, 1857-07-17

SAILING OF THE BosToN EXPEDITION FOR
RAISING THE SuNKEN FLEET At SEBAsroPoL
The Boston Submarine Company have
been for some time past vigorously engaged
in pushing forward their preparations for
raising the suuken ships at Sebastopol, un-
der an arrangement made at St. Peters
burgh, by Col. c. w. Lane; and on Sat
urday the 23d of May, the day fixed for
sailing, one of the vessels of the expedition,
the Silver Key" cast loose from the
wharf, and took her departure for the
Black Sea- She was freighted entirely
with machinery and apparatus adapted to
raising ships and other submarine opera
tons, and is commanded by Capt. Joseph
O. Currier, well known as one of our most
reliable shipmaSters .... .a
The screw steamer "Gen. Knox" an
other vessel Of the expedition, is already In
the Black Sea. Numerous mechanics, and
the best divers in the United States, are
on their way with several complete sets Of
submarine armor, ample apparatus for
blasting, and Gwynnc Pumping Engine,
capable, when driven to its full capacity,
of diScharging one thousand barrels of qoaier
per minute! by means Of this wonderful
machine, a sunken vessel, even in so feet
of water, (the deepest part Of the harbor
Of Sebastopol is only sixty-six feet), can be
pumped out, filed with air. and thus raised
without the slightest injury. Upwards Of
thirty large sunken steamers have been
raised by this new and admirable process,
in the U. s., within the last two years, and
1t is a noticeable fact that in no case has i'll
failed of success. 1t is not necessary toI
attempt to make n snnken vessel perfectly
tight Leaks admitting one thousand gal
Ions per minute, are of no consequence
where the engine will discharge as many
barrels in the same time.
In raising the steamer Knickerbocker
in September last, from the bottom of the
Hudson river, by this process, two air ports,
each ten inches square, were purposely left
open, in addition to the other leaks, and
yet in just one hour and fifteen minates she
was aloat, ready to be towed 10 New
York. This included oil the stoppages
required to keep her upright as she rose.
The actual working time Of the pump was
bnt tloenty minutes. She was q steamer Of
the largest class, 300 feet long and 82 feet
beam, and until taken hold Of by the Bos-
ton Submarine Company, was regarded as
q hopeless case. These facts are attested
by Z. W. Moores, Of the o. S. Navy, who,
with Mr.. w. Lee, ChiefEngiheer Of the
Company, superintendent the operation
Mr.. Lee, who has probably bad o more
varied and extensive experience in subma-
rine engineering than any other person ID
America, will direct the operations at
Sebasiopol.
z 1t is reported that another expedition is
fitting out at Philadelphia, to try the old
plan, with chains, scows, &c. Should this
expedition go, there will probably be work
enough for both, as there must be many
vessels still valuable, which were 50 shat
tered and broken by shot and shells, as to
be unsuited to this new method and can
not be raised except by dead lift. Such
cases, however, have been provided for by
the Boston Submarine Company --.they
having already sent out pneumatic and
hydrostatic lifting power equal to 900 tons
dead lift, to be followed, il needed, by
similar lifting power, equal to 100O.-Bos-
ton Iraasc,iPt.