Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-05-30
SAFETY FOR SHIPS
Collision Device Now Adopted In
United States Navy.
COMPRESSED AIR is SECRET
BY its Use, When Existing Equipment
Is Coupled Up, Water Is Expelled
From Damaged Compartments
and Is Kept Out.
BY GEORGE CLINTON.

~ GGOnGE NLtN ! YIN.
Washington.-The United States
battleship North Carolina, now lying
In the Portsmouth navy yard, is being
ntted with a few simple devices
which. according to her commander,
Capt c. c. Marsh. will permit her to
hit as big an iceberg as did the H.
lated Titanic. to hit 1t just as hard
and yet to stay afioat for perhaps
long enough to come into port under
her own steam-at any rate long
enough SO that the crew could be
picked up and brought to safety. Two
words sum fup the whole story-com-
pressed air.
1t is the story not of a new inven-
ton. but of the new application of a
well-known and well-tried method.
Perhaps the most vivid illustration Of
what the North Carolina expects to be
able to do is what actually was done
In the case of the Yankee.
The engineers who tried to raise
that foundered ship-and Captain
Marsh was one Of them-irst set the
pumps to going. Nothing happened
except the throb-throb of the pumps.
The water refused to go down. The
engineers were astounded. They
thought it over and they set out on a
9 tack.
On top of the Golfer dam which
reached down to just above the water
line they built a little air lock. Com
pressed air was forced into the water
filled compartments below, and, in tAa,
words of Captain Marsh. "the water
went out like pushing a ball." The
workmen descended into the cavity
found the leak-1ve small rivet
holes. Had there been compressed
air pumps on the Titanic a similar
miracle might have been worked.
Water Forced Out and Kept Out.
Il have SEEN" writes a man who
thinks that compressed air will be the
solution of many of the dangers which
threaten modern ocean-going liners,
Captain Marsh open the sea cocks,
flood his forward trimming tanks, and
then, by turning on the compressed
air, force out the sea water in five
minutes, and by keeping on the com
pressed air keep the water out, al
though all sea cocks remained OPEN
Every one familiar with the wreck
Ing operations OF today will at once
comprehend the simple physical prin-
ciple involved. Your ship, let us say,
strikes another ship, an iceberg, or a
derelict, and a hole is stove In her.
The water rushes in. 1t finds itself
confined to a reasonably water-tight
chamber which can be shut of from
the rest of the vessel by doors. II
the walls of the bulkhead are strong
enough the ship can go ahead, carry
ing the extra burden Of water. But
it Is better. OF course, to remove the
water and close the hole. or at the
very least to strengthen the walls OF
the bulkhead so that they may with
stand the added pressure of the water
"a pressure which at a depth Of 30
feet below the surface of the sea
would amount to Is pounds per square
foot.
The proposition then is to turn com.
pressed air into the neighboring COM
reinforcing them and pre-
venting water from leaking into them
either from the damaged one or from
a strained plate en- the hull of the yes
sci. This accomplished. you have in
sured your ship from sinking for the
time being. The next step is to turn
the compressed air into the bulkhead
where the teal is, thus driving out the
water to the level of the bottom of
the tear. Conditions now are such that
workmen can patch up the rem more
or less effectually. after which the
rest of the water can be sucked out
and the ship proceed to repair dock.
Expense Is Not Great.
AS has been said. the North Caro-
lima is now being fitted up SO that she
can rescue herself after this fashion.
The new cruiser Utah is already pro-
vided with the necessary apparatus.
At first blush it sounds as If a com
L l
pressed air equipment which would be
powerful enough and widely enough
distributed to be- able to fill any hulk.
head on a great steel vessel with com.
pressed air at a moments notice
would be prohibitively expensive. But
Captain Marsh's experience is quite
otherwise. A few hundred dollars
certainly less than a thousand-win
cover the entire cost. Here Is the
way of IT.:
The modern b~attleship already has
the two essential things-the com.
pressed air pump and the system Of
pipes running everywhere. The com
pressed air apparatus Is regularly
used for blowing smoke and gases out
OF the big guns, the pipes are the