The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-02 00:00:00

The Northumberland.

On Saturday another great effort was made to
move this magnificent ship from her present critical
position, and -which, we regret to say, like the pre-
vious attempt, proved totally in vain. Everything
which the skill of nautical men, Admiralty officials,
and able engineers could suggest was done, and the
most stupendous forces both of fitation and pressure
were brought to bear upon the hull, but failed to
move her in the slightest degree. It is true that the
enormous floating powers applied at the stern lifted
her at irregular intervals as the tide rose, but the
forward part on the ways remained firm, which
were jammed with such severity that nothing could
overcome the resistance. A full account of all the
mechanical appliances to be used on this occasion
appeared in The Sun of Saturday, and to this
detail, as far as concerns what was done during the
actual attempt to move her, very little remains to
add. In addition, however, to the pontoons, barrels,
and lighters to lift her, and the hydraulic presses
to push, it was also decided to employ actual
horse power to pull on tackles, rove so that
when once the ship started she could be kept going.
To effect this a powerful double purchase was rigged
on both sides of the vessel, and the hawser taken
down through blocks moored firmly into the ground
of the yard. To this 16 powerful horses were at-
tached on each side of the ship to draw upon them
with the utmost strength when the operations be-
gan. They were not, of course, so much intended
to help in starting the hull as by running away with
the tackle to help to keep her going when once she
moved. This keeping her in motion is, of course,
the great difficulty. Hydraulic rams can only start
the enormous hulk, and hawsers worked from cap-
stans are useless when the vessel moves, as they
cannot gather in the slack fast enough to keep any
pull upon her. The notion of the horses, therefore,
was by no means a bad one, as even the failure of
Saturday showed, when the united efforts of the
animals working together through double purchases
wassufficient to break away the most powerful fas-
tenings from the ship's side. Beyond these efforts,
supplementary ways, well greased, had been fixed
inside the old ones, and the present cradle had been
broadened by two feet of massive timber-beams and I

still further strengthened by diagonal wrought iron
braces. Additional backing was also placed be-
hind the hydraulic rams, which were "stayed"
with huge timbers bolted together down and
through the launching ways, and almost going into
the concrete foundation. The eight huge Admiralty
lighters were moored stem on under her stern. In-
stead, however, of being chained under it, which
would certainly have given them very con-
siderable additional lifting power, the chains
were only brought on board and hove taut with
rope tackles. This was an absolutely necessary
precaution, for it was probable that if the Northum-
berland went at all she would go quickly, and unless
the crews of the lighters cut away their fastenings
more quickly still, she would sink them under her
in deep water, like so many walnut shells. All these
preparations had been carried out with the utmost
core, and we may add with the utmost judgment,
and on this point we may say that too much praise
cannot be given to Mr. Luke, the Admiralty super-
intendent, who, with his officers and men, has worked
with the most untiring zeal and energy night and
day to assist the efforts made at Miliwall to float
the ship.

On Saturday the Northumberland presented a
most curious appearance. Though not waterborne,
the lighters, barrel; and pontoon; of course, were so,
and she seemed to be afloat in the most unusual and
heterogeneous mass of objects that ever surrounded
a ship. The tide was slow and sluggish, and the
very little wind that was stirring was against its full
flow. Yet at about 1 o'clock confident hopes were
entertained that it would be high enough to float
the vessel easily soon after 2in the afternoon. The
most intense interest was evinced in all the details
connected with the gigantic operation,- and long
before the hour fixed for the attempt to start her
the yard was crowded with high nautical authorities,
ivil engineers, peers, and gentlemen of every rank.
Levels had been carefully adjusted to the stern and
midships section to detect if she moved either ver-
tically or horizontally even by the eighth of an inch,
and soon after 1 o'clock, when there were very
little more than 20ft. of water under her stern, it
began to lift slightly till it was more than half an
inch raised from the ways. As the tide flowed more
strongly her liveliness, though never visible to the
eye, could be easily marked by the instruments.
Every five minutes reports of the depth of water
and rise of the stern were brought to Sir John
Hay. These showed that the tide for its time was
much less than had been calculated on, but they also
proved that the Northumberland was steadily lift-
ing aft. Her stern rose at least two inches off the
ways, and at the midships the lift was about half an
inch. Beyond this point, however, there was no mo-
tion, or rather buoyancy ; for it is under the bows
that the ship has caught, and there she is in no way
waterborne, nor can she be so until she gets off the
ways entirely. Some doubt seemed to be felt whe-
ther it would be wise to make the attempt at all
under thedisadvantages of what was evidently going
to be a short tide. Yet, as 2 o'clock came on, the
stern was so visibly affected by the enormous power
of flotation under it that it was determined to make
the trial. This was deferred, however, to the latest
moment of the flood in order to gain the aid of every
half inch depth of tide that might get round her.
To do this with the utmost certainty the condition
and appearance of the flood stream was reported
every minute, and the crews in the lighters chained
under her were ordered to tighten the tackles to the
utmost to lift her. This they did with such effect that
those in charge on the deck of the Northumberland
hailed the dockyard officials below them, and said
that the lighters on the starboard side were in dan-
ger of going down, they were so near .the water's
edge. At once then the bugle sounded, and every man
was ordered to his station, and went to his post with
a quiet good order that seemed almost like military
training. Those in charge of the pontoons stood
ready to open the valves and let them sink directly
the ship was under way ; the crews of the-lighters
prepared to cut themselves adrift from the pon-
derous hull before it sunk them. Detachments
manned the handles of the hydraulic pumps, and
all was ready. At ten minutes past two the second
bugle note was given, and the dog shores were
knocked away with a thundering boom, and the
chain cables which held her to the anchors on shore
flew out with a terrific din from the hawse holes,
and all went to work. The 15 inch hawser, which
was worked by the steam capstan from a dredging
machine moored in the river, was drawn absolutely
straight under the tremendous strain which was put
upon it. The teams of horses also were brought
struggling lip till they broke away all the tackles to
which they were attached ; at the same time the
hawser attached to the steam capstan broke like a
thread and sprang curling back into the river. These,
though powerful auxiliaries, were not depended upon
as much as the efforts of the hydraulic rams. It will
be recollected that there
600 ton
werethree
nearly 1,000 tons power placed under her bows to lift
her upwards, and two of
levelled at the cradles to thrust hesr power each were
Fora long time they were kept working and
the incline.
I the ship
seemed to be moving slowly, though
for some
inches. Unfortunately, however, thisaliwy,
optical delusion caused by the post Whichaa.wOnaly an
to record her movement, and which was connected put
with the ponderous timber backing of the ranasb
hig crushed slo,wly back. It is diffiult to describe I
the crush which this ram on the starboard side made.
It destroyed and splintered up one of the most power-
ful timber backings of its kind ever constructed. The
ram on the port side appeared scarcely to be doing
its work, for, when the tide fell, it was found that
not as much as a chip of its backing had been in-
_ jured, which certainly could not have been the case
had it been working without leakage, and at its full
power. In spite of everything, however, the ship
did not move an atom, and the piling under the two
rams which were best at work was giving way so
rapidly, and, in fact, had given way so completely,
that was Useless to continue further. The signal
drum, therefore, was beaten, the efforts to launch
ceased, and the work of securing the hull began
again. This was so well and quickly done that in
little more than half an hour the ship was moored