Talk:Julius H. Kroehl
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[edit] Diagnosing Cause of Death
I was suspicious of Delgado's claim that decompression sickness was the real cause of Kroehl's death. First, the symptoms of decompression sickness and malaria, or even yellow fever, are quite distinct from each other. Physicians in the 19th Century were good at diagnosis, not that good at determining cause. The US Consul's letter specified the "Fever" - assumed to be malaria. Defining the fever was debated throughout Mrs. Kroehl's petition for a pension - the main point was whether his death was service-related or the hazards of the climate. Keep in mind that the consul was a Union officer during the siege of Vicksburg, and would have been quite aware of the sicknesses and deaths affecting his troops due to malaria. Decompression sickness was diagnosed more than 20 years before.
Second, I do not have any description of his death - did he die as he emerged from the submarine? Did he die while in Panama City or on San Telmo? Was there an inquest? His brother Henry as well as his widow stated that he was still under the effects of malaria when he departed for Panama. (BTW, malaria is incurable - once infected, the patient will have to continue taking medicinal treatments to mitigate the effects of disease.)
Third, what rate of ancension was the Sub Marine Explorer capable of? If slow, then decompression sickness was not likely. Its operation was essentially an autonomous diving bell - not built for speed. Reports of Flach's demise in South America was already known (reported in Scientific American). Information on diving bell technology and salvage operations were already available for anyone serious enough to inquire. How was it operated? It seemed it was kept mainly to depths around 30 feet - the single joyride to 75 feet was unplanned and there was no reported panic by the crew, or problems in the months following.
Fourth, how many others did actually die? Recall that there were many accounts stating that scores of men were killed in the CSS Hunley during trial runs in Mobile, AL. In fact, only three mishaps were identified to the vessel - all at Charleston, SC - and the first two to operator error - the third has yet to be determined. Similar tales affected the Intelligent Whale - but were proven baseless. My own impression from some early newspaper accounts (not press releases) is that operations ceased immediately after Kroehl's death - the only human casualty from the expedition.
I believe that Kroehl was careful enough to consider decompression sickness based on his familiarity with the marine technologies of the time - which were considerable. He simply died from a recurrence of malaria and nothing else. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Maclilus (talk • contribs) 03:01, August 20, 2007 (UTC).
