Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-03-27

quite impossible to refoat the cruiser. Then two
young engineers, W. W. Wotherspoon and r. o.
King, attacked the task along lines, obtaining
the financial assistance of the late John Arbucke.
These enthusiasts-for such was the spirit in
which they approached what others had pro-
nounced hopeless broke away from traditional
practice and resorted to the of compressed air
as medium for salving the Yankee.
The ship had landed high the reef, and the
jagged rocks had torn her bottom plating in many
places, making it impossible to pump her out in
the usual way. These innovators sealed up the
hatchways leading to the various holds Then
they pumped compressed air into the compart-
ments, and the driven out again through
the rents by which it had entered The ship was
thus made buoyant enough to be dragged from
the rocks Unfortunately she run into and
sunk while being towed to harbor
Ar entirely new problem then presented itself.
Instead of making use of cumbersome pontoons
and other external buoyant auxiliaries Messrs.
Wotherspoon and King settled upon the plan of
turning the Yankee into her own salvage appara-
tus. In other words it was decided to utilize the
ships compartments buoyancy chambers
by draining them. of the very water which had
carried the craft to the bottom.
You will probably declare offhand that there is
nothing original in this; anybody knows that
foundered vessel would rise if you could get the
water out of her. But don't be too hasty in your
conclusions. The difficulty lies in the danger
that when the air has forced the water out the
pressure of the everything water will crush the
hull How, then, did these young engineers guard
against this danger?
They did try to pump the cruiser in the
literal sense of the word; they drove the water
out under the impulse of compressed air and they
balanced the contending forces SO nicely that the
ships structure substantially neutral divi-
sion between them, the air pressure being just
a tride in excess of the pressure of the water
which it forced outward from the buoyancy
partments. Do you realize the engineering
ming involved here? The compressed air actually
constituted stronger support for the burdened
deck than the water which had previously filled
the underlying space! AS the cruiser rose to
the surface the pressure was progressively re
duced that it just maintained excess of
force against the exterior water.
This method of floating the Yankee suggested
to Mr. Wotherspoon q medium by which the
structure of vessel not yet sunk could be utiiz-
ed to keep her afoat when otherwise inrushing
water would certainly carry her to the bottom.
Mr.. Wotherspoon's first adaptation of this sys-
TEN for naval purposes to provide means by
which injured ship of could survive the
under water attack of either torpedoes or sub
marine mines, and probably be kept
keel that she could still fire her guns efec-
lively against enemy.
From the keel of fighting ship up to a height
of several feet above the line it is the prac
tice to subdivide her far possible into
large number of separate water-tght compart-
ments, the idea, of course being to confne the
area of injury. By making use of these compart-
ments Mr.. Wotherspoon's invention has robbed
the under water weapons Of much of their terror;
il led the dangers incident to hitting an
ok: and 1t furnishes the commanding
battle craft with a means by which
he ,ar himself at any time that his ship
is structuraIy sound.
The naval constructor is mser when it comes
to apportioning pounds of ships displacement
for auxiliary features This attitude is really
eusable, because stray pounds here and stray
pounds there very reach the aggregate dig
nifty Of tons. When Mr.. Wotherspoon submitted
his proposition to the navy department the Off
Gals there grudgngly allowed him a very small
total weight within which he to make his
system applicable to twothrds Of the 1000 water
tight compartments Of one of armored cruis-
ers.
On the face of it the prospect did not look en-
couraging, but it was right here that Mr.. Wother
spoons ingenuity met the difficulty. He chose to
make of existing facilities already provided
for other purposes This resourcefulness on his
part enabled him. when his work of installation