanks blown andthedropkeelreleased, Thelauer was a heavylead keel, which could be releasedincertain emergency situations andihereby - intheory - make theboatlight enough IO surface.ThaI action was, however, in lhismstaoce notenough IO SIOP thesubmarine's descent.Moments later Dykkeren came torest at the ballom of theSound, inapproximarely nine melresofwater, with a list of20-25 degrees,Vesla had grazed thestemofDykkeren andripped olftheaflhatch,Allhetime ofthecollisiononly asingle crewmember was intheengine compartment. Whenwarer starred gushing in hehur­riedly ned Ihecompanmenl. Whenhe uiedIO clase thewalenighldoorbel\\'een Iheengine mom andthecontrol mom, a wire and aswealer gOl caughl in iland made ilimpossible IO shullighl. It WaSlherefore notpossible IO keepw:l1er from seeping imolhecomrolmom, Two IO lhree minules aflerlheeollision, lheengine mom wasfillcd Wilh w:l1er. It \\':IS clear lhal ilwould onl)' bea malter of minulesbefore Ihecontrol mom \\':IS alsonooded.In 19I61he normal procedurewhen a submarine foundered \\':IS

lhallhecrew would sia)' aboardandawail rescue from lhesurfaee.

HDMS Dykkeren, theDamsh Navy's firstsubmanne. Above'The cramped Interiorof Dykkeren.PholOS; The DanishDefence library.

This procedure \\':IS, however,designed forasituation where theboat \\':IS not flIUng rapidly wuhwater, Il Christiansen judged that\\':liling forhelp from thesurface\\':IS notanoption. He deckled thatheand his men should iosreadanempt a free escape through ihesubmarine's tower.This had beenlried inlraining, bUI il had nC\'erbefore been:mempted from aslricken submarine. Christiansenwould c1imb up into lhesmallIOwer, followed b)'lhree of his sub­mariners, which \\':IS alllhere\\':IS

mom for.Theplan \\':IS IO clase Ihelowerhalch, lel\\':ller filllhe lower andwhen ilwas fillcd . andlhe pres·suredifference thus offset·openthe IOP halch andswim the 4·5melres IO Ihesurface. As soon asthe third submariner had swum OUlof lhe lower, Chrisliansen woulddase the IOp halch andknock onIhelower halch. This would beasignal IO Iheremaining erew thai

they were IO openthehatch so thewater inrhetower could bereleased uuotheconnol mom. Thenext threesubmariners could thendimblnto thetower andrepeat theescape process, Il Christiansenwould remain in the tower andhelp theentire crew escape andthen leave thesubmarine asthe lastman.Tohelp him, he had a primitivebrealhing apparalus called aDrager·vesl, which •alleastonpaper - held oxygen for abouI 30minUlC5. Dykkeren \\':IS equippedwilh 12 Drager·vests, butfour ofIhem were inIhenow \\':ller·filledengine mom andlhesall w:ller hadmined 1\\'0 more in lhecontrolmom. There were therefore notenough \'ests forIhewhole ere\\'.

\VIlli the plan senled on,Chrisliansen andIhree ofhis sub­mariners dimbed imothe tower,where Ihe)' with great difficull}' sue·ceeded incooxing openlhe10P

hatch. Moments later the tower \\':IS

filled with water, andthe threemen swam thefew melres IO thesurface. Back inside thesubmarinethe flve remaining crewmemberswalted forthe signal indicating rhatChrisliansen hadclosed ihe tophatch, butil never carne,lnstead they saw water seepingfrom thelower hatch, indleaungthatthe10P batch \\':IS still open.This meaor thar ilwould notbepossible for the flve remaining toescape thesame way as the firstfour. All five men sougbt refuge inthe torpedo room, where il \\':ISstilldl)', bUI water soon starred IO seepinthere, too.The submarine's baneries were Sil'uated inthe torpedo room, andwhen thesak water reached thebaneries, a toxlc chlorine gas \\':IS

given offandbreathing soonbecame a painful experience forthesubmariners.Thetorpedo mom had a hatch,normally used forloading torpe­does, andlhis \\':IS now theonlyway OUI. However, dueIO thepres­surefrom thewater outside thehull, thehatch could notbeopened until thecompartment \\':IS

totally filled with water,Themenknew Ihal lheoxygen pro\ided b)'their few remaining Drager·\'ests\\':IS vilal iflhe)' were IO sunivethelasl few minutes befare Ihecom·panmem \\':IS properly filled \\ilh\\':ller andlhe)' were able toopenIhehatch. Thechlorine gas made ilalmosl unbearable IO breath andevcry rew minules lhe)' had IO lakeinlhe oxygen from a DrageHC51.Evel)' lime the)' didso il used upmore \':lluable airandlesscncdtheir chances ofsurvi\':ll.

• 1be cOllclltsioll af tbe dramauJif( be p/lblisbed illlbe 11e.\1edilioll af tbis lIIagazille.