My dear Father,

I have had no time to write before, we have been working in the boat right through the holidays, Good Friday and Easter Sunday included.

We got her into proper diving time on Friday and Saturday, and yesterday she went out into the dock for her first dive. Gable, one of the Americans was in charge, and the crew consisted of three other yanks, Capt. Bacon, Spence, and a foreman from the yard. As the Captain was in the submarine and Evans and Moreton away I had to stop out in charge of the rescue party consisting of divers. I followed with a lot of others in a steam boat and saw all there was to be seen. After a few preliminary runs she filled her ballast tanks and trimmed for diving near the High Level Bridge. They took a long time trimming then went ahead and made a few feeble dives to try her, then she stands up on her Tail like a porpoise and made a good dive to about 10 feet, stayed down a few seconds and came up again. She did several dives down and up almost at once, it being impossible to do much more in the dock owing to the shallowness of the water. There is a 28ft channel in the middle but the sides are sloping up. The gasoline engine is being put to rights this afternoon and several small alterations being made.

I shall be one of the crew tomorrow diving in the dock and on Thursday we may go out to Morecombe Bay, as there is not much sea room in the dock. She hit the bottom once yesterday and touched the dock wall slightly with her tail. Spence and I were up most of the night with the Captain working on the optical tube. The men come back from their Easter leave tomorrow morning. I don’t see any chance of getting to look at the Ariadne or of getting any leave. I am sorry I cannot come for the dance you mentioned. I remain your affectionate son

Del

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April 6th 1902

My dear Father,

We dived in the dock again yesterday, and this morning we went out to Morecombe Bay in a tug, the submarine boat in tow of a steam launch. It was a fine day with a slight NE wind and slight swell remaining from the SW gale.

We laid down four small mark buoys the eastern ones being two miles apart, ready for an underwater run. It was rather a scramble getting on board the boat on account of the swell and her fat round sides, however we got in all right and got close to the first buoy when we filled the ballast Tanks and trimmed for diving. There were 11 of us in the boat, Captain Bacon, myself, Spence, one of our artificers and a torpedo instructor, 3 yankees and 3 of the firms people, one of the yanks in charge. We went ahead with the motor and dived all right but the depth gauge showed nothing although we were under the surface so we came up again and examined it, found it choked. After cleaning it we started again, dived and ran 2 miles at an average depth of 8 feet, Captain Bacon steering by means of the optical tube. We came up close to this last buoy and were afraid we had cut it in half.

Up to that time I had been understudy for the diving wheel. On the run back I worked the diving wheel for the first time and kept her at about 10 feet for two miles. It wants a lot of practice but once I had got her steady I found I could keep her running within a few feet of the depth ordered. I found it rather tricky to steady her after the first dive and towards the end of the run I got her on rather a steep angle which sent a bucket flying along the deck nearly upsetting Capt Bacon at the optical tube. We had lunch in the tug at about 2.30 and came in again, the trial having been very satisfactory. The oil engine has some new ailment which is to be put right tomorrow, and I expect we shall have a trial outside with that on Tuesday.

I hear they are putting 23 motors into the Ariadne so we shall be quite up to date.

I remain your affectionate son

Del

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My dear Father,

I have had my hands very full this last 10 days and had no time to write before.

I arrived here from home that Sunday evening, having caught the train at Shipley all right. I had to see the Captain over the side at 6.30 the next morning and receive orders from him about the trials and things in connection with the submarines he wanted done during his absence. During breakfast I was told a leading stoker was missing and his cap found floating near the torpedo boat. It looked as though he must have fallen overboard so I started dragging at once and found his body at 11.00 and sent it to the mortuary. The next three days were perfectly awful what with arranging about the inquest and funeral and running trials with No.2 in between whiles. We buried him eventually on Wednesday with Naval Honours after a lot of telegraphing with his relations who first wanted him sent to Plymouth, not realising that it would cost them £23. We got a gun carriage from Vickers and the Volunteer band and a number of volunteers attended.

Admiral May was here on Saturday and we took him diving in the dock in No.1 and fired a torpedo from No.2 submerged but not under way. Evans and I had a very good bicycle ride on Sunday along the left banks of the Coniston to Fore How which we found shut up. We started at 2.00 and got there at 5.00 and had tea in the kitchen and rode back by Bowness, getting Dinner at Lakeside. On Monday we took the torpedo boat and No.1 into the lock and went out at 2 am Tuesday morning and had some good submerged running in Morecombe Bay. We ran about 18 feet deep occasionally going to 20 to just cover the periscope. I worked the diving wheel and Evans steered. I have trained one of the torpedo coxswains to take the diving wheel which frees me now to a great extent, as up to now nobody else has done it.

Sueter came tonight, he will live on shore on compensation till I go, I don’t know when that will be. I have been training Evans and Moreton and all the submarine crews pretty thoroughly at submerging the boat and working all the pumping, flooding and floating arrangements, so that Sueter will find them fairly efficient.

It will be very nice if this gets done for the review and all the etceteras.

I will remain your affectionate son

Del

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