The crew then responded to his order for them to move as far forward as they could to try to tip the balance, though many fainted or were sick. While thoughts went to using the Davis escape gear, it was realised that it would take several hours to escape by this method and there was a risk of flooding the entire craft before more than a few could escape. The engineers found they could open a salvage-blow[clarification needed] and a final attempt was made to raise the submarine.