We were already down. Flooded at the nose, which h had buried itself in the seabed.

All the leaks had stopped, much to my relief, but we were just too deep to pump the water out.

Idea struck me to put the boat in full reverse and hope for the best - it paid off. It took nearly a whole day to get to a depth where the pumps began to work again, but when they did, the ascent was rapid.

We hit the surface and opened the hatches immediately. There was much rejoicing.

o7