21 NOVEMBER 1925, Page 2

We deeply regret to record the loss of Submarine M

1 ' with all hands. The nation has been profoundly moved by this calamity.. On Thursday, November 12th, M 1 ' was going through exercises fifteen miles south of Start Point when she disappeared. She carried a complement of 4 officers and 64 men. She was the first of a group of three submarines which are unlike all others. Each carries a twelve inch gun and it has been suggested that, though all the • attainable stability has, of course, been provided for, the margin of safety was less with this type of submarine than with 'others. A feature of the attempts to discover the position of M I' has been the employment -under Germans of the latest German inven- tion for deep sea diving. This apparatus consists of an armour of steel or aluminium alloy which protects the body of the diver against' the high pressure of water at a great depth. It is said that the diver can descend to a depth of 480 feet. If this is true, diving is possible at a depth which never used to be dreamed of. The body is jointed at the' lips. It is, of course, of great weight, and has to be lowered by a special crane. The air supply is carried inside the armour, and it is said that the time spent in descending and ascending is much less than with an ordinary diving apparatus. We have written in our first leading article about the movement for abolishing submarines.

• * *