Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-07-09
Notable Salvage Work Upon the EN-
press of Ireland"
By ROBERT G. SKERRET,


By ROBERT G. SKERRETT
Although lost some months ago. sal
wage work on the Inflated Empress
of Ireland" has only recently drawn
to a close in the st. Lawrence River
Probably no sunkell wreck has pre-
sented more difficult task for the
salvors than this ship. Originally, the
Canadian government employed a
Canadian organization which made
use of facilities developed by Mr. Will
liam Wallace Wotherspoon, the we'll
known salvage expert. The latter per-
soually attended to the work, and was
potent factor in its success, although
the fullest credit must be given to
others, and acknowledgment must be
made to the splendid services rendered
by the British naval divers who assisted
in the hazardous tasks of recovering
the bodies of the dead as well as the
mails and the silver bullion stored in
the specie room.
AT the particular point on the st.
Lawrence where the Empress of Ire.
land" went down the water is quite 1873
feet deep to the surface of the soft mud
bottom, and high tide increases this by
quite IA feet. This means very strong
current, especially at ebb tide, and i'm
posed working period of but 80 min
uteS at each slack tide twice day.
Apart from that, the water was so
cold that the divers hands soon be-
came numb, and to protect them it
was necessary to employ rubber mitts.
These were of American make and
thin enough to enable the diver to
guide himself by his sense of touch
something upon which he has to depend
very largely in deep and dark waters
After sinking, the Empress of Ire
land" partly righted herself, then heeled
over at very sharp angle, AMI settled
deeply into the mud of the river bed
This added greatly to the perils OF
the work and made especially hazard.
Gus the operations incident to get
ting through the steel side of the craft
and following devious route into the
ships strong-room. These efforts re.
quired that the divers should work at
the very unusual depth of 100 feet IN
side the body of the foundered liner
and, to make them familiar with theil
objective, they were previously school,
ed by means of a cardboard model OF
the internal structure along theil
route. Further, that their risks might
be lessened, fanking doorways and one
wide passage were bulk headed off il
order that the men should not &C
astray nor their hose, lifeline, or tele.
phone connections become entangled
The telephone played an important
part in the operations. This telephone
gear was of English design, but some
what improved by American telephone
engineering practices. Because of the
dangers involved, the divers worked
always in pairs; and as soon as one
couple came to the surface two more
men were Immediately ready to carry
on the work. One of the best things
done was that of drilling into the side
of the ship and cutting an ample pas
sageway. The men worked upon 9
piecework basis, and they pushed
ahead so rapidly that their rate was
but little short of that ordinarily
deemed excellent at shipyard and in
the open air.
The salvage craft was provided will
a compressed air system, and the div
ers received their air from storage
tanks instead of from pumps, as is the
common custom, and there was also {
hospital or decomposition tank such
as is used here in the United States il
foundation work for skyscrapers. Tn,
diving was carried out agreeably t,
the practices prescribed by the British
Admiralty, after certain well-knowi
scientific tests, and while the unusua
number of twelve divers were engage
upon the job only one man lost his life
He. unfortunately, slipped from tn
side of the sunken liner and droppe,
nto much deeper water. The suddei
application of hydrostatic pressure con
fused him, and in his excitement, in
stead of opening his air valve, h,
screwed it closed, and actually brok,
off the little hand disk After tina
fatality every valve ssat was notchet
so that air would reach diver in dis
tress and keep him alive until aiC
could be sent to him, no matter If h,
did jam the valve by mistake.
All of the bodies were recovered