"
Chlorine was escaping rapidly from the overturned storage
batteries, for a grave danger lurks in the presence of sea water,
in a submarine, in combination with any of the sulphuric acid.
Salt water and sulphuric acid produce chlorine gas, and a pint of
it inside a good-sized submarine would be sufficient to render
unconscious the crew of a boat. I began to realise the risks we
had run, which my confidence in Captain Shirley had minimised. I
wondered whether hydrogen in dangerous quantities might not be
given off, and with the short-circuiting of the batteries perhaps
explode. Nothing more happened, however. All kinds of theories
suggested themselves. Perhaps in some way the gasoline motor had
been started while the boat was depressed, the "gas" had escaped,
combined with air, and a spark had caused an explosion. There were
so many possibilities that it staggered me. Captain Shirley sat
stunned.
Yet here was the one great question, Whence had come the impulse
that had sent the famous Z99 to her fate?
"Could it have been through something internal?' I asked.
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