"Submerged," he remarked, "is like running on the surface under
dense-fog conditions."
I did not agree with those who have said there is no difference
running submerged or on the surface. Under way on the surface was
one thing. But when we dived it was most unpleasant. I had been
reassured at the start when I heard that there were ten
compressed-air tanks under a pressure of two thousand pounds to
the square inch. But only once before had I breathed compressed
air and that was when one of our cases once took us down into the
tunnels below the rivers of New York. It was not a new sensation,
but at fifty feet depth I felt a little tingling all over my body,
a pounding of the ear-drums, and just a trace of nausea.
Kennedy smiled as I moved about. "Never mind, Walter," he said. "I
know how you feel on a first trip. One minute you are choking from
lack of oxygen, then in another part of the boat you are
exhilarated by too much of it. Still," he winked, "don't forget
that it is regulated."
"Well," I returned, "all I can say is that if war is hell, a
submarine is war.
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