The New York herald., 1875-09-24
An Effort to Replace Her in the Battle
Line Of the British Navy.
SCIENTIFIC CONQUEST OF THE SEA.
Results Achieved by Divers and
Submarine Craftsmen.
PREP ARATORY WORK.

the lost Vanguard in the form Of a letter from the
well known submarine engineers, Messrs Sobe and
German These gentlemen agree with all that we have
recently stated the possibility of raising the foun
dered ronclad and pronounce it task difficult but in
no sense impossible Whether therefore the Lords of
the Admiralty as reported have determined put or
all attempts to lift the ship till the spring, or
whether Captain Bate, with his Of riggers and
divers from Devonport win do something more than
merely clear the wreck during the present favorable
weather certainly offer distinct protest against
operating upon the sunken war by employing
explosives. If she be lifted she ought to
be lifted, and the effort, say, must be made
sooner or later for the honor OF the flag which
she bore when she went down. Even with reference
TO the martial about be held, the witness
we most above water is the Vanguard. She and
she alone can surely tell us whether the bulkheads
were closed and all was performed at the last moment
which duty and seamanshp prescribed, and If she
should give her dumb evidence after the finding it will
still be full Of interest the navy and naval science
The points upon which the public may well be glad to
the experienced judgment of these submarine en-
gineers the position of the vessel and the posi-
biltIes Of working upon her. Mr. Henry Siebe is the
author of an extremely interesting volume entitled
"The Conquest of the Sea-" and his firm
have invented and patented the dress now
almost universally employed in the wonder
ful things daily done n the watery world.
THE SHIP CAN BE RAISED
It's, therefore, OF national interest hear from so
high authority that the Vanguard does lie out Of
reach Of easy efforts, and that matter of scientific
fact this noble fighting ship almost certainly be
replaced in the battle line of the British Navy In
these matters everything depends upon divers.
vessel sunk beyond the reach OF those skul and bold
searchers Of the deep is gone beyond recovery Now
the Vanguard lies upon bed of hard white in about
I..Ig
which the Admiralty divers wont descend is
twenty fathoms. But Messrs. Siebe and German in
form that companies Of men able and willing go
down and work at twenty-five fathoms always be
provided; and in the volume which we have named
instances given Of divers attaining twentyeight
and thirty-four fathoms Hooper, a Liverpool
professional, searched sunken vessel in Pichdangue
Bay Valparaiso at the latter depth, 2o4 feet
but this is the very deepest level ever
searched At this point the pressure Of the con
densed water upon each square inch OF the frame
amounts To IS l,lbs and IT ia the ascertained limit
for the present at least of what can resist Now
divers have already been down TO the keel OF
sunken man of-war and have actually measured her
wound She lies on firm and clean bottom, where
she can be readily prevented from sitting with sand
when her gear and guns have been removed there
is nothing whatever but the weather which will stand
in the way Of effort to raise and repair her. We
demand that this object shall be seadfastly kept in
view whatever is done with the ophamper OF the giant
wreck; and, meantime, 1t Will not be without interest
to notice at some length the pecuarites OF the modern
/ limits
! named, has been brought to most remarkable per-
fection.
FEATs OF DIVING.
= The general equipment of diver is well known.
With a watertight dress and supply of air pumped
into his helmet from above he can live and even
work hard under water deep his body endure
the great pressure Of the condensed fluid At thirty
two feet this amounts to 40 900 pounds and where tho
Vanguard lies a must bear superintendent
weight Of not less than 100 900 pounds IL is wonder
full that the human frame can sustain this, but Of
course the air inside the body balances the pressure
Z int
is TO ascend slowly; from any such considerable depth
the diver Is Obliged to come up with much canton A
Greek who had gone down into thirty fathoms was
too quickly hauled back, and, being brought
from the above depth to the deck of the
vessel in less than five minutes when he undressed
the muscles began to swell all over his body by the
cess OF air absorbed during his stay under water his
lungs were in state Of vacuum, the blood forced
by the pressure OF air from all parts Of the body into
them inducing congestion Of the lungs and causing his
death The ascent must therefore be made very eis-
urely and only those OF particular constitution can
stand the work ALL FulbloOded short necked per-
sons, pale-compexoned deaf, high -colorcd or hard
drinking men are not allowed to follow the profession
Those who resist the effect of the great pressure do
not however suffer in their health On the contrary,
weak kunged persons have been known TO derive great
benefit from the habit Of breathing the compressed arr
and Whitstable especially is full of hale amphibous
adventures like cold John Gam" who built ''Dolar
row. there with the proceeds OF the silver picked up
from sunken Spanish Armada vessels.
SIGNAL
A complete system of signals by Of the air
tube and lifeline has been arranged and the diver
times carries a speaking pipe by which he can com
municate or send up slate with written messages
The signalman is responsible and must be very vgi-
liant all the time the diver is down. Occasionally he
will give pull the lifeline and the diver returns
the signal by pull srgniiyng A right" If the sig
nal be returned the diver must be hauled upbut rhe
diver wishes TO work without being interrupted by sig
nal he gives pull the line Independently for 'AH
right; let alone" Should the signanan feel any
irregular jerks such might be occasioned by the
diver falling into hole, he signals to know if all IS
right, and not receiving any reply, he hauls up
diately When the diver from any cause is unable to
ascend the ladder and wishes to be pulled up he gives
four sharp pulls on the lifeline. IT, while being
hauled up, the diver gives one pull it signifies can
right; don't haul me any more" The work which
skilled persons can do under water and at considerable
depths IS something truly astonishing. They lay
masonry, drill solid rock, cut away iron plates and
fastenngs clean ships kecls repair valves cut loose
tmbers and effect almost everything that could be
done above water
The handest men about "A wreck are those who. hav-
ing been seamen understand each portion Of vessel
for the submarine toer is constantly obliged to walk
backward tor fear Of loulDg the lines the gear the
wreck and under the sea it is pitch dark Al any great
depth If the winds and have stirred up the
bottom. The men have, however the great advantage
Of the electric lamp which dIuses light in the
darkest gloom and with the aid OF this it is havo
said amazing what tasks be performed in those
gloomy abysses OF the ocean. Some divers exceed
ngy handy at repairs; one having ryetted plate IF
iron ia place OF that destroyed IN passing rock
by vessel which afterward sunk She raised and
steamed back 10 England, the diver returning in her.
and when IN docK the engineers could hardly credit
that the plate had been riveted under water.
Accordingly are trained for different tasks; a
shpbudors hand makes the best inspector Of wrecks
goes down for building operations and a
filter must be found when engines are TO be taken to
pieces Men Of all these trades in constant training
and readiness; they earn and they Deserve very high
wages and in any such that Of lost
rOncad, where the wreck lies within reach, and be
surely found, II is hard TO say what they cannot
tackle The standing masts and yards Of the Van
guard the fact that almost everything about her Is
iron dfcutes but IL science and public spirit do
their part well our divers will the Vanguard
ought TO float again next year almost good ship as
TEArs OF SUBMARINE SALVAGE
Itmay encourage the public mind to hope for and de-
1 Of pfftla p1Nrlu
known what cats have already been performed by sub
marine salvage The following vessels we're raised by
caissons:- The Prince ConsOrt, at Aberdeen, iron
paddle steamer Of COZ tons when tho dead weight
lifted was 500 TONS including engine and boilers); the
brig Rdesdae, sunk of Calshot Castle, 40 bur-
DEM Her Majesty's gun brig Partridge, $50 tons and
the brig nnmnlLna- lln NLclnrLa nnnLa Nm