The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-08-01
Salvage Of Wrecks.
Some Wonderful Feats Performed In this
Work.

AS a general rule a ship which ba,
been. badly damaged and sunk Is moi M,
worth raising: 1t would probably cost
more to raise her and repair her than r.
build new ship. '' ~
her value as old iron, on the othe,
hand, would not pay for raising and
breaking up. She may. however, be in
the way of other ships, danger to nav;.
CATION generally, and then she is some.
times blown to pieces by a iudiciouslv
placed charge of dynamite.
1t is usually worth while, however. to
save parts OF wreck, if by any means
they can be got at Brass work. for
example, is of sufficient value to he
worth getting, and, of course, if gold or
silver either in the form of coins or hairs
be part of the cargo, then it is Ger
tainly worth an attempt.
Sometimes even that is. impossible.
because Of the depth at which the wreck
lies. AS diver descends the water
pressure increases, and to keep him from
being crushed by it the pressure of air
in his dress has to be increased to the
same extent and there is limit to the
amount of air pressure which a man can
stand. The main trouble is that his blood
becomes aerated under the pressure.
Its condition becomes like that of soda
water in corked bottle. And as soon
as he commences to ascend and the pres
sure is reduced it becomes like soda
water with the cork out. The nitrogen
which was forced into it by the pressure
comes bubbling out as the pressure falls,
and if this be allowed to occur too vigor-
ously it will result in the divers death.
About IS fathoms is the limit below
which man cannot 60, and even at that,
if the diver has to stay down any length
of time, he must ascend again by easy
stages, with long intervals of rest, for
his blood to get rid of the absorbed air;
so that his ascent will take as much as
four hours. Four hours spent in coming
to the surface after but one hour work
below-five or more hours wages for
one hours work to an expensive man
like diver, to say nothing of the wages
of his acknowledgements deep water
diving an expensive matter, and beyond
the limit mentioned is out of the cues
ton altogether.
Then there is the trouble caused by
strong tides and undercurrents. The
diver when in the water is the play
thing of the currents
Robert Louis Stevenson, who once
ventured on diving expedition, describes
himself as being ''blown sideways like
leaf" when in the water.
Even large, heavy bodies like ships of
iron are sometimes carried to long dis
tances by the currents. 1t is said that
the Naval authorities have thus lost en-
tirely an old submarine which they sank
for the purpose of trying salvage ex-
periments.
They knew the spot where it went
down, but when they tried to salve it, it
was not there. The under current had
carried it away. 1t is obvious, there
fore, that diving in places where tides or
current runs strongly is very difficult.
And most salvage operations depend
entirely upon the diver. Suppose that
ship is sunk in collision. He first goes
down and examines the wreck. Upon
his report it is decided whether it is
worth while to attempt to salve the ship
as whole. If not, he may be told to
salve the brass fittings, so down he will
go again and again, with tools suitable
for the work and will remove from the
ship and send up all that he can procure
that is worth saving.
If there be treasure on board he is the
man who will have to get it. He may
be able to make his way to the place
where it is kept by the ordinary means,
but sometimes he will have to blast holes
in the vessels hull in order to obtain
access to it. Hundreds of thousands of
dollars have been fetched up from the
sea in this manner. Sometimes there
are among the cargo things which are
worth saving, and the diver has to get
them out by similar methods
If the whole wreck is to be saved he
has even more difficult feats to perform.
For example, very common thing is to
patch the shell of ship. The great,
jagged rent in her side, it may be, where
the bow of another vessel has cut into
her, or which has been gashed open by
sharp rock, has to be prepared for the
patch which is to keep the water out.
Measurements have to be taken from
which the patch can be made, shaped so
that it will fit nicely. Probably holes
have to be drilled in the ships skin-all,
De it remembered, under the water
and finally the patch has to be put in
place and secured with bolts. Then,
when the diver has done all that the
water is pumped out and the ship foated.
Of course, in some cases the divers
work may only be to fix chains or ropes
by which the vessel may be lifted, but
OIItI lie LIDS luuNI ShlIlIul WOIh W per-
form under the difficult conditions of
complete immersion in water in thick,
clumsy dress and under an abnormal
pressure of air. 1t is, indeed, wonder
full what salvage divers can do.
There are, however, instances in which
ships have been literally ''ished up"
from the depths Of which divers could
not descend. One which occurs to the
writer is that of small Naval vessel
sunk on collision off the south coast of
England. Two steam tugs held the end
of long cable, and by slowly dragging
it along the sea floor they caught the
wreck and drew the cable ur der It.
Several cables were thus got in place
and then, being pulled tight at low water,
the tide lifted the ships above and so
lifted the wreck as well, whereupon it
was towed into shallower water. This
operation being repeated at every tide,
| the wreck was at last beached.
| In one well-known instance of salvage
ship was literally cut in two, but the
! two halves were in good condition and it
was resolved to save them both, The
divers put in a temporary end to each
and so they were raised, taken to the
nearest shipyard and there Joined to.
gether again.
The salvage of wrecks is a verv diff
cult and daring business, but there are
men who are experts at it and whose
experience is so extensive that they