"Naval appointments: The following appointment was made at the Admiralty
this afternoon: Sub-Lieutenant Arnold Hythe to the ’Investigator’ for
special duties (undated)."
This item, in the Stop-Press columns of an evening paper, was shown to
Sub-Lieutenant Hythe by one of his brother officers.
"You are a lucky dog!" exclaimed the latter. "My Lords evidently
recognize your capabilities as a diver. Well, good luck, old man. I
hope you’ll play the chief part in running down this plaguey fellow.
Hang it all, I cannot see that he’s doing any harm, except that all
leave is stopped until something is done to stop his little antics."
"Yes, that is hard lines," assented the sub. "But I’ll do my level best,
no doubt."
H.M. surveying vessel "Investigator" was lying in dock at Portsmouth,
and was under orders to proceed to sea at the first possible
opportunity, her errand being to endeavour to locate and capture the
submarine that, it was generally agreed, was still in the vicinity of
Spithead.
To cope with the situation a special Bill had been hurriedly introduced
into Parliament making it an offence against the Naval Secrets Act for
any person to manoeuvre a private submarine within five miles of
specified naval ports. The Bill received the Royal assent and became
law within thirty-six hours after the escape of the suspect arrest on
Southsea beach, an individual who was generally accepted as being the
man of mystery, Captain Restronguet.
The fellow’s diving gear, or at any rate the major portion of it,
remained in the hands of the authorities. After being subjected to a
lengthy research at the hands of the Diving School at Whale Island the
following report was issued confidentially: "The helmet is of a metal
hitherto unknown, possessing all the advantages of aluminium, without
the known disadvantages. It is a departure from the usual form, having
a ridge-shaped projection in front, possibly to lessen the resistance to
the water when moving on the bottom of the sea. The helmet is also
valveless, the air, chemically prepared, is by some means kept at a
fairly high pressure, sufficient to distend the suit in order to do away
with any discomfort to the wearer by reason of the weight of water. The
suit is made, not of rubber as was at first supposed, but of an unknown
quality of flexible metal. When distended it also presents an edge in
front, in order to minimize lateral resistance. How the air is purified
is still a secret, the apparatus for so doing having been detached and
thrown into the sea by the unknown. A diligent search had failed to
produce this important item. Undoubtedly the suit, when complete, is far
in advance of any now used in the Service."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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