The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-01-31
HOW SUNKEN SHIPS ARE RAISED.


HOW SUNKEN SHIPS ARE RAISED.
When ship sinks some distance from
the shore in several fathoms of water,
and the waves conceal her, it may seem
impossible to some of our readers that
she can never be hoated again, but if
she rests upon a firm sandy bottom,
without rocks, and the weather is fair
enough for time to give the wreckers
an opportunity, it is even probable that
she can be brought into port.
In Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Norfolk and New Orleans
large firms are established whose spe-
cial business it is to send assistance to
distressed vessels and to save the cargo
if the vessels themselves can not be pre-
vented from becoming total wrecks;
and these firms are known as wreckers
"a name which in the olden time was
given to class of heartless men dwell
ing on the coast who lured ships ashore
by false lights for the sake of the spoils
which the disaster brought them.
When a vessel is announced to be
ashore or sunk the owners usually APP
ply to the wreckers, and make a bar
gain with them that they shall receive
a certain proportion of her value if they
save her, and the wreckers then pro-
coed to the scene of the accident, tax
ing with them powerful tug-boats, large
pontoons, immense iron cables, and a
massive derrick.
porbonc a,lu re- of th N
wreck are visible when they reach it;
but even though she is quite out of
sight, she is not given up, if the sea Is
calm and the wind favorable. One of
the men puts a diving dress over his
suit of heavy flannels. The trousers
and jacket are made of India rubber
cloth, fitting close to the ankles, wrists,
and across the chest, which is further
protected by a breastplate. A copper
helmet with a glass face is used for
covering the head, and is screwed on
to the breast-plate. One end of a coil
of strong rubber tubing is attached to
the back of the helmet, to the outside
of which running cord is also attach
ed, and continued down the side of the
dress to the divers right hand, where
he can use it for signaling his assist
ants when he is beneath the surface.
His boots have leaden soles weighing
about twenty eight pounds; and as this,
with the helmet, is insufficient to allow
his descent, four blocks of lead, weigh
ing fifty pounds, are slung over his
shoulders; and water proof bag con-
tanning hammer, chisel, and dirk
knife is fastened over his breast.
He is transferred from the steamer
that has brought him from the city to
small boat, which is rowed to spot
over the wreck, and short iron ladder
is put over the side, down which he
steps; and when the last rung is reached,
he lets 90, and the water bubbles and
sparkles over his head as he sinks
deeper and deeper.
The immersion of the diver is more
thrilling to spectator than it is to him.
The rubber coil attached to his helmet
at one end is attached at the other to
an air-pump, which sends him all the
breath he needs, and if the supply is ir-
regular, pull at the cord by his right
hand secures its adjustment. He is not
timid, and he knows that the only thing
he has to guard against is nervousness,
by which he might lose his presence of
mind. The fish dart away from him
at motion of his hand, and even a
shark is terrified by the apparition of
his strange globular helmet. He is
careful not to approach the wreck too
suddenly, as the tangled rigging and
splinters might twist, or break the air.
pipe and signal line; when his feet
touch the bottom, he looks behind, be-
fore and above him before he advances
an inch.
Looming up before him like phan-
tom in the foggy light is the ship; and
now, perhaps, if any of the crew have
gone down with her, the diver feels a
momentary horror; but if no one has
been lost, he sets about his work, and
huns a cheerful tune.
1t may be that the vessel has settled
low in the sand, that she is broken in
two, or that the hole in her bottom can
not be repaired. But we will suppose
that the circumstances are favorable.
that the sand is firm, and the hull in an
easy position.
The diver signals to be hauled up,
makes his report, and in his next
descent he is accompanied by several
others, who help him to drag massive
chains of iron underneath the ship, at
the bow, at the stern, and in the mid
die. This is tedious and exhaust:ng
operation, which sometimes takes MANY
days; and when it is completed the pom
toons are towed into position at each
side of the ship.
The pontoons, simply described, are
hollow floats. They are oblong, built
of wood, and possess great buoyancy.
Some of them are over hundred feet
long, eighteen feet wide and fourteen
feet deep; but their size, and the num-
Der of them used, depend on the length
of the vessel that is to be raised. Circu-
lar tubes, or wells, extend through
them; and when the chains are secured
underneath the ship, the ends inserted