our submarine could at last be launched. That left us three hours and 

 forty minutes until H-hour. The Elie-Monnier took new soundings. 

 Was our navigation at fault ? Had the current carried us away from the 

 island } In short, we now had only 495 fathoms under us, so we had to 

 tow the machine to a deeper spot. Since the cabin was underwater, we 

 naturally could no longer adjust the clockwork. We had a very short 

 time before us. Scarcely had we begun to move than one of the two 

 towing-lines of the Scaldis broke : a new cable had to be brought from 

 the reserve ; and we had to catch the FNRS 2, which was adrift. At 

 last we started out again. By now the time at our disposal was extremely 

 short. The submarine was still a little light. Very hurriedly we gave 

 it the extra ballast. At last, at four o'clock, the bathyscaphe went down. 



We knew that at 4.40 p.m. it would unballast itself. Nothing could 

 prevent that. It had then only forty minutes to reach the prescribed 

 depth. We did not know exactly its speed of descent. The moment was 

 dramatic. We had equipped our bathyscaphe with a radar antenna so 

 that the frigates could find it again in case of fog. At the moment 

 when this antenna disappeared below the surface, Captain Laforce, 

 who was sceptical, said to me : 



'During the war I saw several ships go down exactly as your 

 FNRS 2 is going down now. Not one came to the surface again.' 



It was not encouraging. But our FNRS 2 was not a ship like the 

 others ; it was a bathyscaphe ! I had entire confidence in my automatic 

 pilot. But I was afraid that forty minutes was not enough for the 

 machine to reach the desired depth. Crew and passengers scrutinized 

 the sea : clusters of observers crowded the masts and spars of the two 

 frigates. I myself watched the horizon from the bridge of the Scaldis. 

 Everyone was afraid that the bathyscaphe would not come up. As for 

 me, I was sure it would come up again, but I was afraid it would come 

 up too soon. 



Slowly I turned my telescope. Several of our launches and boats 

 were scattered about. But what was that little boat that I could see in 

 the distance } None of ours had been sent over there. It could not be 

 the FNRS 2, since it had no antenna. However, I recognized its orange 

 colour, and that's what it was! It was 4-29 p.m. The time switch could 

 not have gone into action, then. But had the submarine really been 

 able to cover in twenty-nine minutes a vertical route of i-f miles? In 

 that case everything would be in order. But what if water had pene- 

 trated the cabin, if it was a leak which caused the alarm apparatus to 



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