Evening star., 1924-07-19
BRITISH TO RAISE
SCAPA FLOW FLEET
Great Preparations in Prog.
ress to Salvage Sunken
German Ships.


The new chapter opened with the
"Laurentic Operations" and now an
other mighty task Is beginning-the
Of the German fleet at Scapa
Flow. 1t: Will mean seven years of
hard toll Many have said, why do
they need to salvage the German
ieet?' Well, the old saying Is. "prac-
tice makes perfect" and successful
experiments in these operations may
mean more than does the Laurentic
gold. Never have the British had and
perhaps never shall again have, such
an opportunity of testing their sal
vaging capabilities.
The equipment of the vessels de-
voted to the salvage WORK on the
German fleet comprises II Dewildering
assortment of engineering appliances
all immensely powerful. all of the
simplest possible construction, and
all made of such material and treated
in such way that being in or under
water for a few days or even weeks
does them no real harm. There are
pumps capable of drawing up over a
ton of water Il second. and not given
to shirking if the water be muddy or
sandy; hammers, drills and riveters.
striking about 1900 blows per minute,
either under water or above. Electric
lamps illuminate the gloomy recesSes
of sunken vessels hold or blaze
above the dark water when the lost
ship has risen again to light the
workers as they secure their prize
for towing into port
USc Powerful Explosives.
But more wonderful than all is the
use made of the most powerful ex-
plosiveS Dynamite charges, care
fully graduated. are used either for
clearing away an obtruding pinnacle
of rock or attached to the ragged
edges of rent in the side of a sunk
en- vessel for blowing those edges
smoothly off in order to allow
patch to be built over it,
For certain cases there will be pom
toons. hollow iron tanks of varying
sizes. their lifting power carefully
noted. and their shapes SO arranged
that they fit closely to the sides of
the wrecked ship. These are secured
to the ship, and can be sunk and
fastened to the sides of the vessel
under water by the divers, then
pumped out and made alright. They
then Immediately exert all their
enormous lifting power. There is the
salving ship herself. a vessel not too
large, but of immense strength OF
hull, Of great engine power for tow
mighty cranes and derricks for hoist
ing weights up to so tons each. An
all important item is her electrical
installation for the working OF Search-
lights and arc lights of great power
An air-compressing plant is necessary
for the working of the pneumatic
tools which form so important part
of the divers equipment.
SnlvaEed BY Dams.
The salvaging of a battleship is
totally different proposition from that
of merchant vessel. Few people
ever think of the enormous masses OF
metal, some over a couple of hundred
tons in weight, that are to be found
in a modern battleship, the lifting of
which taxes all the resources of even
a dockyard If every ship in Scapa
Flow were In the same position the
task would be easy, but that is not
so. Some idea of the task may be
gathered from the fact that all ships
lie in different position. For in
stance, the Hindenburg is standing
upright, the Derff1inger nearly on her
side the SeydlitZ bottom up. cruisers
with their blows in the air. and the
others in various positions. This
shows that every ship will need its
different methods. Let us take the
Hindenburg on an even keel. With
the depth of water and the plan OF
the ship, cofferdam can be built
right round her upper works-an inn
mense superstructure, watertight and
reaching the surface of the water.
After the divers have closed all holes.
the great pumps can be set to work
and the ship brought to the surface.
Many ships have been salvaged in
this way.
With the Seydlitz it is a different
matter altogether, for had she also
gone down on an even keel, pumps
and plenty of them, would soon have
har n
ton ship has been overturned. and the
righting of capsiZed vessel is al
ways a 'ticklish job. The main ad-
vantage in this case is the space in
which to move the salvage craft ana
mighty lifting derricks, for it is es-
sential that the lifting craft should
be able to move freely all around the
capsized vessel If she is to be brought
to the surface again. Much blasting
may have to be done with explosives,
getting rid of the maStS and other
obstructions, for that is the first step
towards salvage. Then the divers
will be sent into the interior of the
ship with orders, "Close all port holes
and every other opening you can
| find"
Mud Shifts In.
| BY this time, however. the ship
| will have sunk some distance INTO
the oze, and many tons of mud Will
have shifted to the port holes and
other openings to make things un-
pleasant and difficult for the divers.
as well as adding considerably to the
weight to be lifted. The port holes,
| owing to the ships position. Will be
| no easy task to get at, but by using
| compressed air and turning powerful
lets Of water on the mud one by one
can be screwed up. 1t Is a nerVe-try-
| ing, risky work and the divers nave
to study hard to get the hang" of the
| shin before they venture down. The
floors of the cabins OF many OF the
ships, Of course. will now be the walls,
and the walls have become floors, the
doorways making pits for the unwary
| to fall through.
When a diver falls, tragedy may
easily occur, SO all the time the men
have to be on the alert. Coupled with
these drawbacks Is the fact that In
the interior Of the ship the water Is
thick with mud. making 1t Impossible
to their fingers-like blind men they
will grope about. relying upon their
Isense of touch to tell them that Things
are all right.
1t will be mighty task to roll
over this 24,000-ton carcass OF a snip
and 1t seems at q glance Impossible
that such a thing can be done: bul
| a success will be achieved. For a
ship lying on her side. and which mas
now dug herself into the yleldlne
ooze, it will be essential to remove
all the mud between her keel and the
bottom in order to give her 1ree
| movement.
BA.a Metal Under Water.
The oxy-acetylene blow-pipe may
prove a great advantage in making
holes through metal bulkheads. OF
the oxy-torch, by which metal can be
actually burnt under water. 1t seems
incredible to think of heating iror
to melting point when surrounded by