HMS THETIS, SUBMARINE DISASTER. June 1939. I was recently given a book to read by my brother-in-law Philip Albert Taylor, who was a submariner during WW11. It was The Admiralty Regrets, written by C.E.T. Warren and James Benson. The book gives a graphic account of the tragedy that surrounded the loss of one hundred lives when a series of disasters struck the submarine Thetis. Ninety-nine men died aboard the submarine and salvage diver Petty Officer H.O. Perdue died in August from "asphyxia due to insufficient reoxygenation associated with the process of decompression after diving. This was made possible on account of the diseased condition of the lung." The reason I mention this book on my website is that during the harrowing and heartbreaking recovery of bodies from Thetis, when draining away of water, coupled with the exposure of bodies to air, made recovery work extremely unpleasant, Mines rescue men from Cannock, who were trained in the use of the 'proto' breathing apparatus, were called upon to assist in recovering the bodies and even to train members of the original recovery team in the use of the proto apparatus. Thetis.