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diff --git a/75618-0.txt b/75618-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c19459a --- /dev/null +++ b/75618-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7267 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75618 *** + + + + + +Transcriber’s Note: Italics are enclosed in _underscores_. Additional +notes will be found near the end of this ebook. + + + + +THE WONDERS OF SALVAGE + + + + +_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ + +THE ROMANCE OF EXCAVATION + +THE BODLEY HEAD + + + + +[Illustration: HOPELESS AS THE S.S. DEVONA’S POSITION SEEMED ON +SEPTEMBER 15, 1917, THE SALVORS MANAGED TO RAISE HER IN FOUR DAYS. VERY +CLEVERLY THEY RIGGED UP SOME WIRE MATTRESSES INTO WHICH THEY PUMPED HER +CARGO OF WHEAT, THUS DRAINING OFF THE WATER AND SAVING THE GRAIN] + + + + + THE WONDERS + OF SALVAGE + + BY DAVID MASTERS + + WITH FORTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS + FROM PHOTOGRAPHS + + LONDON + + JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED + + + + + _First Published in 1924_ + + + MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LTD., EDINBURGH + + + + + TO + + MY WIFE + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + WRECK OF S.S. _DEVONA_ _Frontispiece_ + + PAGE + EXAMINING SEA-BED IN TOBERMORY BAY 18 + + WASHING SAND FOR SIGNS OF TREASURE 19 + + SIFTING SEA-BED FOR GOLD OF _LUTINE_ 30 + + WRECK OF _OCEANA_ 50 + + DIVING FOR _OCEANA’S_ TREASURE 51 + + A DIVER TREASURE-HUNTING WITH EXPLOSIVES 74 + + BRINGING THE _LEONARDO DA VINCI_ UPSIDE DOWN INTO DOCK 82 + + THE _LEONARDO DA VINCI_ SAFELY DOCKED 83 + + THE MAMMOTH TIMBER FRAMEWORK ON WHICH THE UPSIDE-DOWN BATTLESHIP + RESTED 86 + + THE UPSIDE-DOWN BATTLESHIP SEEN FROM THE AIR 87 + + TOWING OUT THE UPSIDE-DOWN BATTLESHIP TO TURN HER OVER 90 + + THE BATTLESHIP JUST BEFORE SHE WAS RIGHTED 91 + + THE _LEONARDO DA VINCI_ AS SHE SWUNG OVER 92 + + THE BATTLESHIP RIGHTED 93 + + A TORPEDOED SHIP SAFELY BEACHED 100 + + THE FAMOUS STANDARD PATCH 101 + + ELECTRIC PUMPS IN THE HOLD OF A £3,000,000 SHIP 104 + + DAMAGE WROUGHT BY A TORPEDO 105 + + A VESSEL DOWN BY THE HEAD 110 + + THE _U-44_ CARRIED ASHORE 126 + + REMOVING MINES FROM THE _U-44_ 127 + + THE _K.13_ RAISED AFTER TWO-AND-A-HALF DAYS ON THE SEA-BED 138 + + A BLAZING OIL TANKER 160 + + THE _ONWARD_ OVERTURNED AT FOLKESTONE 162 + + SALVAGE CRAFT ALONGSIDE THE _ONWARD_ 163 + + TUG-OF-WAR BETWEEN FIVE RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES AND AN OVERTURNED + TROOPSHIP 164 + + PUMPING OUT THE _ONWARD_ 165 + + WRECK OF _ST. PAUL_ IN NEW YORK HARBOUR 166 + + OVERTURNED LINER BESIDE THE QUAY 167 + + DRAGGING THE _ST. PAUL_ UPRIGHT 170 + + THE _ST. PAUL_ RAISED 171 + + THE _ARABY_ BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE OF BOULOGNE HARBOUR 174 + + THE _ARABY_ BREAKING IN TWO 175 + + TWO HALVES OF THE _ARABY_ BEACHED 176 + + HALF A SHIP IN MID-CHANNEL 177 + + PATCHING A SHIP WITH CONCRETE 178 + + HOW THE CONCRETE PATCH WAS REINFORCED 179 + + CONCRETE PATCH FROM INSIDE THE SHIP 180 + + EXTERIOR VIEW OF SHIP PATCHED WITH CONCRETE 181 + + REFLOATING A WRECK BY DIGGING OPERATIONS 186 + + THE _TIMBO_ HIGH AND DRY 187 + + A DREDGER WRECKED IN THE GARELOCH 188 + + MIGHTY STEEL CABLES USED FOR RIGHTING THE WRECK 189 + + THE DREDGER RIGHTED ONCE MORE 192 + + A TORPEDOED SHIP IN GRAVE DIFFICULTIES 198 + + THE FOUNDERING SHIP SAFELY BEACHED AT CLOVELLY 199 + + SALVING A WRECK FROM QUICKSANDS 210 + + + + +THE WONDERS OF SALVAGE + + + + +THE WONDERS OF SALVAGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +With eyes gazing fixedly ahead, the man, tense and alert, sought to +penetrate the blackness. Squalls of rain swept down and lashed his +face, the flying spume of spray shot up to intermingle with the rain, +leaving a tang of salt on his lips. The liner lurched and rolled +through the night, while thousands of souls aboard slumbered without +fear, placing implicit trust in this one man to whom the pulse of the +engines driving the ship was as familiar as the pulse of his own heart. +Rain and spray and wind were part of his life, and he accepted them +without demur because he realized that the weather was indifferent +alike to praise and blame. + +He half turned his head to glance at the ship’s chronometer. + +“Should be picking her up now,” he muttered. + +Raising the night-glasses to his eyes, he concentrated all his powers +of vision on the murky gloom in front of him. His glasses roved slowly +from side to side, then a point of light, so dim as to be almost +imperceptible, swung in the blackness and vanished. For a minute he +waited until the light reappeared, then he breathed freely and rang +down for the ship to alter course, knowing that he was safe and that +he had justified the faith of the passengers who had trusted him to +navigate his vessel through the storm. + +That point of light which meant so much to him was the beam of a +lighthouse, one of the many encircling our coast. All round our shores +they keep sentinel night after night, through summer calm and winter +blizzard, waking to life as daylight fades and dying as dawn steals +over the seas. These lights, which the city dweller on a brief visit to +the sea watches with such interest, are the friends of all who go down +to the sea in ships. + +Our coasts are profoundly treacherous. Rocks, shoals and quicksands +abound everywhere, and are mostly marked with lighthouses, lightships +and buoys which in the aggregate have cost millions of pounds. No +expense has been spared to indicate these hidden dangers and make our +seas safe for shipping. Yet, in spite of all that human foresight can +suggest, wrecks still occur. Gales spring up and take their toll; fogs +steal on and drive ships blindly to their doom; machinery breaks down +and allows the seas to hurl the helpless craft upon the cruel rocks. + +Probably no coast in the world is so well lighted as that of Great +Britain, but although there are over 1700 lights acting as signposts +of the sea, warning mariners of their dangers, our rocky shores exact +a grievous toll of shipping year by year. It is estimated that the +average value of the ships and cargoes lost in British waters amounts +to about £5,000,000 annually, so the wealth spilled out of the ships +since the galleys of our first invaders found a watery grave would, +could it be recovered, considerably lighten the burden of our national +debt. Unfortunately the greater part is lost for ever, for the sea +which has swallowed the ships destroys them utterly in the course of +time, and unless they can be salved within a certain period they soon +become not worth salving. The action of the sea water rots away the +cargoes, rust gradually devours the steel and iron carcass of the ship, +and only those two indestructible substances, gold and silver, the +white and red metals for which men have fought and died throughout the +ages, remain of the wealth which was originally lost. + +Men, however, have not been content to see fortunes sink in the sea +without making some effort to recover them. They have pitted their wits +against the strength of the sea, risked their lives to wrest long-lost +treasure from the grasp of the ocean, and the story of their thrilling +deeds is one of the outstanding pages of human endeavour. + +Consider, for a moment, the wonder of a ship. She is a marvellous +structure of steel and iron, full of the most intricate machinery, a +structure weighing perhaps thousands of tons. Of the manifold parts of +which she is composed, the wood fittings alone may be buoyant. Only +they may possess the power of floating on the waves; all the other +parts, from the smallest screw and rivet to the mighty propeller shafts +and hull plates would, if they could, sink like stones to the bottom of +the sea. This enormous mass of metal, which in its natural state must +sink, is so cunningly fashioned by man that it overcomes its natural +inclination to sink and is made to float. The huge weight is supported +by water, men toil in the bottom of the ship 20 and 30 feet below the +surface of the sea and are oblivious of any danger. The water on the +outer side of the steel skin of the ship towers 20 and 30 feet above +their heads, yet they sleep and eat and work in perfect safety. So long +as the sea is prevented from washing over the sides of the ship or +entering through a breach in the hull the vessel floats, would continue +to float even were she made of lead. In other words, she is buoyant. +Only when her buoyancy is destroyed does she sink. Then, before she can +float again, her buoyancy must be restored. + +This is the simple problem that is always confronting the sea salvage +expert. How can he restore the buoyancy of the ship that meets with +misfortune? Simple as is the problem, it is seldom that the answer +is easy. To the salvor every wreck is a riddle. Tides and currents +make the riddle more complex. The position in which the wreck is lying +profoundly affects the case. And, above all, operates the unknown +factor of the weather. Whatever the salvage expert hopes to do, he +always adds to himself “Weather permitting!” He may be the cleverest +man alive, his plans of salvage may be the most brilliant ever +conceived, he may have the most expensive plant at his disposal and +all the money he seeks at his command, yet he is helpless unless the +weather be fair. Plans may be put into operation, work may go smoothly, +everything may be within an ace of success--when the tail of a gale +may blow the plans to pieces, shatter the work and rob the salvor of +the success that seemed within his grasp. It has happened before many +times, and it will happen many times again. + +The men who get a living by trying to raise wrecks are farseeing, +sparing of words, patient where patience is demanded, quick as a rapier +thrust where quickness is essential, capable of toiling until they drop +if it be necessary. Every contingency that it is possible to think of +they consider, but the weather is something beyond their control. They +pray for fine weather, and fight against foul to the best of their +ability; but when the wind takes hold man and his endeavours are as +nothing. + +Hard as some of the salvors have worked for their successes, others +have worked harder still for their failures. Often and often they have +striven strenuously for weeks and months to salve a ship, only to lose +her in the end. The luck of the game is indicated by a case which +occurred a year or two ago. A vessel went down on the summit of a rock +jutting sheer from the seabed. On all sides was water so deep that she +had but to slip to be irretrievably lost. The salvors, hurrying to the +scene, found her balanced most precariously on a ledge. A glance told +them that, before they could make the slightest attempt to salve the +ship, they would have to strive their utmost to secure her firmly in +position on top of the pinnacle of rock. They routed among their gear +for cables and anchors and, making the cables fast to the ship, carried +out the anchors in all directions in order to tie her tightly into +place. + +Then they began to work against time, keeping a keen eye on the sky +and praying for fine weather, knowing full well that if the weather +held fair they would save the ship and that the coming of bad weather +would seal her doom. Day after day they toiled like giants, struggling +with huge baulks of timber, shoring up decks, strengthening bulkheads, +patching breaches in the hull. The weather favoured them. Day after day +it remained fine and enabled them to carry on their operations quite +unhampered. They had been hard at it for nearly a month before the +breeze began to freshen in rather an ominous manner. They were just +beginning to anticipate rough weather when the wind luckily died away +and they breathed freely once more. + +They redoubled their efforts, and six weeks of intense toil saw their +work completed. The last timber was bolted securely in place and +the divers came out of the wreck, announcing that all was ready for +pumping out on the morrow. The salvors turned in for the night well +pleased with their labours, conscious that the next day would see them +proceeding to port with their prize. + +But the weather, which had been kind to them so long, was destined to +cheat them at the very last. That night it began to blow. The seas +started to rise and hammer at the ship. She began to stir uneasily +and to strain at her cables. The gale increased. Under the continuous +chafing, one cable suddenly snapped. The breaking of that cable gave +the wreck more freedom to move under the hammer blows of the sea. The +waves battered at her incessantly and one cable after another went like +threads of cotton until a billow, far mightier than the rest, caught +her up and swept her off the pinnacle into the depths. + +Imagine the feelings of the salvors when day dawned. All their gear was +gone, their labours lost when the prize was within their grasp. They +steamed slowly round the spot and proceeded to port, hoping for better +luck next time. That was the only thing they could do. + +Men who spend their lives on salvage work are rather apt to lead the +casual inquirer to imagine that it is the easiest job under the sun, +whereas in reality the task is beset with difficulties and bristles +with risks. But the sailormen in their matter-of-fact way forget to +mention the ever-present danger. They are inured to it, just as people +are habituated to living on the slopes of a volcano that may erupt and +overwhelm them at any moment of the night or day. None the less the +salvors never forget the risk, nor leave it out of their calculations, +and for this reason fatal accidents among them are rare. They know the +strength of the sea too well to attempt to take liberties with it, for +they have seen it pick up great 10,000 ton ships and toss them on the +rocks as though they were cockle-shells; they have seen the strength +of 70,000 horses in the engines of a ship struggling in vain against +the strength of the waves, and they know better than to pit their power +against the power of the storm. + +Thus they have a wholesome respect for wind and wave. They use the +strength of the sea to further their own ends so long as the sea +permits. At other times they may stand by a wreck for weeks while the +sea seethes and the wind howls about the ship they seek to save. A lull +in the bad weather will set them working frantically, and more than +one ship now afloat owes her existence to the accumulated labour of a +number of short spells of work undertaken between the gales. + +The salvage man must thus be infinitely patient and possess a +determination that will keep him at work when most other men would give +up in despair. Above all must he be strong in hope. Without hope, no +man need seek to become a salvage expert, for he would be foredoomed +to failure. He must possess not only physical courage that enables him +to face the dangers of his calling, but also that rarer mental courage +that enables him to snatch victory out of the very jaws of defeat. + +It is the men who possess this mental as well as physical courage who +perform the wonderful feats of salvage that will never be forgotten, +such as the recovery off Gibraltar of the steamer _Hypatia_, which the +salvors brought to the surface after an infinity of trouble. No sooner +was she raised than she filled and sank like a stone. + +There was nothing for it but to do the work over again, which the +salvors managed to do. For the second time the _Hypatia_ was brought +to the surface, and once again she sank, seeming to mock the efforts +of her would-be preservers. Still they were not beaten. With grim +determination they made another effort, and after a great fight managed +to raise the _Hypatia_ once more. All in vain! For the third time she +sank. + +Notwithstanding these three reverses, the salvors would not give up the +fight. Again the divers went down, and their strenuous exertions ended +in the _Hypatia_ seeing the light of day yet again. Not for long were +the salvors allowed to rest after their labours. Down she went for the +fourth time, while the sea bubbled and boiled around. + +Few men would have continued a fight which appeared so hopeless. But +the salvors would not admit themselves beaten. Although Fate seemed to +be taunting them, they had the courage to take their task in hand for +the fifth time, and this time they succeeded. Truly it can be said that +no men more fully earned their reward than these salvors who triumphed +after four defeats. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +From earliest years our imaginations are fired by the mere mention +of treasure. Who has not heard of that fabulous treasure of the +bloodthirsty pirate, Captain Kidd, whose booty still lies hidden on +some far-off island? Expedition after expedition has been fitted out +to find it, but the pirate hid it so well that the hunters have failed +in their quest. Who has not marvelled at those mighty hoards of gold +stored away by the Incas of Peru, gold which Pizarro looted from the +Peruvian treasure-house and carried back to Spain? + +Treasure! The mere whisper works magic, conjuring up pictures of gold +and silver and piles of glowing gems--rubies, emeralds, and diamonds +galore, gleaming with all the colours of the rainbow. So fascinating is +the idea of treasure that men gladly risk their lives to go in search +of it; nor is the magic confined alone to the romantic. The keenest of +business men, who boast of their hard-headedness, seem to lose their +heads where treasure is concerned. Eagerly they fling down the funds to +prosecute the most problematic searches, in return for the promise of +the most shadowy spoils. + +These same business men will aver that they never speculate, yet +all treasure-hunting is speculative, and if there is one form more +speculative than another it is that of searching for sunken treasure. +Still, despite its hazardous nature, there is always money forthcoming +to back deep-sea enterprises of this description. True, success comes +but seldom--failures are the rule. Could a correct balance-sheet be +made up showing how much has been spent on hunting for the world’s +sunken treasure and how much has been recovered, we should probably +find that the money expended was many times greater than the value of +all the treasure brought to the surface. + +Few ideas could be more fascinating than that of hauling up gold and +silver from the bottom of the sea, and it is this same fascination, +with all the excitement it brings in its train, which lures men on to +attempt to wrest many of these long-lost treasures from the recesses of +the ocean. Years sometimes are spent in pondering ancient documents, +hunting for evidence of the exact locality of the vanished treasure, +seeking to sift rumour from actual fact. Further years may be spent in +making plans and special apparatus for lifting the treasure, and, when +the hunter starts in real earnest, he finds at last that he has spent +years of his life and thousands of pounds just for the privilege of +stirring up the seabed. Treasure-hunting is, in fact, something like +taking a ticket for a sweepstake. The chances may be ridiculously +small, but the prospect of winning a fortune will always make the game +popular. + +Fate, indeed, seems to delight in playing tricks on salvage men. While, +on the one hand, it sometimes leads them on to fit out ambitious +expeditions costing thousands of pounds, sends them journeying afar +and imposes the greatest hardships upon them without bringing them any +reward whatsoever; on the other hand, it sometimes flings a fortune +straight into the lap of some lucky man when he is least expecting it. + +Lord Leverhulme, in illustrating the vagaries of Fate, related how an +Australian firm once owned an island in the Pacific, a rocky little +place with a few coco-nut trees that gave their crop of nuts which were +duly dried in the sun and turned into copra and coco-nut oil. Their +trading schooner used to visit the island to load the copra, and on +one of the trips the captain happened to pick up a piece of rock and +put it aboard the ship. In due course that piece of rock went back to +Australia with the copra, and was used in the office to keep the door +open when the weather was sultry. + +The firm acquired their island to make money out of it, but although +the coco-nut trees brought them a profit, they certainly did not bring +them a fortune. The question arose as to whether it was worth their +while retaining the island, and after due consideration they sold their +property to some one else, and thought no more about it. + +Entering their office one day, a professor from the university chanced +to kick against the stone that was propping the door open. He stooped +down, picked it up, scrutinized it closely for a minute or two. + +“Where did you get this?” he demanded. + +“Oh, that’s a bit of rock our skipper brought back from one of our +islands,” was the reply. + +The professor looked at the rock again. “Do you know what it is?” he +asked. + +“Just a bit of stone,” came the answer. + +“I don’t know,” said the professor, “but I think it’s phosphate. I’d +like to take it away and analyse it, if you’ll allow me.” + +Permission was, of course, granted, and the professor walked away with +that bit of rock which scores of men had kicked against at the door. +Taking it to his laboratory, the scientist carefully analysed it. He +found it to be a sample of the richest phosphate in the world. The +original owners had bought the island as a business proposition, but +they failed to realize the fortune that was theirs. That rocky island +turned out to be one mass of phosphate, worth about £100,000,000--and +they had let it go for a few hundreds! Of all who had stumbled over +that lucky door-prop, the professor was the only one who had the sense +to see the fortune lying at his feet. + +The counterpart of the professor who saw a fortune in that neglected +lump of rock was the diver who heard the whisper of truth in a rumour. +The work of this diver took him to the coast of Galway, where he was +engaged on salvage work that was to last some little time. He was a +companionable sort of man and, after finishing his spells of work, +would adjourn to the tap-room of the village inn to spend his evenings +in yarning with the fisherfolk. + +For years a story had been current in the neighbourhood that a Spanish +galleon, one of the ships of the Armada, had gone down in the vicinity. +Those who heard the yarn smiled. “It’s just a rumour,” they remarked. + +Whether it was merely a rumour, or something more, the story had been +told from father to son for generations. So persistent a rumour was it +that it survived century after century, living in the traditions of +these simple Irish fisherfolk, passed on by word of mouth in the little +community, until it survived to our own times. Most of the fishermen +knew the yarn of the sunken Spanish galleon, but perhaps the passage of +time had made many of them rather sceptical. + +Anyway, one evening the diver was enjoying his pipe and his beer and +talking about his work, when an old fisherman said to him: + +“Why don’t ye thry for the galleon?” + +“What galleon?” the diver inquired. + +“Why, yon one wrecked just outside the bar,” the fisherman answered. +“Ye can walk about the seabed in that suit of yours?” + +“I do it every day,” the diver replied. + +“Well, why don’t ye walk out and get the treasure?” The diver smiled. +“Show me the treasure, and I’ll soon get it,” he said. “Where is it?” + +Solemnly the fisherman looked at the diver. “My father, he told me, and +his grandfather, he told him. A mighty ship from Spain it was, full of +treasure, that went down in a storm. They saw it from the shore here.” + +Puffing away at his pipe, the diver considered the matter. The story in +his judgment might easily be true. + +“Show me the spot, and we’ll share the treasure, if there is any,” he +said. + +“All right,” the old fisherman agreed. “She’s there all right. +Sometimes we catch our gear in her.” + +Completing the task on which he was engaged, the diver began his +search for the sunken treasure. Day after day he and the old fisherman +went out in a rowing-boat, threw a grapnel over the stern and dragged +it about the seabed in the hope of lighting on the wreck. Many of +the villagers laughed at them and thought them crazy, but the two +treasure-hunters paid no heed. They just went ahead with their +monotonous task, buoyed up with the hope of the treasure to come. + +The end of the first week saw them as far off the treasure as they +had been on the first day. They dragged on through another week with +a like result. A month of fruitless endeavour failed to rob them of +their faith in the truth of the old story of the wreck. Week after week +they searched the area in which the wreck was supposed to lie, tugging +placidly at the oars, dragging the grapnel along the bottom. + +One day the fisherman was rowing slowly along when the diver felt his +grapnel catch in something. He gave the rope a sharp tug, then another, +but the grapnel held firmly. + +“We’ve got her,” he said. + +Marking the spot with a buoy, they rowed ashore for the diving suit +and air-pump, then they went back to where the buoy floated on the +surface. The diver donned his suit; the fisherman screwed the helmet +securely into place, started to heave the handle of the air-pump as the +diver went over the side and slid down the shot rope to the bottom. The +ghost of the galleon greeted his eyes, the skeleton of the ship of long +ago. For three centuries she had lain undisturbed in her watery grave, +slowly rotting away until she had all but vanished. The diver climbed +over the rotten remnants of the hulk into what had once been the hold +of the ship. The place was full of weed; fish fled at the approach +of the strange monster that was invading their domain; barnacles and +sea-growth flourished on the decaying timbers. + +With the same patience that had enabled him to locate the wreck, the +diver searched the seabed until at last he came on what appeared to +be several small barrels. He went up to them, tapped them. The much +talked-of treasure was his at last. Beneath his fingers were solid +stacks of Spanish doubloons, from which the wood had long since +perished, leaving the coins still shaped like the barrels into which +the Spaniards had packed them when they set out on that ill-fated +expedition of theirs to conquer England. + +[Illustration: TREASURE HUNTERS EXAMINING THE BED OF TOBERMORY BAY IN +THE ISLE OF MULL THROUGH A SPECIAL INSTRUMENT INVENTED FOR THE PURPOSE] + +These two men, with a diving suit and rowing-boat, found a greater +treasure than has fallen to many a powerfully-equipped expedition, and +it is strange to think that the fisherman who hauled the doubloons up +from the bottom was probably a direct descendant of one of the Irish +peasants who stood on the shore on that wild Armada night in 1588 and +watched the mighty Spanish ship founder. The diver had the good sense +to realize that there might be something in the old story, he spent +weeks investigating it, and he reaped a snug little fortune as his +reward. Nor did he squander the treasure that Fate flung his way. The +same good sense which enabled him to find it also enabled him to +keep it, for he turned his Spanish doubloons into a row of houses which +he called “Dollar Row” in order to perpetuate his good luck. + +[Illustration: HARD AT WORK HUNTING THE TREASURE OF TOBERMORY. WASHING +THE MUD AND SAND DREDGED UP PROM THE BAY IN ORDER TO FIND THE SPANISH +DOUBLOONS REPUTED TO BE LOST HERE OVER THREE CENTURIES AGO WHEN WILD +WEATHER HELPED DRAKE TO ROUT THE ARMADA] + +It is another tale of the Spanish Armada, a tale which up to the +present has not ended quite so happily, that lures men to try their +luck in the Bay of Tobermory in the Isle of Mull just off the west +coast of Scotland. Somewhere beneath the waters of this pleasant bay +is averred to lie a treasure so prodigious that it would make its +discoverer a millionaire twice over. Here, if tradition speaks truly, +a man has the chance of dragging from the seabed beautiful jewels and +wonderful golden cups, with Spanish doubloons worth at least £2,000,000 +which went down with the _Florencia_. + +Many who have studied the question believe that the _Florencia_ +undoubtedly sank here, but an element of doubt creeps in when it is +known that the Spaniards themselves swore that the _Florencia_ returned +after the disastrous expedition. During the Great War the British +Government did its best to conceal the loss of H.M.S. _Audacious_ in +order to deceive the Germans as to the strength of our navy, and it +may have been the Spaniards, three centuries ago, who introduced this +practice. About this, nothing is known with certainty. It all happened +a long time ago, and the years have tended to obscure the facts. +Whether the statement that the _Florencia_ returned was true, or +whether it was a deliberate falsehood spread forth to give her enemies +the impression that Spain was still strong in ships of the line, is an +open question. + +Whatever be the name of the vessel, the evidence that a Spanish galleon +actually did founder in Tobermory Bay in 1588 seems fairly strong. +Moreover, it is backed up by material facts in the shape of a cannon, +some cannon balls, a weapon or two and a doubloon that have been +brought up from the bottom of the bay by different treasure-hunters. + +From what we can gather of that distant happening, it appears that +the Spaniards, sailing down the Scottish coast in their galleon, and +seeking perhaps to replenish their water-casks, must have made a foray +or two ashore. During one of these they captured a Highland chief, +one Donald Glas M‘Lean, whom they held prisoner aboard their ship. So +bitter a blow was it to the Scottish chieftain that, reckless of his +own life, he sought a terrible revenge. Waiting his opportunity while +the ship was anchored in Tobermory Bay, he managed to enter the powder +magazine. In a moment or two his revenge was complete. The mighty +galleon blew up and the proud chief accompanied her crew of nearly 500 +Spaniards to their doom. + +Many a tide has ebbed and flowed, many a storm arisen and subsided +since that catastrophe. Timbers have decayed, and mud and sand have +gradually covered up the remains. The treasure by now may be buried 20 +or 30 feet at the bottom of the bay and, unless some lucky chance leads +an expedition to hit on the exact spot, may remain buried there for +ever. Divers may have walked over the treasure dozens of times without +knowing that the gold and silver they were seeking lay actually under +their feet. + +The Duke of Argyll, who possesses the right to salve the treasure, +has proved his belief in its existence by spending considerable sums +in hunting for it. In addition he has given permission for several +expeditions to prosecute the search, and these expeditions, in the +aggregate, must have expended a deal of money. The lack of success on +the part of previous expeditions seems in no wise to deter others from +following in their steps, and the last expedition to work in Tobermory +Bay reflected the great changes of modern life by including a lady +diver among its members. + +Meanwhile the treasure of Tobermory Bay, which has excited the minds of +treasure-hunters for many a generation, still awaits discovery. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Whatever doubts there be about the treasure of Tobermory, there can be +none about the treasure of the _Lutine_, for official records prove +that when she came to grief she must have carried bullion worth over +£1,000,000. + +H.M.S. _Lutine_ was a frigate of thirty-two guns, one of those wooden +walls of Old England of which the poet sings. Not always had she sailed +under the British flag. Time was when the tricolour of France broke at +her masthead and French sailors crowded her decks, but Admiral Duncan +captured her and brought her home as a prize, and thereafter it was +the white ensign of England that flew at her peak and a captain of the +British Navy who commanded her. + +In the early days of October, 1799, at which time we were warring with +Holland, H.M.S. _Lutine_ was lying at Yarmouth, while the British +troops garrisoned on the island of Texel off the Dutch coast were +waiting anxiously for their pay. The _Lutine_ was commissioned to carry +the £140,000 due to the troops, and, hearing that she was departing +for the Continent, many merchants sought permission to ship gold and +silver by her for the relief of the merchants of Hamburg, who were +financially embarrassed by the wars and the ensuing depression of the +money market. The permission was readily granted, and 1000 bars of +gold and 500 bars of silver were taken to Yarmouth and safely shipped +aboard. In the ordinary course of business, the owners of the bullion +went to Lloyd’s and effected an insurance for the sum of £900,000. + +On October of the year stated, the _Lutine_ weighed anchor and sailed +out of Yarmouth Roads on her voyage to Hamburg. As she bowled across +the North Sea, the wind freshened and culminated that night in a +terrific gale which the _Lutine_, gallant ship as she was, could not +weather. The treacherous shoals off the Dutch coast reached out for +her, and the mighty seas battered the life out of her and engulfed her. +Of all aboard, but one human soul survived to tell of the wreck before +he, too, succumbed from exhaustion. + +The loss of the _Lutine_ was a tremendous blow to Lloyd’s. It meant +that the underwriters had to find the sum of £900,000 with which to +meet the claims of the insurers. Somehow they found the money and met +all claims, thus adding fresh lustre to the name of Lloyd’s and helping +to raise it to the position it occupies to-day as the greatest and most +powerful marine insurance association in the whole world. In return for +their £900,000 the underwriters became possessed of the treasure--or +rather the right to recover it! At that time, immediately after the +calamity, when salvage operations naturally stood the best chance of +success, the underwriters were prevented from doing anything at all +owing to our war with Holland, and later on the Dutch Government made +its position clear about the matter by claiming the wreck and all that +was in it. + +As the vessel lay, it was just possible to get to her when the sea +was calm and the tides were at their lowest. It can be imagined that +the Dutch fishermen made the most of their opportunities. Their +government encouraged them by offering them one-third of everything +they recovered, so the fishers found it profitable to leave their nets +and spend their time fishing in the _Lutine_. Although the bulk of the +treasure was beyond their reach, they managed during the next couple +of years to lay their hands on a good deal of it. The Dutch Government +received from the wreck treasure to the value of £56,000, and of this +over £18,000 was paid to the salvors, while the rest was minted into +Dutch money. + +The amount of treasure which passed into the hands of the Netherlands +Government during this period was not necessarily all the treasure that +was taken out of the _Lutine_. It is possible, and indeed probable, +that much of the treasure recovered was concealed by the fishermen +salvors and used secretly to swell their own private hoards; but, +even assuming that twice as much treasure was salved as was actually +declared, there would still be a vast treasure worth over £1,000,000 +remaining in the wreck. + +A series of fierce storms wrought havoc with the wreck and placed her +quite beyond the reach of the fishermen, who were at last forced to +abandon their profitable quest. For years the wreck was the plaything +of the storms, and not until Napoleon was safely imprisoned on St. +Helena did any one give a thought to the treasure that lay amid the +shifting sandbanks off the island of Vlieland. Then a Dutchman, going +to his government, obtained a concession to salve the bullion on +condition that half of what he recovered went to the government. For +two or three years he fought the sea and sand to get at the treasure. +No sight of gold or silver gladdened his eyes. Season after season, for +eight years in all, he did his utmost to recover the fortune from the +grasp of the sea, but without success. At last, weary of the incessant +combat, he gave up the struggle and left the treasure to mock any other +adventurer who might happen along. + +The underwriters at Lloyd’s, however, were not content to see the +treasure which had cost them such a huge sum of money pass into the +hands of a foreign nation, and at their request the British Government +began to treat with that of Holland to induce them to relinquish their +title in the wreck. The ways of diplomacy are often long and tedious, +and this case was no exception. Many years elapsed before an agreement +was arrived at and the Dutch gave up their claims and allowed the legal +title in the treasure to pass to Lloyd’s, its rightful owners. + +For well over half a century the _Lutine_ bore the brunt of the gales +which afflict the Dutch coast, spending their strength on the belt of +islands and the shifting sandbanks at the entrance to the Zuyder Zee. +She was utterly lost amid the sands. Then came a terrific gale that +blew for days, and the heaving waters washed the sand away from the +wreck and made it possible to get at the treasure. For a period of +five years, from 1857 to 1861, salvage men toiled away, and the result +of their work was the recovery of bullion to the value of just over +£40,000. + +Once the salvors heaved the bell of the _Lutine_ clear of the sea. It +was brought to London and hung in the main hall at Lloyd’s in the Royal +Exchange. Whenever there is any important announcement to make to the +underwriters about a ship being wrecked or an overdue boat reaching +port, the bell of the _Lutine_ is sounded to call the attention of all +concerned. Another time the salvors managed to bring up the rudder +of the _Lutine_, and this was made into a chair and placed in the +committee room at Lloyd’s. + +For another quarter of a century the sand and sea were left in +undisputed possession of the wreck, then a new expedition set out +to wrest the treasure from the encompassing sands. Right valiantly +the salvors fought for that fortune, but luck was against them. Now +and again they managed to bring up some of the coins that were lost +in the _Lutine_, but the amount of treasure they recovered totalled +considerably less than £1000 in all. So they discontinued further +attempts and returned to England. + +Since then more than one expedition has gone out to try to win the +remaining treasure from the wreck of the _Lutine_. In the year 1908 +the natives of Brightlingsea were astonished by the sight of a weird +object that was anchored off the mouth of the river Colne. So strange +a thing they had never seen before, and they puzzled their brains for +an explanation of it. The curious object which caused so much amazement +was a wonderful device for recovering the treasure of the _Lutine_. +It was a great steel tube with a little iron ladder running down the +inside of it. At one end were gigantic hooks for hooking it to the side +of a salvage vessel, and at the other end was a steel chamber with a +series of watertight compartments and air locks. + +This marvellous contrivance, which took years to construct, was +designed to be sunk in an upright position down to the wreck of the +_Lutine_. It was equipped with water ballast tanks to sink it into +place, and the steel chamber was furnished with cutting edges, so that +the weight would enable it gradually to cut down through the sand until +it reached the wreck. + +Divers were to descend the iron ladder in the inside of the tube until +they reached the submerged steel chamber. Then they were to enter the +air locks where the water was kept back by compressed air, and walk out +into the wreck. The divers would then communicate by telephone with the +engineers in the steel chamber and direct the powerful pumps that were +to suck away the sand until the treasure was reached. Once the treasure +was found, the divers were merely to remove it to the steel chamber, +whence it could be transferred to the salvage steamer above at their +leisure. Excellent as the invention seemed, it did not recover the +treasure of the _Lutine_. + +Three years later, in 1911, another expedition more powerfully equipped +than any of its predecessors resumed the search which had been going +on for over a century. Notwithstanding the fact that the position of +the _Lutine_ was fairly well known, the obliteration of a landmark by +a violent gale made it very difficult for the salvage men to find the +wreck. The divers went down and searched the seabed vainly for a single +sign of the old frigate. Not a spar was to be seen, not a rib of the +hulk. + +Captain Gardiner, who was in charge of the treasure-seekers, was a man +of resource. He realized full well what had happened. The sand of the +treacherous banks had completely buried the _Lutine_, and before he +could make the slightest attempt to salve the treasure he would have to +locate her and dig her out of her grave. + +The problem of finding a wreck that lay buried deep in the silt would +prove too much for any ordinary man, but Captain Gardiner was equal +to the occasion. Among his equipment were some of the most powerful +sand-pumps in existence, pumps capable of removing nearly a thousand +tons of sand an hour. Dropping the end of one of these pumps to the +seabed, he began sucking up the sand at a prodigious rate, cutting a +deep channel right across the area in which the wreck lay. Slowly the +pumps of the salvage ship devoured the sand and at last the salvors +found the wreck buried 36 feet deep under a bank. The finding of the +wreck was in itself a wonderful feat. + +If only the other difficulties could have been overcome as easily, the +treasure by now would have been won. But all the time the divers had +to contend with the most difficult set of currents in the world. A +strong tide, always running, plays incredible pranks with the bottom +hereabouts. The submerged sandbanks are almost like cliffs some thirty +feet high, and the tide moulds them and remoulds them almost day by +day. A vessel at dawn may anchor in a deep channel, and by night the +tides in one of their playful moods may have poured tons and tons of +sand into the channel, completely filling it and building up a sandbank +on the very spot where the channel existed only a few hours previously. + +It will be realized how difficult this made salvage operations. +The strong currents tended to wash the sand back directly it was +removed, and the salvors were faced with what seemed like an endless +struggle with the sea. They did not shirk the struggle; they went on +dredging whenever the weather allowed, and they fought the tides most +brilliantly by dumping the sand in such a position that it deflected +the current right across the wreck. Thus there was a continual flow of +water over the wreck to keep the site fairly clear and prevent the sand +settling. + +Meanwhile, they literally sifted the bed of the sea for traces of the +elusive treasure. Every ton of sand sucked up by the pumps was poured +through a gigantic sieve erected over the side of the salvage steamer. +The sieve was like a giant birdcage, with a small mesh, and the men who +watched the sand pouring through were more than once gladdened by the +sight of a coin from the _Lutine_. + +[Illustration: SEEKING THE TREASURE OF THE LUTINE. ONE OF THE HUGE +PUMPS SUCKING UP THE SEABED AT A PRODIGIOUS RATE AND POURING IT INTO +THE GIANT CAGES WHICH SIFTED IT FOR TRACES OF THE LONG-LOST TREASURE] + +They were weeks battling with the tides before the sand was cleared +from inside the vessel and around the hull, but the day came at last +when the divers went down to investigate the interior for the long-lost +treasure. Every one aboard was keyed up to concert pitch. It seemed +certain that the _Lutine’s_ treasure was to be lifted at last. + +But the divers found the place in a sorry state. Much of the wooden +hull had, of course, been preserved by the sand, but the magazine, in +which the treasure lay, had collapsed, and there was practically a +solid mass of iron five or six feet deep lying on top of the bars of +gold and silver. When the magazine collapsed, hundreds of cannon balls +had poured all over the place and these had been rusted together by the +action of the water, locking up the treasure as securely as though it +had been in a steel safe. + +The only hope of the salvors lay in blasting this mass of rusted cannon +balls to pieces and removing them bit by bit. In no other manner +could the treasure be reached. Accordingly they set about their task, +and little by little blew away the first layer. It was slow, tedious +work, and all the time the salvors were harassed by the thought that +the autumn gales might spring up and put an end to their operations, +undoing in a single night work which had taken them months to +accomplish. + +Day by day they continued steadily with the blasting, and they had just +succeeded in blowing away the second layer of rusted cannon balls when +the dreaded gales came on. Further work was impossible, and sorrowfully +the salvors left that exposed spot and went to Amsterdam to lay up for +the winter. + +A little more time, and they might have succeeded in their quest. There +is evidence that they were somewhere near the gold, for one of the +pieces of rust brought up bore the impression of a gold ingot, and when +this rust was treated with acid it yielded five grains of the precious +metal to prove that the gold was quite close. + +Ten divers and a powerful plant had been seeking the _Lutine’s_ +treasure for nine months. A small fortune had been spent on the +operations. The workers removed a veritable mountain from the seabed, +and they were rewarded with five grains of gold. They had shifted a +million tons of sand to find five grains of gold! In this way does Fate +taunt the deep-sea treasure-hunter. + +The following winter the wreck was buried under 5 feet of sand by +the tides, and by now she is lost once more, buried perhaps deeper +than ever. The exposed position and the strong tides have kept the +_Lutine’s_ treasure safe for over a century. But whether they will keep +it safe for ever, no one can say. + +It is a dozen years since I fingered one of the silver coins salved +from the _Lutine_, and wondered whether the treasure was to be +recovered at last. Still the _Lutine_ is not forgotten, and only a +few months ago I received from Lloyd’s a letter from an inquirer +in Vancouver who desired full details of the wreck, with a view to +carrying on further salvage operations. I sent him the particulars he +required, but so far I have not heard of operations being started. + +For over a century wind and wave have beaten the men who sought to +recover the wealth of gold and silver that went down with the _Lutine_ +on that wild October night. The fortune still lures men on to win it, +and, in spite of the many disappointments, a lucky turn of the wind +and tide, combined with improved salvage appliances, may yet make some +future treasure-hunter a millionaire. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Without the diver, treasure-hunting beneath the waves would be +impossible. The salvage expert may make the most brilliant plans, +collect the most up-to-date and scientific plant to assist him, but +in the end it is the diver who carries the work through, and upon +the courage, determination and skill of the diver the success of the +expedition depends. To dive to a depth of 5 fathoms, or 30 feet, is a +task that the average man could accomplish without much difficulty; +most men, too, would be able to reach a depth of 10 fathoms or 60 feet, +if they were in decent physical condition. But at 15 and 20 fathoms +and over the body is called upon to stand exceptional strains and so +exceptional men are necessary. + +Quite apart from the many risks, deep diving is very arduous, and +seldom are men found with the physique that will enable them to dive +100 feet and over. The deep-sea diver must be trained like an athlete, +perfectly sound in wind and limb and heart, and in tip-top physical +condition. A fat diver stands little chance of attaining great depths, +so the finest divers are generally on the slim side, men without an +ounce of superfluous fat and with muscles tough as steel. + +The physical strain placed on the body and heart merely by diving to +these great depths is not generally realized. To ask the human body to +undergo pressures three, four and five times greater than atmospheric +pressure is expecting the body to undergo strains three, four and five +times greater than the body was built to stand. It is like expecting a +motor-car, designed for a load of 30 cwt., to carry a load of 6 tons. +We should not expect the car to do that. Yet we not only call upon the +human body to perform similar feats, but the body actually does perform +them without collapsing. + +The crack sea-diver is almost as difficult to find as the swimmer who +can conquer the English Channel. When it comes to doing actual work at +depths of 100 feet and over, the strain on the diver’s body is indeed +very much greater, for his exertions use up so much oxygen that his +heart is called upon to pump at an increased speed in order to replace +it. All the time, of course, the diver is breathing compressed air, +thus the pressure of the sea on the outside of his body is practically +counterbalanced by the pressure of the air inside his body. While the +weight of the sea is trying to crush him inwards, the compressed air +is pushing outwards, so the air pressure within equalizes the water +pressure without, and the diver is enabled to work in perfect safety +under a mass of water that would crush an unprotected man flat. + +We might liken the water pressure to six men who are pushing hard +against a door and striving to open it, while the air pressure +resembles six men pushing against the other side of the door to keep it +closed. With both teams equally matched in strength, the door remains +quite unaffected by the contest if it be solidly built of oak. But +if it is a weak door, the strain of the men pushing against it will +probably break it. + +Breathing compressed air not only places a strain on the lungs, but +it tends to fill the body with an excess of nitrogen. This nitrogen +may easily form tiny bubbles of gas, and these bubbles, if they reach +the heart, might cause the death of the diver or bring on that dread +paralysis known as diver’s palsy, a disease which renders the lower +part of the diver’s body quite useless. + +Strangely enough, it is not in going down that this danger threatens +the diver, but only in coming up. If he comes up too suddenly, the +excess of nitrogen in the blood bubbles like the tiny bubbles in a +siphon of soda and at once his life is threatened. The bubbles are +due to the pressure of the water on the outside of the body growing +suddenly less than the pressure of air inside the body, consequently +the nitrogen seeks to escape in bubbles just as the soda-water seeks +to escape when the key of the siphon is depressed. The pressure inside +the body cannot adjust itself quickly enough to the lessening pressure +outside, and these bubbles are the result. + +To avoid this risk, it is necessary for the diver working at great +depths to come up very slowly. He may slide down the shot-rope to +a depth of 120 feet in a few seconds, but, should he stay longer +than half an hour at the bottom, he must not come up in less than +fifty-seven minutes if he would avert danger. He may come up to 40 feet +in eighty seconds, or at the rate of a foot a second. Then he must rest +and exercise his legs and arms on the shot-rope for five minutes before +ascending another 10 feet to the 30-foot level. Here he must rest for a +further period of fifteen minutes, and do those exercises which help to +rid his muscles of their excess of nitrogen. Ascending another 10 feet, +which brings him to within 10 feet of the surface, he is compelled to +rest for twenty-five minutes to allow the excess of nitrogen to pass +from his blood, after which he may rise to the surface. + +If a diver happened to remain an hour at a depth of 200 feet, he would +have to spend four hours in coming to the surface to avoid any ill +effects. The exceptional diver who is able to reach this depth should +not, however, remain at the bottom for more than twelve minutes. This +is the safe time, and he can then make the ascent to the surface in +thirty-two minutes. + +Remarkable diving experiments were carried out by the British Admiralty +some years ago, during which naval divers attained the record depth +of 210 feet, a record that was long unbeaten. As a result of these +experiments, tables were drawn up showing the time that a man might +remain in safety at certain depths, and indicating the rates at which +he could come to the surface and the depths at which he must rest to +allow the pressure inside his body to adjust itself to the pressure of +the water outside. These tables are followed the wide world over, and +they have made diving one of the safest of occupations, despite the +grave risks the diver is continually running. + +Diving was, in fact, so dangerous that exceptional precautions had to +be taken, with the result that the diver who walks about the bottom of +the ocean to-day may be far safer than a man walking across Piccadilly +Circus. The safety of the diver is most carefully watched over, but no +one can foretell when a motor vehicle is going to run down some one +crossing a busy road. + +Never was knight attired for the tourney more carefully than the modern +diver is clad before venturing into the depths. It is cold working +at the bottom of the sea, and to guard against the cold the diver +dons warm woollen sweaters and socks, sometimes wearing two or three +sweaters and two or three pairs of thick socks. When he is dressed in +his woollies, the diving dress is fastened about him just as the armour +was fastened on the knights of old. There is a certain ritual about +the performance which must be obeyed. First of all the shoulder pads +are carefully tied on to take the weight of the head-dress, then an +assistant helps him into the rubber diving dress and opens the tight +cuffs for the diver to slip his hands through. The diver sits down +while the assistant ties up the inner collar of the diving-dress and +adjusts the various screws that are to secure his helmet. But before +that is fastened into place the feet are slipped into the boots, each +with its 16 lb. sole of lead. + +Ever so carefully the diver’s helmet is put on, for his life depends +upon it being properly fastened. The air-pipe must be carried from the +back of his helmet up under his arm to the front of his body where he +can reach it easily and yet not find it in his way. The air-pumps and +the valves in his helmet are most carefully tested to see that they are +working properly. Then the diver gets on the ladder leading overboard +and a lead weight weighing 40 lb. is adjusted across his breast and +another similar weight is fastened over his back to enable him to sink +to the bottom. The glass of his helmet is screwed up, the pump is set +going, the diver waves his hand to indicate that all is in order, and +the attendant after a final look round gives the diver a smart tap on +the top of the helmet to inform him that he may go down. + +Thenceforward the life of the diver is in the hands of the attendant, +who never lets go of the lifeline and air-pipe until the diver comes +to the surface again, feeling the diver at the end of the pipe just as +an angler feels a fish at the end of a line, taking in the slack pipe +to prevent it fouling rocks and wreckage, paying it out as the diver +requires. + +The coming of the submarine telephone has certainly lessened the risks +of the diver, for he can now talk to the men in the boat and tell them +what he wants and how he feels. If anything goes wrong and his lines +become entangled, he can inform those at the surface, who can quickly +send down another diver to assist him. In comparatively recent days +it was necessary to signal by means of the lifeline and air-pipe, a +certain number of pulls meaning certain things in accordance with a +code in use by all divers. When a diver wished to convey a special +message he had to signal for a slate to be sent down, and on the slate +he would write what he wanted to convey. It was a slow and cumbersome +method which has been rendered obsolete by the submarine telephone, +which was invented by that famous submarine engineer, R. H. Davis, the +head of Siebe, Gorman & Company. + +For ages men have dived for sponges and pearls, remaining at most not +more than a couple of minutes at the bottom. The ancients were fully +alive to the advantages of an invention that would assist men to remain +under water for considerable periods, and they were puzzling their +heads about diving dresses centuries ago. These early inventions, +however, were very crude, one being a sort of barrel with holes through +which the arms could be passed, another a metal cylinder which covered +the head down to the waist where it fitted into leather breeches. Very +strange and wonderful they appear to modern eyes. + +No less strange and decidedly more wonderful is the up-to-date diving +dress which has grown out of the invention of Augustus Siebe in 1819. +For eighteen years Siebe experimented with his first type of diving +dress before he achieved, in 1837, the form of dress which is closely +followed to-day. Various people have added improvements, but Siebe’s +form of dress is the one in common use, and the firm of Siebe, Gorman +& Company which he founded to supply his diving dresses are to-day the +greatest submarine engineers in the world. + +Inventors have for long been concerned with the problem of a diving +dress that will allow a diver to go to any depth without danger. The +greatest risk of course, is that he will be crushed to death by the +pressure of the water, and to overcome this danger more than one +man has invented an all-metal diving dress with flexible joints. In +appearance these diving dresses seem cumbersome, and the diver looks +more than ever like a knight in armour. + +Another form of dress largely in use enables the diver to descend in +shallow water without relying on the usual air-pipe and pump. In such +dresses the diver carries certain chemicals which not only purify +the air he is breathing, but also furnish him with fresh oxygen. One +chemical absorbs the poisonous carbonic acid gas given off by the +breath, and the other chemical gives off fresh oxygen as the moisture +of the breath touches it. The smoke helmet which enables men to enter +a mine after a disaster, or a building full of foul fumes, is equipped +with the same chemicals and made on the same principle as the diving +dress. Instead of completely covering the man, however, this dress is +made like a jacket reaching to the waist, where it is securely buckled. + +In this dress it was impossible to penetrate the Redding pit, near +Falkirk, from which five miners were marvellously rescued after being +entombed for nine days, so several naval divers in regulation dress +risked their lives in an effort to penetrate the workings to see if +any other men still survived and to carry stimulants to them. Divers, +at best, have the appearance of creatures from another world, and the +effect of a diver, with his lamp, emerging from the inky water and +coming suddenly on men who had been immured for a fortnight without +food and were at their last gasp had to be carefully considered. Some +of the survivors might have attacked him in their delirium and deprived +their comrades of all chance of succour. + +To avoid so untoward an incident, the leading diver carried with him a +message for those men he hoped to find: “This is a diver come to save +you. Don’t touch him, as he cannot speak to you. We are driving a place +for you. Don’t sit down near the water, but keep clear of the damp. If +any of your mates are far through, turn their heads downhill and that +will help them until you are feeling stronger. The diver cannot come up +the hill out of the water to help you, because his tools are too heavy. +He will come back regularly and feed you. You must not drink more than +half a cupful of beef tea each. Wait and take a rest before you drink +another half-cupful. On this paper write who you are. You will be got +out soon.” + +Alas, for human endeavour, that message never reached the poor fellows +for whom it was intended! The great falls of roof choked the roads and +proved an insurmountable barrier. Raging, but exhausted, the divers had +to bow their heads in defeat. + +So commonplace is the diving dress that it no longer excites curiosity. +Yet it remains one of the wonders of modern civilization. Merely by +utilizing the sap of a tree, which we know as rubber, and fresh air, +men are now able to work and live at the bottom of the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +It was in 1891 that the steamship _Skyro_ pulled out of the port of +Cartagena, in southern Spain, and set her course for London. The coast +of Spain glided by as she proceeded through the blue seas of the +Mediterranean, speaking Gibraltar as she passed, and setting her nose +north to skirt the coast of Portugal. Oporto dropped far astern, and +the Portuguese coast changed to the western coast of Spain as a fog +quietly stole down and blanketed everything. The fog was dense. Not +a thing could be seen, and the warning notes of the _Skyro’s_ siren +blared monotonously as she felt her way blindly along. The captain and +officers stared anxiously ahead, hoping that the fog would lift; but +there was no sign of a break around them, nothing but fog and the sound +of their siren to warn passing ships. + +Of a sudden the ship staggered and halted. It was as though a giant +hand had reached up from the depths of the sea and grasped her keel. +The crew were thrown higgledy-piggledy. There was an awful rending +sound as the _Skyro_ swung onward. She had struck the dreaded Mexiddo +reef off Cape Finisterre, and as she slid over the cruel rocks they +literally tore the bottom out of her. Slowly she carried on, while that +rending sound continued, and twenty minutes after striking she slipped +off the reef and plunged to the bottom. + +A few hours later the bell of the _Lutine_ in the Royal Exchange was +clanging loudly. The underwriters paused in their work. All voices were +stilled, and the scarlet-coated crier, mounting his rostrum, announced +in stentorian voice that the steamship _Skyro_ had struck the Mexiddo +reef off Cape Finisterre and was a total loss. + +Then the bustle of business began again, but a little knot of +underwriters gathered together and started to talk quietly. They were +interested in the silver bars that the _Skyro_ carried. + +“What about salvage?” one inquired. + +Another, who joined the group, shook his head. + +“Hopeless. She’s down in 25 fathoms, or more.” + +“You never know,” said one man who was more intimately concerned. + +He was quite right. You never know. Men manage sometimes to achieve the +impossible. + +Fuller information made the salvage seem more remote than ever, for +instead of being down in 25 fathoms, as had been supposed, she was +several fathoms deeper, and her keel, resting on the bottom, must have +been well over 30 fathoms from the surface. Nothing had ever been +salved from such a depth before, and it seemed unlikely that any man +could go to this depth and survive the enormous pressure. + +However, an expedition went out and fought to get at the treasure, but +the depth was too great, and at last the salvors withdrew from the +spot. Four years passed and there came to the underwriters another +offer to attempt to salve the silver. The salvage vessel anchored off +the fringe of the reef that had stripped the bottom out of the _Skyro_, +and the diver slid down the shot-rope to try to find out how the wreck +was lying and if possible to bring out the precious bars. Before he +could do anything of importance, however, bad weather set in and drove +the salvors back to harbour. But the lesson learned from that attempt +was that, if the treasure were to be recovered, more powerful diving +gear would have to be used. + +The winter months were spent in obtaining much more powerful gear from +England, and the following season, directly the fine weather set in, +the treasure-hunters repaired to the Mexiddo reef to try once more to +achieve the impossible. The diver feared nothing. Brave as a lion, he +took the shot-rope in his hands and slid straight down to the deck +of the _Skyro_, which was 171 feet below the surface. Carefully and +quietly he surveyed the ship, seeking the cabin in which the silver +was stored. The deck had collapsed on top of it, and the only way of +getting to the treasure was through the deck. + +Angel Erostarbe, the diver, came to the surface and reported what he +had seen. Difficult as was the task, it seemed to him by no means +impossible. So he dropped down the shot-rope again and again. Gradually +and with infinite patience he blasted away the deck, fixing his charges +and withdrawing while they exploded. + +So exposed was the wreck that at times he could hardly keep his feet. +Time after time dirty weather came and prevented him from working at +all. The difficulties left him unmoved. He set his teeth and stuck to +his task. He was working at a record depth, a depth which most experts +considered was beyond the reach of a diver at all. The diver did not +worry about this. All he thought about was getting at the treasure. + +To attain his end he practically blew the ship to pieces, and his +marvellous feats of endurance were crowned by the recovery, in +two seasons, of fifty-nine bars of silver worth £10,000. It was a +stupendous feat which has never been equalled since. At times he was +actually working in 183 feet of water, so it will be seen that he was +an exceptional man. Toiling at this depth--where his body was subjected +to the huge pressure of about 95 lb. to the square inch--left its mark +on him, and he was never the same man again. His share of the treasure +amounted to £500. + +Compared with this, the recovery of the treasure from the _Oceana_, +when she was sunk in the Channel in 1912 as the result of a collision, +was a comparatively simple matter, yet it was not without its +difficulties. The _Oceana_ went down in 90 feet of water and only her +masts peeped above the surface when the salvors arrived on the spot. +Plans of the ship were obtained from the owners and carefully studied +so that once the divers got aboard they would know exactly which way to +go. + +It is difficult enough for the average man to find his way about a +strange liner when she is afloat, so it can be imagined how difficult +it must be for a diver to wander about such a vessel when she is 90 +feet under water. All the time he is adventuring through the saloons +and other compartments, he is running continual danger of his air-pipe +catching on something and tying him up. He may lose himself. Doors +may slam to with the current and imprison him while cutting off his +air supply. The men manning the air-pumps will quickly find out that +something is wrong, but by the time assistance is sent the imprisoned +diver may easily be in a sorry state. + +The ordinary difficulties were intensified in the case of the _Oceana_ +by the strong currents racing down the Channel. So strong were they +that even in favourable weather it was only possible for the divers +to work for one hour a day when the tide was at its lowest. To make +matters worse, there was so much sand in suspension that the divers +could see nothing at all. The electric lamps which it was hoped would +help them were quite useless. The divers were like blind men, groping +in the dark, feeling their way about the ship and working by touch +alone. + +They blasted their way through two decks and, stumbling along a +passage, found the strong room. Ingot by ingot, they took out the +treasure and sent it to the surface, where each bar was carefully +checked and marked off in the records as it was recovered. If only all +the treasure had been carried in the strong room, the game of blind +man’s buff on the part of the divers would have been at an end. But a +good deal of the silver was stowed in the after hold, and before the +divers could get at it they had to force their way through three decks. +Ultimately all the treasure, to the value of £700,000, that went down +in the _Oceana_ was recovered and the treasure-hunters sailed away in +triumph with their spoil. + +[Illustration: THE WRECK OF THE OCEANA WHICH SANK IN THE ENGLISH +CHANNEL AS THE RESULT OF A COLLISION. SHE HAD TREASURE ABOARD WORTH +£700,000] + +The astonishing feat of Erostarbe was almost equalled by Alexander +Lambert, one of the finest submarine workers who ever lived and the +chief diver of Siebe, Gorman & Company. He covered himself with glory +during the building of the Severn tunnel when, owing to an error, a +door was left open and the workings were flooded. The water rose some +forty feet up the shaft leading to the workings, and it was impossible +to continue building the tunnel until this door was closed. + +[Illustration: DIVERS GOING DOWN AFTER THE TREASURE OF THE OCEANA. NOTE +THE DOUBLE-HANDED AIR PUMP WHICH THE TWO ATTENDANTS ARE WORKING] + +Realizing that the only thing to be done was to send down a diver to +close the door, the engineers called on Lambert to essay the task. +Descending the ladder of the shaft, Lambert disappeared under water +and made his way to the bottom, where not a single ray of light could +penetrate. Feeling round the wall of the shaft, he found the opening to +the tunnel, and began slowly to venture along. But the rush of water +had worked tremendous havoc, and the tunnel was strewn with debris +which was most difficult to negotiate. At any moment Lambert’s air-pipe +was in danger of being cut by some projecting piece of the wreckage, +and, in addition to the weight of his dress, he was terribly hampered +by the weight of the 1200 feet of air-pipe which he was forced to drag +along after him as he stumbled about the workings. + +Hearing of Lambert’s baffling problems, Fluess, the inventor of the +diving dress which dispensed with the air-pipe, volunteered to go down +in his self-contained dress and see what he could do. Fluess was a +clever inventor, but the only diving he had ever done was in connection +with his experiments on his new type of dress. Besides being a clever +inventor, he proved himself a man of courage. + +He arrived on the spot with his diving dress, and studied the plans of +the workings to find out which way he had to turn when he got to the +bottom of the shaft. He thought it would then be just a question of +walking through the tunnel, finding the door and closing it, little +knowing that the place was in a deplorable condition and beset with all +sorts of obstacles. + +“Lambert had better go down first to take off my life-line and tell +me which way to go. He knows the place a bit by now,” the inventor +suggested. + +Accordingly Lambert went down and waited 40 feet under water in the +inky blackness for the inventor. Fluess made his way down the ladder +in the centre of the shaft, taking a firm hold of the rungs with his +hands and feeling for the next one with his foot. As it happened, the +ladder was short of the bottom by some 10 feet, and they had forgotten +to inform him of this fact. Fluess, coming to the end, felt as usual +for the next rung. It was not there, so he lowered himself one rung by +his hands, expecting to touch the bottom with his feet. His feet merely +churned in the dank water, so he went down rung by rung until he was +clinging to the last rung with his hands. After vainly feeling with his +feet for the bottom, he let go his hold and dropped about 6 feet. + +Some boards creaked and tipped ominously under him as he landed, then +he felt his way round until he came to Lambert. The diver took off the +inventor’s life-line, and Fluess fared forth into those underground +workings some 200 feet beneath the surface of the green fields above. +It was a weird experience. At first he tried to walk, and being without +any guide whatsoever he lost all sense of direction. Then he tried for +the sides of the tunnel, but there were ditches and wreckage which +brought him down so often that he was forced back to the centre of the +road. So he went down on his hands and knees and began to crawl along, +feeling the sleepers of the tram-track with his hands, using them as +a guide. He came, after many tribulations, to a place where the sides +and roof had fallen badly and very laboriously managed to crawl over +the heap of debris. After struggling about the underground tunnel for +an hour, he was forced at length to turn back. Another and yet another +attempt he made, each time getting a little farther along the tunnel. + +“Why not let me try?” said Lambert at last. + +“Very well,” said the inventor. + +Lambert had never before used the new type of diving dress, but that +did not deter him. He got into it and had a short trial dive one +afternoon, and the next morning went down the shaft to try in dead +earnest to close the sluice which was letting in the water. + +The inventor went down too, and sat there waiting, waiting, and +wondering what had happened to Lambert, and whether the new diving +dress was going to justify his hopes. The diver, meanwhile, was +fighting his way forward over the numerous obstacles in the tunnel, +crawling over the falls and squeezing between the roof and the +debris. It was nervy, risky work, for he did not know whether another +fall would come and bury him or close the small exit, nor did he +know whether he could manage to find his way back again. Under such +difficult conditions, anything is possible. + +Nevertheless, he managed to get to the door that had caused all the +trouble. Feeling round, he found one of the valves open and succeeded +in closing it. Then he investigated the door and found that before he +could close it he would have to take up a couple of rails that were +obstructing the entrance. Away down in the bowels of the earth in +that flooded tunnel, far from help, relying upon his own strength and +courage alone, he struggled with the rails and managed to get one free. +The other baffled all his efforts, and reluctantly he turned round and +made his slow way out of the tunnel, after being away for an hour and a +half. + +He was drawn up with Fluess, and directly their helmets were unscrewed +the inventor turned to Lambert. + +“How far did you get?” he asked. + +“Right up to the door,” said Lambert. “It’s wedged open by two rails. I +managed to get one away, and to close one of the valves. I think, if I +take a crowbar along, I shall be able to manage it all right.” + +Sure enough, he went down and fought his way along the flooded tunnel +again. After a struggle, he levered the other rail up and succeeded in +passing beyond the door to close another valve, afterwards shutting the +door that had caused all the trouble. Before returning, he knew that +one more valve must be screwed up to keep the water back. The tips of +his fingers slid over the surface of the door like those of a blind man +until he found the valve, then he screwed it round until it would screw +no more. + +He little knew, as he screwed away, that he was screwing the valve +open, but so it was. That valve, instead of following the usual rule +and screwing up to the right, actually screwed up to the left. Whether +any one knew of this variation, or whether the engineers forgot it in +their fight to free the tunnel of water, the fact remains that no one +told Lambert, who unconsciously screwed the valve open, with the result +that the tunnel took longer to pump out, because the water still poured +through this valve. Not until the water was overcome was the mystery of +the open valve solved. + +The diver who performed this brilliant feat salved many fortunes from +the seabed, and was perhaps the greatest hunter of sunken treasure who +ever struggled into a diving dress. Even the experts, however, thought +little of his chances when he went out to try to salve the treasure +of the _Alphonso XII._, which was down in 160 feet of water off Point +Gando in the Grand Canary. + +“Lambert has the job in hand,” said one. + +“He can’t do it. She’s too deep for mortal man to tackle!” came the +reply. + +Lambert dropped down to the deck of the _Alphonso_, and knew that a +fortune lay under his feet. He paced the deck until he came to the +exact spot beneath which the treasure should lie. Then he began to +investigate the ship, but, skilled as he was, he would not face the +risk of getting lost in its interior, of fouling his lines while he +groped his way in the darkness along passages and through cabins and +saloons to the strong room. To venture into the bowels of the ship +would probably mean that he was going to his death. + +He summed up the situation. The treasure lay beneath two decks. To tear +a way through with crowbars or to chop a way through with axes was +impossible. Every movement at that depth was terribly exhausting, and +he had to rest, in order to recover, after doing the slightest thing. +His only means of getting the treasure was to blast a way through with +explosives, to harness explosives to do the work and thus save his own +energy. + +He set to work and after tremendous trouble blew through the top deck. +Clearing the shattered pieces away, he let himself down into the +saloon, and began his attack on the second deck. It, too, succumbed +to the mighty concussions of the explosives, and Lambert dropped into +another saloon. He looked about him, and in the floor at the farther +end he found the entrance to the strong room. The trap-door resisted +his efforts, but in the end Lambert’s crowbar, skilfully wielded, +prised it up. + +Lambert went into the treasure-room and saw the little chests of +treasure, each one of which contained a fortune. He signalled to the +surface, and a cable was let down. The tremendous pressure hampered +his movements, made them seem slow and clumsy. Nevertheless, he raised +a chest full of treasure and managed to slip a rope beneath it, then +he secured it to the hook hanging beside him. The signal was given, +and Lambert watched his first haul of the treasure mount through the +opening he had blasted in the ship. That chest swinging on the end of +the rope was full of gold coin worth £10,000! + +Every time he braved the depths to seek the treasure he took his life +in his hand, but he did what he set out to do, and in the end he +managed to send to the surface seven boxes of treasure worth £70,000, +leaving another two boxes worth £20,000 to be recovered at a later +date. Lambert received £3500 as his share in this deep-sea enterprise, +in addition to his pay of £40 a month and all found. + +Thrilling as were these treasure hunts, the most romantic story of all +is that of the _Hamilla Mitchell_. Here we have treasure and pirates +and a desperate chase all mixed up in the most approved adventure-story +style. Only, unlike a work of fiction, this story happens to be true. + +The _Hamilla Mitchell_ came to grief on the Leuconna Rock, near +Shanghai, and carried down with her £50,000 of specie. She was a total +loss, and the underwriters, after paying the insurance, considered the +question of trying to salve the treasure. They instructed an expert +to visit the scene and report on the case. The expert in due course +considered that the case was hopeless, that the specie was lost for all +time, and that the wreck had gone down in such deep water in so exposed +a position that it was much too dangerous for divers to work there--not +a very cheerful report for the underwriters to receive. + +There, for a time, the matter rested. Then upon the scene came a +Captain Lodge with an offer to do his best to recover the treasure. +The underwriters, unwilling to allow the specie of which they were +the owners to remain at the bottom of the sea, agreed gladly to the +proposal that was placed before them. Captain Lodge considered the +problem most profoundly. He knew that what was lost would not be won +back easily, that the odds were, indeed, very much against a single +ounce of the precious metal ever again seeing the light of day. This +did not dismay him. Securing the services of two clever divers, named +Ridyard and Penk, he made the trip to Shanghai, taking out with him +some special diving apparatus--the finest and most powerful equipment +to be found in the world. + +He wandered about Shanghai looking for a vessel that would suit his +purpose, and, coming across a small sailing craft, chartered her and +proceeded on his quest for the wreck. Small as was the salvage vessel, +she was yet too large to take inshore among the high rocks, and so the +divers had to prosecute their search from the small boat which they +towed behind. They searched here, they searched there, dropping over +the side of the boat in their cumbersome dress, facing all the unknown +perils of the unknown depths. Now they were carefully exploring a ledge +perhaps only 20 feet deep, and a little later they would be slipping +down the face of a chasm that plunged sheer into the sea for another +100 feet or more. They did not spare themselves in that search, for at +times they penetrated to a depth of 160 feet. + +They were investigating a ledge one day when a dark mass loomed up at +one end. They approached it, to find the wreck at last, noting with +satisfaction that it was in a comparatively shallow depth which made +the prospect of salvage fairly easy. Their jubilation was cut short, +however, as they drew nigh. It was the stern that held the treasure, +and the stern was missing! + +Fate had once more been up to her tricks. The _Hamilla Mitchell_ had +settled with her stern overhanging deep water. Not for long did she +remain intact, for the gales soon broke off the unsupported after end, +which slipped off the ledge into the abyss, where the divers managed to +locate it in 156 feet of water. + +The never-ending lines of bubbles from their outlet valves flowed +upward to the surface as they slowly explored the stern and prepared +for their assault on the treasure-room. It was a most dangerous as +well as a most difficult task to work in that treacherous chasm. The +currents were strong, the rocks were sharp, and the possibilities of +air lines being cut or fatally fouled were not pleasant to dwell upon. +Nevertheless, they stuck to their task and eventually Ridyard managed +to break a way into the strong room. + +The sight which met his eyes as he gazed through the windows of his +copper helmet was like a scene from some fairy tale. The light, +filtering through to that great depth, enveloped the hold in a sort of +twilight gloom, and all over the place he dimly saw heaps of dollars +scattered about. He stooped down to the treasure chests, to find that +woodboring worms had eaten many of them quite away and the contents of +the boxes were spilled in all directions. He walked about on a floor of +solid gold; golden coins slipped about under his leaden soles. + +Anything more romantic would not be easy to find, yet the romance did +not appeal to Ridyard. He was working against time, knowing that he +would not be able to stand the pressure for long. Every movement was +slow and difficult. The water was striving to crush him; he was being +saved from this terrible fate solely by the continual flow of air +coming down the rubber pipe to his helmet. + +Four times Ridyard underwent that ordeal of getting into the +treasure-room and working under the enormous pressure until he was +quite exhausted. On the last occasion he surpassed his previous feats +of endurance and struggled doggedly on, loading up the treasure and +watching it disappear towards the surface until he had sent up the +contents of sixty-four boxes. + +Strong and fit as he was, he became thoroughly worn out with the toil, +so he signalled to those above and made his way slowly to the surface. +They dragged him to the deck of the salvage craft and unscrewed his +helmet. His face was lined, his eyes were very tired, and his body +clamoured for moisture, although he had been immersed in it for a long +time. Not a glance did he give to the treasure lying about, the fortune +at his feet did not interest him. + +“Give me a drink,” he said. “I’m dying for a drink of water.” + +Penk nipped up a bucket and made his way to a spring at the top of the +island under which they were working. Putting down his bucket to fill, +he scanned the horizon, as sailormen will. A sudden amazement came over +him. The sea was dotted with sails, all making in the direction of the +island. + +Wasting no time, he picked up his precious pail of water and ran down +to the ship. + +“What’s up?” asked Captain Lodge, as Ridyard took his much-wanted drink. + +“The sea’s full of junks, hundreds of them,” Penk replied. + +Taking his glasses, Captain Lodge quickly identified the oncoming ships +as the junks of Chinese pirates who were making their way towards the +island from the farther side to avoid being seen. There was no doubt in +his mind as to what they were after. There was but one thing in that +quarter worth having, and that was the treasure stored in the salvage +craft. It was obvious that the pirates had been watching operations +carefully. They had undoubtedly planned to allow the divers to recover +the treasure, then they purposed stealing down upon the expedition +unawares, wiping it out and looting the gold. + +The pirates were in overwhelming numbers, and Captain Lodge realized +instantly that the only thing to do was to run for it. Slipping the +anchor to save the time required to haul it up, the salvors hoisted +sail. Gradually they gathered way and stole from under the cover of +the island. Directly the salvage craft appeared in the open, the junks +altered course and started to pursue her. + +Pity the poor salvors! The wind had practically failed them, yet they +could see some of the junks bending to a lucky breeze and overhauling +them. In desperation they put out the big sweeps and toiled like +galley-slaves to force their craft through the water. Ridyard, tired as +he was, took his turn at the oars to try to save the treasure he had +salved at such risk. So the salvage boat crept along, with the pirates +slowly gaining. + +More exciting grew the chase. With anxious eyes the salvors watched +the distance between their own craft and the Chinese junks growing +gradually less. Harder than ever they strained at the oars, dipping +them into the sea, throwing all their weight upon them, pulling until +the muscles of their arms ached and their backs were nearly breaking. + +It looked as though the salvors would lose their lives as well as their +treasure when the sails, which had been flapping idly, began to swell. +A puff of wind stirred their flag, and a steady breeze began to blow. +It was none too soon. The salvage craft started to gather way again and +forge through the water. Still the junks hung on. They were not going +to relinquish their prize without an effort. + +The pirates continued to chase the salvage craft right until sundown, +when a friendly darkness hid pursued from pursuers and enabled Captain +Lodge to shake off and lose the bloodthirsty Chinese pirates. In the +end he managed to make Shanghai in safety with the rich treasure +of £40,000 aboard, thus bringing to a happy ending one of the most +exciting treasure-hunts ever known. + +If Ridyard had not worked quite so hard and grown quite so thirsty, and +if Penk had not gone to fetch that pail of water, the salvors would +have remained in ignorance of the approaching pirates and would have +met a tragic death at their hands. + +That lucky drink of water saved a fortune of £40,000. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +For months at a time during the past few years, a little ship may +have been seen floating around a particular spot just off the coast +of Donegal. Barges lay in her vicinity, barges laden with incredible +tangles of pipes and cables. Boats pulled around from barge to ship, +and fussy little launches came from the coast, remained an hour or +two, and then departed. Occasionally a grim, grey destroyer glided up, +moored for a time, and then steamed away. But the little ship remained, +and strangers in those parts wondered what she was doing there. + +That little ship was the salvage vessel _Racer_, engaged in the +greatest treasure-hunt of modern times. Never before has there been +such a treasure-hunt, for it was a national treasure-hunt, carried out +on behalf of the British people by the British Navy, and backed by the +whole power of the nation. + +When the White Star liner _Laurentic_ left the shores of England in +January, 1917, she carried in her strong-room gold and silver ingots to +the value of about £5,000,000 to settle some of Great Britain’s bills +for the munitions that were pouring out of the factories in the United +States. The Treasury was naturally anxious for the specie to reach its +destination as quickly as possible, for that £5,000,000 was destined +for the pay envelopes of thousands of American factory hands. + +Many a time the _Laurentic_ had made the passage with saloons +brilliantly lighted and crowded with wealthy passengers, but never +before had she borne so much wealth as on this occasion. The advent of +war led to her conversion into an armed liner, and those aboard were +now fighting for the freedom of the seas and civilization. + +Northward she steamed through the Irish Sea and at last began to breast +the open Atlantic and point westward to New York. Malin Head, on the +north coast of Ireland, loomed up and began to drop astern, and just +when it seemed that all would be well came the blow that sent her to +her doom. A violent explosion shook her, made her lurch and shiver, and +many gallant fellows, watchful at their posts, were instantly killed; +many more were trapped and drowned by the rush of water into the ship. + +The survivors sprang to their emergency posts, while the wireless +operator sent out a call for help. The captain realized that the +_Laurentic’s_ days were numbered. Nothing could save her. The water +poured through the rent in her side. More and more she heeled as the +water gained. For a moment her bows lifted clear of the sea, then she +disappeared in a swirl of foam, and the waves were strewn with wreckage +and bobbing heads. When the tragedy was over, and the roll called, it +was found that, of 475 officers and men aboard, 354 had gone to their +last long rest. + +The loss of life, the destruction of the ship, the sinking of the +treasure, all were bitter blows. The gallant sailors were beyond +recall, the ship was sunk for ever. As for the treasure, it was down in +120 feet of water, on a coast so fully exposed to the Atlantic gales +that its recovery was an open question. + +Prospecting for gold in the desert places of the earth has its +difficulties and its disappointments, but what are these compared with +the problems that confront the men who seek to wrest from the mighty +ocean the gold it has swallowed? Unexpected dangers often confront +those who seek the precious metals in the wild places of the earth, but +the dangers of the diver are continuous. He trusts his life to a frail +rubber pipe and a rubber suit, and directly the metal helmet is screwed +round his neck, and he sinks into the depths, death starts to stalk him +and does not give up the chase until the diver is once more aboard the +salvage ship. + +Some of the finest divers in the British Navy were told off for +the treasure-hunt. They were eventually placed under the command of +Commander Damant, who had played so important a part in the diving +experiments carried out by the Admiralty a few years ago, and who had +himself attained the record depth of 210 feet in August, 1906. The fact +that the cleverest diving expert in the British Navy was detailed for +the operation is proof that the Admiralty realized that the recovery +of the treasure would prove no easy task. No one knew at the moment +exactly how strenuous the fight was going to be. + +The first salvage craft, which was later replaced by the _Racer_, went +off to the Donegal coast and swept the area in which the _Laurentic_ +had disappeared. The salvors found the wreck in due course, and they +had the satisfaction of knowing that they were within 120 feet of a +stupendous fortune of about £5,000,000. A bare depth of 120 feet of +water separated them from the greatest treasure-trove of modern times, +but the treasure could not have been more secure had it been resting +beneath 120 feet of solid steel. Indeed, had the treasure been so +buried, instead of underneath 120 feet of water, it would probably have +been recovered very much sooner. + +Despite difficult conditions, a certain optimism prevailed that the +treasure would soon be brought to the surface. But the optimists +reckoned without the enemy. Somehow the Germans managed to find out +where the _Laurentic_ was wrecked, and their submarines quietly waited +their opportunity and began to make things hot for those engaged in the +treasure-hunt. + +One enemy submarine haunting the vicinity discreetly vanished as a +British torpedo boat came on the scene. A day or two passed, and the +torpedo boat was called for urgent duty elsewhere. Meantime, there had +not been the slightest sign of the enemy underwater craft, which had +apparently recognized that that particular spot was rather unhealthy +and therefore to be avoided. + +Feeling fairly secure, the salvors, according to an unofficial report, +determined to get on with their job. A diver donned his dress, his +helmet was screwed on, and the air-pumps began to heave as he dropped +down to resume operations. He had been down but a short time when he +felt himself plucked off his feet by a mighty pull on his life-line +and air-pipe. He struggled to right himself, but it was quite useless. +An irresistible force dragged him upwards; then he felt himself being +drawn through the sea like a salmon at the end of a line. + +Something was running away with him. It was an awful experience. He +wondered what had happened and how it would end. His senses began to +reel; he found a difficulty in breathing. + +Somehow he managed to keep his head and act as the emergency demanded, +closing the valve by which the air escaped from his helmet. A minute +later he broke the surface. + +He could hear the seas slapping the top of his helmet as he was dragged +along at a smart pace. His heart pounded, a terrible humming droned in +his ears, but he strove hard to retain his senses. + +“What’s up?” he thought. “What on earth’s happening?” + +He had no chance of finding out. He was prisoner in a metal helmet and +a rubber suit. He knew he was at the surface, because of the light that +filtered through the glass of his helmet and the seas that swished +against the copper. As he was dragged along, he had a tendency to spin +at the end of his line, which gave him a dreadful sensation. + +In a dazed sort of way the diver was wondering how long the ordeal +would last, when he suddenly felt himself plucked clear of the water. +The next thing he remembers is something scorching his throat and the +cool air playing about his head. He looked round and found he was lying +on the deck of the salvage vessel, and he thanked his lucky star that +all was well. Then he was placed in the recompression chamber aboard, +so that the dangers of being dragged hastily from such a depth might +be avoided, and the risk of bubbles of nitrogen forming in the blood +averted. The air-pumps were set going to raise the pressure of the air +in the steel chamber to the same pressure as that at which the diver +had been working, and gradually the pressure was reduced until it was +the normal atmospheric pressure and the diver was able to be taken out. + +While he was on the bottom, a German submarine had stealthily +approached the salvage vessel. Suddenly it started to attack, and the +salvage steamer had to cut and run for it, dragging the unfortunate +diver in its wake. The attack was so unexpected that there was no time +to pull up the diver in accordance with the rules. To pull him up in +the ordinary way would, as a matter of fact, have taken half an hour. +There was no alternative but to tow him along willy-nilly and haul him +aboard as they fled. The experience might easily have cost the diver +his life, but the recompression chamber fortunately saved him from any +ill effects. + +After this rather exciting episode, it was decided that operations to +recover the treasure would have to be postponed until more peaceful +times. The treasure-seekers had their hands full in fighting the stormy +seas and powerful currents, not to mention the great depth of water, +without having to fight the foe as well. + +At the end of the war, the battle with wind and wave for the treasure +of the _Laurentic_ was once more resumed. So exposed was her position +that for fully half the year it was impossible for divers to work +there at all owing to the storms that raged. Even in fine weather there +were the currents to fight against. And their strength at times was +almost incredible. They could swirl big boulders along the seabed as +though they were but pebbles. + +More than one diver, during his career, has experienced the sensation +of being picked up like a feather and dropped over the side of the +wreck on which he has been working. He might weigh roughly 160 lb. +Slung over his back would be a 40-lb. weight, across his chest would +be a similar weight, while each boot would be loaded with a leaden +sole weighing 16 lb. Fully equipped he would turn the scale at about +3 cwt., yet the current has simply played with him as though he were +thistledown. Its strength has been such that he could not fight against +it. Consequently, he has been compelled to give up all ideas of work +and return to the surface. It is indicative of what the salvors of the +_Laurentic_ had to contend with in this respect. + +Two years at the bottom of the Atlantic had wrought a tremendous change +in the once-proud liner. The divers found her plates corroded with +rust, girders collapsing everywhere. The sheer weight of the water +above her was crushing her flat, squeezing her into a shapeless mass +just as you might crush a lily in your hand. Moreover, she was full +of silt and mud. Strange fishes glided about her inky depths. Dread +conger eels of mighty girth lurked in the labyrinths of the wreck. + +In spite of the terrible condition to which the wreck had been reduced, +the divers finally managed to locate the strong-room. The bubbles from +their helmeted heads flowed ceaselessly upward as the exhaust air +ascended to the surface. Slowly they made their way forward towards +some bars, dimly seen within the recesses of the ship. They were in the +treasure-room. The gold and silver lay about them. Some of the precious +ingots barely peeped out of the silt. + +The attendant on the salvage ship heard the telephone buzz. + +“Hallo!” he said. + +“We’ve found the treasure,” said a voice from under the sea. It was a +squeaky voice, for, strangely enough, talking in compressed air gives +the voice a high pitch, and at this depth it would be impossible for a +diver to whistle. The pressure of the air on his lips would prevent him. + +No time was lost in lowering cables, and one by one the ingots began to +speed to the surface. Then, all too quickly, the signal was given for +the divers to ascend, and the treasure had to be left for another day. + +That season ingots valued at £500,000 were recovered from the +strong-room, after superhuman labour on the part of all concerned. So +extremely arduous were the conditions that our crack divers could only +work two spells of fifteen minutes’ duration each day. Half an hour’s +toil beneath the sea took as much out of them as the ordinary day’s +work takes out of the ordinary man. + +Once more the winter gales played havoc with the wreck, and next spring +the divers found that the treasure was lost under a mass of twisted +plates and girders. Imagine a street of lofty houses, then imagine that +all the buildings were pushed suddenly down into the centre of the +road, and you will arrive at some faint idea of what the ship looked +like. Great girders were bent into all sorts of strange shapes; iron +bars thick as a man’s wrist were twisted into fantastic curves. + +The only way to get to the treasure now was to blast a passage with +explosives. The difficulties of the task were increased by the +necessity of hoisting every bit of plate out of the wreck and towing +it some distance before dumping it, in order to make quite certain +that the plate would not again obstruct the divers. The placing of the +charges in the most effective spots, and the withdrawal of the divers +while contacts were made and the charges exploded, took a long time and +entailed endless trouble. But the salvors kept at it doggedly, and bit +by bit they cut away obstructing plates and girders weighing about 300 +tons. + +[Illustration: A DIVER GOING DOWN TO BLOW UP PART OF A WRECK TO GET AT +THE TREASURE. THE CHARGE OF EXPLOSIVE, WEIGHING 50 LBS., IS CONTAINED +IN THE LONG TIN OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT. SOMETIMES THE EXPLOSIVE IS +PACKED IN A CANVAS BAG THREE OR FOUR FEET LONG AND THREE OR FOUR INCHES +ACROSS] + +Thus they opened up a way to the treasure, and once more began to send +ingots of the precious metal to the surface. Things began to look rosy, +and there seemed the prospect of making a clean sweep of all the +bullion, when a terrific storm arose and stopped operations. When the +divers went down again they found that more plates had folded down over +the treasure, as if deliberately to prevent its abstraction. It was a +dreadful disappointment, for very soon afterwards the autumnal gales +put an end to the hunt for the season. + +The next year the _Racer_ was back again off the Donegal coast, eager +to resume the great treasure-hunt. But it proved a terrible season. +The weather seemed to mock the hunters. For weeks at a time work was +impossible. As soon as one storm abated, another sprang up. + +Waiting with all the patience they could muster, the divers at length +got a chance of going down to the wreck. What a change the gales had +wrought! No longer did the wreck bear any resemblance to a ship. She +was just a great mound of twisted metal, partially buried in the silt. +Plates and wreckage lay scattered over the seabed in all directions, +covering an acre or two of space. + +Once more the dangerous task of blowing away obstructions was resumed. +Carried out as expeditiously as possible, it yet proved all too slow +for those engaged on the work. At long last they managed, after +prodigious efforts, to open up a path, only to find the gold as far off +as ever. It was buried many feet deep in sand and mud, and to dig it +out with shovels was an impossibility, for the sea would wash the sand +in just as quickly as the divers shovelled it out. + +Forty yards above them lay the _Racer_--a floating workshop full of the +most remarkable inventions that scientists and engineers could devise +to assist submarine work. Aboard was a mighty 18-inch pump capable +of sucking up a mountain of sand an hour. The mouth of this monster +appeared from above. It was placed in position by the divers, and they +watched the silt melting before it as if by magic, flowing up to the +surface to be dumped a little distance away. + +It is no uncommon thing to find such a pump sucking up chunks of rock +weighing half a hundred-weight, and even trying to remove bits of +girder and plate. But such objects, like deck planks, are rather apt to +stick in the bend, and then the monster chokes and has to receive the +attentions of the salvors. + +Remarkable as was the work done by the gallant divers, the results of +the season’s work were fearfully disappointing, for only seven bars of +gold worth about £10,000 in all were recovered. In no wise discouraged, +the treasure-hunters stole back to the old spot the following spring +to try their luck again. The gales of the winter had torn great plates +from the wreckage as though they were merely sheets of brown paper +and dropped them yards away; the decks that had once resounded to the +laughter of beautiful women were laid down flat with the seabed. +Twisted and rusted iron lay for hundred of yards around. Looking for +a needle in a haystack were an easy task compared with finding the +treasure amid all this tangled debris. + +A long, keen search revealed what had once been the strong-room. Great +metal plates were piled over it, necessitating blasting operations +once more. The divers toiled until the plates were cut and dragged +away. Then incredible quantities of silt had to be eaten away by the +sand-pump, the divers watching closely and coming on a bar from time +to time. By the end of August, 1922, gold worth £150,000 had been +secured, and early one morning H.M.S. _Wrestler_ might have been seen +slipping into Liverpool. Directly she moored beside the quay, case +after case was landed from her and placed in a motor-lorry. Those +cases--a dozen in all--were full of gold which had been recovered from +the _Laurentic_, and each case represented a small fortune. + +All through the season of 1923 the divers carried on, searching amid +that chaos of rusted iron for the gold and silver bars, wresting them +one by one from their hiding-places on the seabed. For seven seasons +they have fought the ocean for that mighty fortune of over £5,000,000 +and their heroic efforts have led to the recovery of £4,750,000. +Considering the depth in which the _Laurentic_ sank, and the perils and +difficulties besetting the workers, the results are beyond compare. + +Never before has there been a treasure-hunt of such magnitude, and how +long this will last no one can say. A big fortune of £250,000 still +lies hidden just off the coast of the Irish Free State, and, if the +British Navy fails to recover it for the British Treasury, it will be +for the simple reason that its recovery is humanly impossible. + +For every £100 won back from the depths, the divers have received an +award of 2s. 6d., so altogether they have shared among themselves the +sum of £5,937 a sum that has been well and truly earned. It says much +for the efficiency of the British Navy when it is known that the whole +of this perilous treasure-hunt has been carried out without a single +accident to any of the divers engaged. + +Many rumours have arisen of wonderful machines being used to locate the +treasure, of instruments with the power to divine the presence of gold, +of scientists standing on the deck of the salvage vessel watching, with +bated breath, a needle oscillate round a dial until it has indicated +that the diver far below is in the vicinity of the precious metal. +These rumours, however, have no foundation in fact, for the treasure +has been recovered solely by straightforward diving. The estimates +of the treasure sunk have also varied from £3,000,000 to £8,000,000, +but the figures given here have been furnished me specially by the +Admiralty, and they are therefore strictly accurate. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +British salvage experts have performed extraordinary feats; the +American Navy has produced divers excelling even our own; but it has +been left to the Italians to accomplish the seemingly impossible. As a +sheer feat of salvage, the raising of the _Leonardo da Vinci_ remains +unsurpassed. + +The night of August 2, 1916, will long be remembered in Taranto, for +just before midnight the whole town was awakened by a tremendous +explosion. The people leapt from their beds and rushed towards +the harbour, to find searchlights sweeping the bay and the finest +battleship in the Italian Navy belching forth flames and smoke. The +_Leonardo da Vinci_ was doomed. In a moment 250 officers and men +were wiped out of existence, and although the survivors fought most +valiantly to quell the fire that enveloped the ship their efforts were +vain. + +Suddenly the decks of the battleship canted beneath them, shooting them +like flies into the bay, and she swung right over and sank upside-down +in 36 feet of water. The searchlights from the surrounding battleships +lit up the darkness. Round and round they flashed, seeking the enemy +who had dealt this mortal blow; but there was no sign of a periscope, +nothing but the heads of the Italian sailors fighting for their lives +in the sea. + +A time bomb, secretly introduced into one of the magazines, had robbed +the Allies of one of their most powerful battleships. This loss of a +first-class ship of 24,000 tons, equipped with an armament of thirteen +12-inch guns, was a grave one to the Italian Navy, and the question of +salving her at once arose. Famous foreign experts came on the scene, +gazed on the visible portion of the keel of the ship which had cost +£4,000,000, and shook their heads dubiously. + +“Impossible!” they said. “The only thing to do is to blow her to +pieces.” + +The eyes of the Italians flashed. Somehow, at some time, they +determined to salve the battleship. It might be impossible during the +war, owing to the difficulty of getting material for the operations, +but in their own minds the honour of Italy would never be satisfied +until the ship which lay at the bottom of Taranto bay once more floated +on the seas. + +The sinking of the _Leonardo da Vinci_ was, indeed, a great blow to +the pride of the Italian Navy, and there was a general desire on the +part of the nation to wipe out the stain and turn defeat into a triumph +by refloating the ship. The more difficult the task, the greater the +triumph; the more impossible it seemed to foreign experts, the more +determined were the Italians to achieve it. + +Throwing themselves heart and soul into the matter, the officers of the +Italian Naval Engineering Corps studied the problem most carefully and +formulated several schemes, among them a plan to build around the ship +a floating dock which, when completely pumped out, would automatically +lift the wreck. Shortage of steel and other materials at that time +made this plan impracticable. Then General Ferrati, the chief of the +Italian naval constructors, evolved a plan to raise the ship by means +of compressed air and carry her upside-down to the dry dock at Taranto, +where she could be prepared for righting. + +It must never be forgotten that the battleship was upside-down, and +that not only had she to be raised, but she also had to be righted. +Rivet by rivet and plate by plate she had in the course of years been +built up by hundreds of men into one of the strongest structures known. +All the rivets and plates had been welded into a compact mass of 24,000 +tons which now lay at the bottom of the sea. Afloat, she obeyed the +hand and brain of man, would go wherever he desired; at his behest she +turned to right or left, sped furiously through the sea or stopped. +Now she was immovable as the mountains; to smash her to pieces would +have been a gigantic task, costing months of time, tons of much-wanted +explosives, and well over £100,000 in money. The queer thing is that +Ferrati proposed to harness air to lift the sunken monster, just as +though she were an airship instead of a battleship. In such ways do +master-minds work. + +So brilliantly conceived were Ferrati’s plans that orders were at once +given to put them into execution. Divers went down to make a survey +of the wreck, which was so rent by the explosion that a vast hole had +been blown right through her from keel to top deck. A further survey +indicated that the huge ship was literally digging her own grave. The +weight of the upside-down battleship was all resting on the funnels and +gun turrets, and these, owing to the enormous pressure from above, were +piercing a way slowly but surely through the mud. Day by day the ship +sank lower and lower, until the whole of her upper deck was completely +buried and the greater part of her hull at the stern had disappeared. +In six months the funnels cut down through a bed of mud over 30 feet +thick before they encountered a bed of clay, which arrested the sinking +of the ship. + +[Illustration: THE ITALIANS BRINGING THE LEONARDO DA VINCI UPSIDE DOWN +INTO DOCK AT TARANTO ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1919, AFTER FIGHTING FOR OVER TWO +YEARS TO RAISE HER FROM THE SEABED] + +No wonder the experts gave up hope. It really seemed that nothing but +a miracle could bring the great vessel to the surface again. There +she was, upside-down, buried deep in the clinging mud, an enormous, +unwieldly mass that the biggest cranes ever invented were powerless +to lift. It is a comparatively easy task to raise a weight of 10 tons +from the seabed, but it is quite a different proposition to lift a +mountain of metal weighing upwards of 20,000 tons. + +[Illustration: THE UPSIDE-DOWN BATTLESHIP SAFELY DOCKED ON SEPTEMBER, +18, 1919, WITH THE GIANT PONTOONS WHICH HELPED TO RAISE HER STILL +LASHED TO HER SIDES] + +In no wise discouraged by the difficulties of the problem, General +Ferrati and his associate, Major Gianelli, ordered large-sized models +of the ship to be built. These were accurately constructed down to the +smallest detail, with miniature engines, propellers and guns; and every +compartment was loaded to represent the things on board the battleship +when she foundered. + +A stranger might have laughed at the childishness of the Italian +officers who were apparently playing with toy battleships. But things +are not always what they seem. Actually these same officers were +puzzling out the most abstruse problems, carrying out remarkable +experiments which enabled them to determine how the ship should behave +in certain circumstances. As a result were evolved some intricate +calculations upon which depended the whole operation of raising the +ship. + +The small part of the keel still showing above the surface was used as +a platform on which to build huts for the salvage workers. Other huts +were erected, in due course, on platforms built up from the submerged +keel. The assembling of the plant for the work was completed by the +spring of 1917, when the people of Taranto began to observe the +figures of divers about the wreck. + +Those divers had no enviable time. They quickly discovered that +the explosion had liberated a quantity of thick oil which clung to +everything within the ship, and as they went down it obscured the +glass of their helmets and rendered the men practically blind. As if +the oil were not sufficient handicap, there were thick clouds of rust +which fogged the water and added to the discomfort of the divers. Yet +the oil, despite its drawbacks, proved something of a blessing, for it +adhered to hundreds of shells and protected them so efficiently from +the action of the sea that the Italians were able to use them after +salving them! + +The recovery of the ammunition was the first step to lightening the +ship. Day after day shells were hoisted out of the wreck and loaded +into lighters. It was dangerous work, but it became rather monotonous +to those engaged in it. Monotony, as is well known, is apt to lead to +carelessness, and carelessness in handling shells may lead to terrible +results. It is a fine tribute to the carefulness of the men engaged on +the work to know that they salved nearly a thousand 12-inch shells, +three thousand 4·7-inch shells, some torpedoes, thousands of explosive +charges and hundreds of tons of other ammunition without a single +mishap. + +Meanwhile, a cable was laid from the power station at Taranto right out +to the wreck, a distance of a mile and a half; and with the power thus +furnished the divers began drilling holes to take the rivets that were +to hold the patches over the great rents in the hull. Slow and arduous +work it was, and not without danger, for it cost one man his life. The +patches were lowered into place, a layer of rubber was fitted betwixt +the hull and the edges of the patches to make them watertight, then the +patches were successfully bolted home. + +More cables were carried out from the power station to work the +air compressors, and, as soon as the divers had made a number of +compartments watertight, the salvors began to pump air into the sunken +vessel. The air which was pumped in naturally rose. It tried to get +away to the surface, but the keel of the battleship, which had been +most carefully repaired and made airtight, prevented it from escaping. + +The air was thus caught, as it were, in a trap. There was no way out +for it. It was not strong enough to break through the bottom of the +ship, but it was strong enough to press down the water within. As the +volume of air increased, the belt which it formed grew in depth until +it had forced the water down for a distance of 26 feet below the level +of the sea outside, and men were able to enter the bottom of the vessel +through an air-lock, work in security in this belt of compressed air, +and lighten the vessel by taking out her stores and coals. + +By the beginning of November, 1917, the salvors occasionally felt the +battleship stir slightly beneath their feet. Despite the fact that she +was buried deeply in the mud, her bow was showing the slightest of +inclinations to rise. The engineer in charge noted this with delight. +Barely perceptible as was the movement, it was more than sufficient to +encourage him to persevere. + +Once more the thick oil cropped up to hamper operations and increase +the many difficulties. As the water was forced down inside the vessel +by the compressed air, the oil was deposited on everything. In most +cases this did not matter much, but it was of far-reaching importance +when it came to searching for leaks in the hull. The oil so obscured +these places that it was extremely difficult to locate them, yet +everything depended on their being discovered, for had they been left +unstopped they might have let out the air and made it impossible to +refloat the ship, or, alternatively, let in the water at a critical +time and led to her sinking in such a position that she could never be +floated again. Fortunately, the Italian salvage men were able to detect +all the leaks and stop them effectively, as the sequel amply proved. + +[Illustration: AFTER FLOATING FOR TWO DAYS IN DOCK, THE BATTLESHIP +WAS COAXED INTO POSITION UNTIL SHE SETTLED WITHOUT ACCIDENT ON THE +WONDERFUL TIMBER FRAMEWORK SHOWN HERE. IT WAS A FINE FEAT TO ACCOMPLISH] + +Critics of the operations pointed out that, should the salvors succeed +in floating the battleship upside-down, there was not sufficient depth +of water to allow her to be taken across that mile and a half of sea +to dry dock. Even if they managed to get her to dry dock, all their +work would be wasted, for the battleship floating upside-down would +draw at least 50 feet of water, and the dry dock at Taranto was only 40 +feet deep. + +[Illustration: A REMARKABLE PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN FROM AN AIRSHIP OF THE +UPSIDE-DOWN BATTLESHIP IN DRY DOCK] + +These difficulties were fully considered and plans made for overcoming +them. As it was an impossibility to increase the depth of the dry dock, +the only way to solve this problem was to decrease the depth of water +that the battleship would draw. The engineer accordingly proposed to +detach the funnels, gun-turrets and other top hamper from the deck of +the vessel. + +So firmly embedded were these things in the mud, that the feat of +cutting them off appeared to be more than mortal man could accomplish. +It was, too, pointed out that if divers tried to clear the mud away +from round the funnels, to enable them to work at their task, the sea +would quickly fill up the cavities again. Yet another aspect of the +problem was that the mud pressing upwards against the deck of the +battleship was preventing her from sinking deeper, and if the mud were +removed the whole weight of the _Leonardo da Vinci_ would once more +rest on her funnels and turrets and drive them deeper still into the +clay. + +But the engineer, with a stroke of genius, made no attempt to clear +away the mud at all. Instead, he tackled the job from inside the ship. +Certain compartments were pumped out and used as air-locks, and in one +turret the salvors succeeded, by the use of compressed air, in lowering +the water to a level of 56 feet below the surface of the sea. + +The men who performed the mighty task of detaching the turrets from the +ship actually worked 20 feet below the level of the mud. All around +them outside was 20 feet of thick black ooze, and above that the +illimitable ocean; yet the air we breathe, properly compressed, held +back the deadly waters and enabled the men to work in safety. No wonder +the experts say we are only just beginning to discover the remarkable +power of compressed air as an aid to salving ships! + +Throughout 1918, some 150 men laboured about the ship to free her from +her top hamper and masts. Despite all difficulties, the gun-turrets, +funnels and other deck projections were detached from the ship and +specially prepared so that when the vessel was raised they, too, could +be brought to the surface. The open spaces in the deck left by funnels +and turrets were covered in and made quite watertight, scores of tons +of cork being packed into the _Leonardo da Vinci_ to give her buoyancy. + +Early in 1919 one or two tests showed that they could raise the monster +when the time was ripe. But Major Gianelli, the engineer in charge, +was taking no chances. To make quite sure of lifting her, he caused +eight large pontoons to be fixed to her, each capable of sustaining a +load of 350 tons, so in all he obtained from them the power to lift +2800 tons. These pontoons, or camels as they are sometimes called in +salvage circles, are strong metal cylinders something like big boilers +or tanks. They are of the utmost importance in salvage operations and +figure in most wreck-raising work. All were filled with water and sunk +into position exactly where their lifting power was most wanted. The +divers lashed them with strong steel cables securely to the sides of +the battleship, and by the month of June the work on the mammoth craft +was all but complete. + +Remained the problem of making it possible to tow her to dry dock. +Notwithstanding that all projections had been cut away from her deck, +she drew so great a depth of water that it was obvious she would foul +the bottom before going any distance. To obviate this danger, the +Italians set dredgers to work to cut a channel all the way from the +wreck to the gates of the dry dock. The making of this channel, which +was a mile and a half long, entailed the removal of thousands of tons +of mud, but the salvors regarded this task as trivial compared with the +work they had accomplished on the overturned ship. + +Then the dock itself required to be specially prepared, for like all +dry docks it was planned to take a vessel upright and not upside-down. +The chocks down the centre of the dock, which normally support the keel +of a docked vessel, were quite useless so far as the _Leonardo da +Vinci_ was concerned. So a forest of timber began to spring up in the +dry dock. Mighty baulks of wood, 15 inches and more square, were built +up from the bottom of the dock. These followed the outline of the ship +so that the deck could be brought exactly over them and allowed to sink +into place upon them. Other gigantic piles of timber were constructed +to support particular parts of the deck. + +By September 17, 1919, all these preparations were completed. The +air compressors forced the water out of the pontoons and out of the +hull. Certain compartments of the ship were filled with water in order +to balance her evenly--and then the keel, with the great pontoons +straining upwards, slowly arose out of the sea. For a time a stern +battle went on between the mud which was gripping her and seeking +to hold her down and the air which was striving to lift her to the +surface. Then the air won. The battleship slipped from the grip of the +mud, leaving her guns and turrets still embedded, and floated on the +surface once more. + +[Illustration: A UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LEONARDO DA VINCI AS SHE LAY +IN THE BAY OF TARANTO WITH ALL THE SALVAGE CRAFT AROUND HER JUST BEFORE +SHE WAS TURNED OVER] + +A rapid survey was made to see that she was fit for her journey, then +the tugs took up their task and began to tow her slowly along the +channel between the lines of buoys marking the passage. A stranger +spectacle than the towing of this upside-down battleship was never +before seen on the seas. The tugs managed to keep the capsized +leviathan right in the centre of the channel, and by nightfall the +vessel was at the entrance to the dry dock, and was skilfully +manœuvred inside on the following day. + +[Illustration: TOWING THE UPSIDE-DOWN BATTLESHIP OUT OF DOCK ON JANUARY +22, 1921 IN ORDER TO RIGHT HER] + +For two days she floated, held up by the compressed air within her +hull, and during this time certain adjustments were made in the mighty +timber frame that was to support her. The water was now drawn off from +the dock and the _Leonardo da Vinci_ settled down comfortably on her +timber framework. + +Her settling down placed a huge strain on the timbers, some having +to bear the very great pressure of 225 tons to the square inch. The +calculations, however, were so cleverly made, and the vast weight was +so evenly distributed, that the framework supported her in perfect +security. In itself this was a remarkable achievement. The slightest +miscalculation, or one weak timber, might have brought about the +collapse of the whole structure, and the battleship would have fallen, +an absolute wreck, on the bed of the dry dock. + +For months men swarmed about the upturned battleship, doing the final +repairs that were necessary before she could be righted. The conclusive +test of the Italians was nigh. Could they succeed in turning the great +mass of metal the right way up again? No power known to man would +suffice to right the vessel on land. Before the task could be attempted +it was essential to place her once more in her element, the sea. On +land she was immovable, on the sea she floated and could be more or +less controlled by man, but whether man could perform the miracle of +turning her right way up again, nobody knew. + +The bottom of a ship, of course, has to be strongly built to withstand +the pressures to which it is subjected. The deck, not having to stand +the strain that the bottom is called upon to bear, need not be built +so strongly. In this case the deck and the bottom had changed places, +and it was therefore of the utmost importance that the deck should be +strengthened to withstand the increased pressures that would arise in +righting the ship. + +Out in the bay the dredgers scooped a deep basin to enable her to turn +over without fouling the seabed, and towards the end of January, 1921, +the _Leonardo da Vinci_ was towed to the place where it was proposed to +right her. Four hundred tons of solid ballast had been loaded into her, +and the engineers made preparations for pumping 7500 tons of water into +certain compartments on her starboard side. Being above the centre of +gravity, this weight would make her so top-heavy that she was bound to +overbalance and thus turn right side up again. + +[Illustration: UPRIGHT ONCE MORE AFTER BEING UPSIDE DOWN FOR FOUR +YEARS. SHE RAISED A HUGE WAVE AS SHE SWUNG OVER, AS MAY BE SEEN FROM +THIS PHOTOGRAPH WHICH WAS TAKEN FROM AN AIRSHIP] + +There in the bay lay the still stricken leviathan. The valves were +opened to allow the sea to enter her compartments, and the salvage men +scrambled from the upturned keel and pulled away from her in their +boats. The water began to flow in, and by the time some 800 tons +had entered she began to turn ever so slowly. Soon, as the weight of +water increased, she swung over with a rush, raising a big wave as the +deck swept clear of the water. For a moment it looked as though she +would swing right over and finish upside-down again. But the engineers +had worked out their calculations to such a nicety that the battleship +finally came to rest with a slight list, just as they had foreseen. + +[Illustration: THE LEONARDO DA VINCI READY TO GO INTO DRY DOCK AGAIN TO +BE REFITTED. A BRILLIANT SALVAGE FEAT IS RECORDED IN THESE REMARKABLE +PHOTOGRAPHS WHICH ARE REPRODUCED BY COURTESY OF THE ITALIAN NAVAL +ATTACHE] + +Across her deck, in big letters, was seen the motto of the famous +_Leonardo da Vinci_: “Every wrong rights itself,” painted while the +vessel was still upside-down in dry dock. It was a happy thought, and a +pandemonium of cheering broke out as the legend came into view to tell +of the most remarkable salvage feat ever accomplished. + +The salving of the ship and her final righting took four and a half +years. It was a Herculean task, and from first to last cost the Italian +Government £135,000. Unhappily, General Ferrati, who conceived the +brilliant plan, did not live to see it completed. He was succeeded as +director of operations by General Faruffini, who in turn was succeeded +by General Carpi, but during the whole time Major Gianelli was in +charge of the work and to him is due the credit for carrying out from +beginning to end, and bringing to a triumphant conclusion, the most +wonderful salvage feat ever performed by man. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Before the Great War the number of concerns specializing in salvage +work were so few that probably all could be numbered on the fingers +of both hands. Sweden had a fine salvage unit at Stockholm, a Danish +company worked from Copenhagen, Germany possessed a very powerful +salvage plant, while perhaps half a dozen salvage concerns operated +in British waters, the most important being the Liverpool Salvage +Association, the London Salvage Association and the famous firm of +Henry Ensor, at Queenstown in Ireland. + +In the number of marine salvage units she could muster, Great Britain +was thus particularly fortunate. The dangers of our coasts have long +been regarded as a drawback, yet in time of crisis they proved a +blessing in disguise, for the yearly toll of wrecks on our shores has +provided fine experience for our salvage experts and made them second +to none in the world. + +When the Germans hurled their challenge at humanity, all the salvage +concerns operating in Great Britain were at once taken over by the +Admiralty and placed under the command of Commodore F. W. Young. +For long Commodore Young had acted as chief salvage officer to the +Liverpool Salvage Association, and forty years’ experience of raising +wrecks had given him a knowledge of the subject that was unique. +Wandering round our shores in storm and shine, fighting to get ships +off the rocks, struggling to save their cargoes, he learned to know our +rugged coast better than the average man knows the lines on the palm +of his hand. The reefs from which a ship might never escape, the sandy +bays that provided shelter, the bars that lurked in wait for unwary +ships, all were known to him. His knowledge was such that he was able +to sum up the chances of a ship directly he heard where she was wrecked. + +Whatever blunders may have been made in appointing other men to other +commands, the First Lords of the Admiralty made no mistake in selecting +Commodore Young to be Director of Naval Salvage. Generals came and +went, Admirals were moved up and down, but this one man was in control +of the Admiralty Salvage Section throughout the whole war, bearing the +grave responsibilities of a most important post from beginning to end. + +The first work of the Admiralty Salvage Section was purely naval. These +were the men who laid the mines to guard our harbours, and upon them +devolved the duty of laying down those long lanes of mighty nets to +protect our troopships hurrying from England to France. When the _Lion_ +was so sorely stricken at Jutland, it was one of the section’s salvage +steamers that helped her into port, and they were men of the Salvage +Section who patched her scars and made it possible for her to limp home. + +But the work of the Salvage Section changed completely with the coming +of the unrestricted campaign of the German submarines. No longer was +it purely naval in character. Thenceforward it became general, and the +officers and men of the section had to stand ready to save merchant +vessels as well as warships. + +So grave a menace was the enemy submarine campaign that foreign +shipowners refused to take the risks of sending ships to Great Britain, +for no underwriter with any sense could be expected to insure ships +when the Germans were torpedoing merchantmen at sight. Similarly no +shipowner with any sense would send a ship here that was uninsured, for +if his ship were torpedoed the whole loss would fall on him. For this +reason alone there was a likelihood of diminishing supplies of food and +munitions coming to our ports. + +The British Government rose to the situation by becoming the biggest +underwriting concern in the world and insuring every ship entering and +leaving our ports. Great Britain accepted the responsibility for all +losses, and the shipowners knew they were sure to get their money +in the event of their ships being sunk. As a further precaution, the +system of convoy was instituted, whereby half a dozen or a dozen +ships journeyed together under the escort of some of our warships. An +additional measure to cope with the marauding submarines was to arm +our merchantmen so that they stood at least a chance of beating off an +attack. + +Shrewd as were the German calculations of winning the war by the +submarine campaign, and nearly as the enemy succeeded, they reckoned +without our Admiralty Salvage Section. While all the powers of the +British Admiralty were concentrated on destroying the German underwater +craft, the abilities of the Naval Salvage Section were focused on +repairing the damage wrought by enemy torpedoes. From a comparatively +minor position, the Salvage Section sprang into paramount importance. +As the list of torpedoed vessels grew day by day, so our salvage +organization was enlarged to grapple with the extra duties. + +Directly a ship was torpedoed, the news was wirelessed to Whitehall, +and the nearest available naval craft was ordered to stand by and +render all the assistance possible until a salvage steamer arrived +from the most convenient depot to take over. Salvage steamers and +depots were dotted at various ports all round the coast, and as soon +as particulars flashed through to the Director of Salvage he detailed +his nearest available unit for the job. If a vessel still floated, he +despatched powerful tugs to tow her to port; if she sank, he instructed +a salvage officer to report on her position immediately. + +No time was wasted, for the loss of one tide might easily have meant +the total loss of the vessel. Within a few minutes of the report coming +to hand, the Director dealt with the case and suggested how it should +be treated. + +Commodore Sir Frederick Young’s calmness was indeed amazing. I have +vivid recollections of seeing him in his room at Whitehall when the +submarine campaign was at its height. The newspapers were full of the +tales of sinking ships, people were talking about it agitatedly, faces +in the inner precincts of Whitehall were grave and obviously concerned, +but the Director of Salvage remained quite unruffled. As I sat talking +with him, the news came through of seven more ships being sunk; on top +of it arrived the information that one of the salvage ships herself had +been torpedoed in the Mediterranean. Yet the Director of Salvage did +not turn a hair. + +He asked one of his officers the whereabouts of another salvage craft. + +The officer told him. + +“Send her out to replace the ----,” and he mentioned the name of the +sunken salvage ship, which I have long since forgotten. + +He puffed quietly at his pipe, screwed a monocle into his eye, and +scanned the telegrams with their bad news. Then he gave a few orders, +and in a moment or two the wires were humming with instructions to +various salvage units to hurry to the aid of the stricken ships. + +It was all done so quietly and simply, without one sign of flurry or +fuss on the part of the sturdy figure clad in a simple blue serge suit +such as thousands of civilians wear to-day. Yet coming in and out +and waiting deferentially on his word were naval figures resplendent +in gold braid. The contrast emphasized the simplicity of the man +controlling this supreme service. His unaffected ways and quiet +manner masked an amazing cleverness, for no man alive was imbued with +a greater genius for sea salvage work than this modest man sitting +composedly at his desk by the pleasant window in Whitehall. + +His big room was set off in the centre by a round polished table +containing a bowl of flowers. Photographs of salvage ships dotted +the walls, while various charts of the British Isles stuck full of +coloured flags bristled with information to those able to read them. +Other charts were concealed beneath spring blinds that sprang up at the +touch of authority. By studying these charts, the Commodore was able to +tell at a glance just how the situation stood, where ships were sunk, +where ships were beached, where his salvage units were working. On a +side-table was a big book of charts that could only be lifted with an +effort, and another table contained a model ship showing the standard +patch. + +Called into being by the war, the standard patch certainly proved one +of the greatest aids of the Salvage Section, for many a ship that would +have ended her days at the bottom of the sea was brought safely into +port under the protection afforded by this invention. The standard +patch was formed of grooved timbers fitting one into another, something +like matchboards, and in appearance it resembled the top of a gigantic +roll-top desk. Owing to its construction, it was admirably adapted for +fitting the curves of the hull of a ship. + +[Illustration: A TORPEDOED SHIP WHICH WAS SAVED BY BEING BEACHED] + +In fitting a standard patch, the size of the hole in the hull was first +ascertained, then the patch was made, bolted into position, and the +edges were made watertight with cement. Many ships had to be beached +at the nearest spot in order to save them from foundering, and the +standard patch was then fitted to enable them to reach port and undergo +permanent repairs. Other ships still remained afloat after being +torpedoed, and it was no uncommon sight to see the ship’s carpenters +constructing a standard patch upon the deck. When the patch was +finished, it was lowered over the side, the bottom edge being weighted +to make it sink in an upright position, while the divers guided it +into place and secured it with bolts and nuts. + +[Illustration: THE STANDARD PATCH WHICH WAS FITTED OVER THE HOLE IN THE +SHIP’S SIDE. AS MAY BE SEEN, EACH TIMBER WAS BOLTED HOME AND THE EDGES +WERE MADE WATERTIGHT WITH CEMENT. THESE PATCHES WERE OF GREAT SERVICE +IN DEFEATING THE GERMAN SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN] + +Despite its temporary character, the repair was strong enough to enable +the ship to journey to the dock set aside for her reception. Yet many +a ship met various adventures on the way, and her journey to port was +rather a protracted affair. One such case was that of a large vessel +torpedoed by the Germans. Luckily, she did not sink immediately. Her +bulkheads held and her captain was able to head for the shore until +she touched bottom and settled down. Along came the salvage unit, and, +ascertaining the damage, worked desperately to fit a standard patch. +The patch was duly put on, the many bolts screwed up, and the vessel +pumped out and towed off to port. + +The salvage officers were congratulating themselves on work well done +when the unexpected happened. There was a dull explosion and a giant +cascade against the side of the steamer. She had been caught a second +time by a German submarine! Her nose was headed inshore and once more +she touched bottom. + +Quickly as they could, the salvors tackled her, for she was not the +only ship on the sea receiving the unwelcome attentions of the Germans, +and the salvors were in constant demand all along the coast. They sized +up the new damage, made another patch, drilled the holes in the hull, +fitted a felt bed for the patch to rest against and screwed it tightly +home. Then the pumps were set going, the damaged hold was emptied and +her keel came up from the sandy bed in which it had been resting. + +The ship, which had survived two German torpedoes, continued her +interrupted journey, but she had only been an hour or two on the way +when another enemy submarine got her. Whatever the salvage men said and +thought, they started to patch her up again, and in time they had the +thrice torpedoed vessel continuing her slow journey to the dock where +she was to be repaired. + +Before they could get her home, however, her rescuers were compelled +to beach her and struggle to save one or two very urgent cases. They +accordingly put her ashore in a sheltered bay in the Isle of Wight +where they knew she would be quite safe until such time as they could +attend to her. She was months making a short trip of a few miles +round the south coast, but she seemed to have as many lives as a cat, +and eventually reached dry dock where the damage wrought by German +torpedoes was properly repaired. + +The remarks of the Germans must have been rather interesting when +they discovered that they were torpedoing the same ship time after +time. Probably they thought it was some trick the British were playing +on them, some gigantic bluff to make them waste torpedoes. Anyway, +although they tried and tried and tried again, the Admiralty salvage +men, not to be outdone, managed to save the ship from the clutches of +the Germans after all. + +So long as the submarine campaign continued, it was indeed a gigantic +tussle between pumps and patches and torpedoes. At first the torpedoes +had it all their own way, but pumps and patches in the skilful hands of +the Admiralty Salvage Section began to rob the Germans of more and more +of their prizes, and they ultimately proved a most important factor in +bringing home to the foe that the game was not worth the candle. + +The demand for pumps of all types was tremendous. Motor pumps, steam +pumps, electric pumps--all were required, and the pump-makers were kept +busily employed night and day. The war brought out the good points of +one pump known as the electric submersible pump. Invented in pre-war +days by an electrical engineer named Macdonald, this invention did not +attract the notice it deserved, and in the end the inventor sold out +his rights and emigrated to Canada. Since then his pump must have been +very successful financially, for one or two that happened to be aboard +a battleship at the battle of Jutland did such wonderful service that +the whole of the British Navy was fitted with them. + +Many had tried to solve the problem of an electric pump, but generally +they came to grief owing to the current short-circuiting in the water. +Macdonald worked at the problem until he succeeded in overcoming it, +and the result was a drum-like pump with the inner parts spinning at +a high speed and forcing the water upwards through the pipe. Instead +of fixing his pump at the top end of a suction pipe, Macdonald placed +his pump at the bottom end of a pipe and dropped it into the water. +The pump weighed about half a ton, and owing to the fact that it +worked entirely under water, with water flowing all round and through +its bearings, it was not liable to suffer loss of efficiency through +air leakage. The tendency of the pump to overheat owing to the speed +at which it worked was checked by the cold sea water always passing +through it. It was, in effect, a water-cooled pump that was excellent +for working at depths a little beyond the reach of the ordinary pump. + +[Illustration: THREE OF THE ELECTRIC PUMPS WHICH PROVED THEIR +EFFICIENCY DURING THE WAR. THEY REMAINED IN THE HOLD OF THE SUNKEN +WESTMORELAND FOR THREE MONTHS UNTIL SHE WAS RAISED. WORTH £3,000,000, +SHE WAS BY FAR THE RICHEST SALVAGE PRIZE OF THE WHOLE WAR] + +For touch-and-go cases the submersible pump was much in demand by +salvage officers, but for cases that required long and steady pumping +for days and perhaps weeks the wonderful Gwynne pumps were not to be +excelled. Their extraordinary reliability is marvellous. So long as +you give them the steam to work with, coupled with proper attention, +they will do almost anything that you ask of them. They will pump +steadily for days and even weeks without stopping, throwing overboard +the specified number of tons of water an hour. They are, indeed, +among the mechanical marvels of the age, practically as perfect as any +machine is ever likely to be. + +[Illustration: THE DAMAGE WROUGHT BY A GERMAN TORPEDO. A GOOD IDEA OF +THE IMMENSITY OF THE HOLE MAY BE GAINED BY COMPARING IT WITH THE LEGS +OF THE MAN STANDING ON THE SCAFFOLDING IN THE WRECKED ENGINE ROOM. +DESPITE THE DAMAGE, THE SHIP WAS SAVED] + +So sure are they, that salvage men will willingly put to sea in a badly +leaking ship and set out on a voyage that may last a week or two. If +the pumps stopped, the ship might founder in two or three hours. The +men know it, but they do not worry. They have implicit faith in the +pump, and although merely the power of the pump stands between them and +death they carry on quite unconcerned. And while the water is finding +its way into the breaches in the hull of their ship the pumps are +steadily throwing it over the side. + +As Henry Ensor, one of the cleverest salvage experts alive, once +remarked to me: “For a long voyage in a leaking ship, give me the +Gwynne.” + +Pumps, indeed, played a big part in beating the German submarine, +and it was the submersible type that figured in the case of the +_Westmoreland_, for three placed in the hold of this vessel were left +submerged for nearly three months and upon withdrawal worked quite as +well as when they were put down. + +No richer prize than the _Westmoreland_ fell to the Salvage Section +during the whole war, for ship and cargo were worth about £3,000,000. +The vessel was steaming in the neighbourhood of St. Bees Head on her +way to Liverpool when an enemy submarine let loose a torpedo. The +missile ran true, and a moment later a terrific explosion told the +Germans they had bagged their game. Whereat the attacking submarine, +knowing the sea thereabouts was likely to be well patrolled for some +little time to come, quietly slid off. + +True as the torpedo ran, the Germans made a slight miscalculation. +Though trifling, it made all the difference in the end. Instead of +the torpedo hitting in that vital spot amidships and destroying the +engines, it struck forward in No. 2 hold and tore an enormous hole in +the hull of the ship big enough to drop a small house into. The heart +of the ship, the engine-room, was untouched, and the captain still +retained the power to drive his ship through the seas. + +Slim destroyers slipped over the horizon and crowded round the +torpedoed vessel. Fortunately her bulkheads held firm and, although +the damage was such that it looked as if the ship might founder at any +moment, the captain held his course in a valiant attempt to reach port. + +Slowly the bow of the ship sank lower and lower in the water, until it +seemed impossible for her longer to remain afloat. At last a destroyer +manœuvred into position and took off captain and crew, and they stood +by to see the last of the ship. Instead of sinking, however, she still +hung there, and the captain and crew returned to her in order to try +once more to get her to port. There was just a chance that they might +succeed, and the captain was not going to lose that chance. + +Engineers and stokers went below to give her steam, and she limped +lamely along, continuing to go down by the head. As her bow went down, +so her stern came up until it was obvious that if she did not soon sink +she was bound to become unmanageable, for in a short time her screws +would be clear of the water and churning the air instead of the sea. +Heading her for the beach while there was yet time, the captain took +her in until her propellers were right in the air and her bow scraped +the bottom, then he and the crew were taken off and the _Westmoreland_ +quietly settled down. + +If only she had settled at high tide, the _Westmoreland_ might have +proved an easy case for the Salvage Section to deal with. But with the +usual perversity of things, she went down at low water, and as the tide +rose, the sea began to pour out of the broken hold along the shelter +deck and over the tops of the bulkheads into all the other holds. +Unluckily her bulkheads had not been built right up to the top deck. +Instead, they reached only to the previous deck, the shelter deck, +and there was nothing to prevent the seas washing the whole length of +the shelter deck, which was just what they did. The consequence was +that the whole ship filled with water, and at high tide she was quite +submerged, with her top deck 30 feet below the surface. + +Commander Kay hastened to the spot and surveyed the wreck. Quickly he +saw that the only way of raising the ship and getting her to port was +to prevent the seas from washing out of the damaged hold into the sound +holds. It appeared simple, but the men who began to strive to carry out +the scheme had the struggle of their lives. + +It was February, when the weather was just as bad as it could be. The +heavy seas and strong currents effectually prevented any work being +done for three or four days a week, and on the other days it was only +possible to work for two or three hours at low tide. Watching their +opportunities, the divers scrambled into the wreck and gradually +timbered in a mighty hole, 40 feet across, that was blown in the +shelter deck by the force of the explosion. The first step in their +struggle with the sea was looked upon as won. + +Barely was the work completed when the sea, frothing with fury, raged +through the hole in the hull and battered continuously at the underside +of the work until the timbering was reduced to matchwood. I have +already mentioned that salvage men are sparing of words, and, if they +said but little on this occasion, no doubt what they said was to the +point. + +With that patience which is beyond all praise, they resumed their +efforts with a firm determination not to be again cheated by the +sea, so they used steel to counter the force of the waves. Whenever +tide and weather served, they worked with might and main to build +watertight walls--or a steel trunkway, as the salvors called it--from +the shelter deck of the damaged hold right up to the top deck in order +to confine the sea to that hold and prevent it from washing over the +tops of the other bulkheads. By then the salvors realized that it was +quite hopeless to attempt to patch the hull of the ship to prevent the +seas from entering, for no temporary work could withstand the full +force of the Atlantic gales. Consequently, the divers concentrated on +building their trunkway, and in a month it was completed and the water +was effectually shut off from washing into the other holds. + +The salvors determined now to try to move the ship to a more sheltered +position where they would be able to work for longer periods and with +fewer interruptions. Accordingly, pumps were set to work pumping out +the water in the sound holds, and in time the _Westmoreland_ swung +clear of the bottom. The tugs caught hold of her and towed her inshore +for a couple of miles, when she bumped the bottom again and was allowed +to settle. It was 2 miles to the good, the water was much shallower, +but even more important was the additional shelter which made it +possible for the men to work more continuously. + +So the divers toiled away with renewed vigour, hauling the cargo out +of the ship to lighten her, hoisting out case after case of butter for +which the people were clamouring. It was, fortunately, none the worse +for its immersion, and I believe it duly reached the tables of the +people, who had no idea that they were eating butter which had been at +the bottom of the sea. If the true story be told, there is little doubt +that a large quantity of food rescued from the clutches of Neptune was +duly eaten by the British people without their being any the wiser. +Necessity knows no law, and when famine is looming nigh, as it was +then, butter that has been on the seabed is better than butterless +bread. In any case the butter ration was so small--but two ounces a +week--that no danger could possibly accrue through eating it. + +Tons and tons of timber props were built into the ship to strengthen +her in all directions. The problem of patching the vessel was +again considered, but the weather was such as to render patching +impracticable. So the salvors allowed the waves to thunder in through +the gaping hole in her side, whence they gushed out of the top of the +ship in fountains of spray. There was nothing else to be done in the +circumstance. Had the salvors succeeded in covering in that mighty hole +in the shelter deck strongly enough to keep back the seas, the seas +would have raged about inside the damaged hold and smashed everything +to pieces; consequently it was much wiser to leave them an outlet. The +trunkway was a safety valve by which the seas escaped after tearing +through the gaping wound. + +[Illustration: ONCE THE FORWARD HOLDS OF A SHIP FILL AND DRAG HER DOWN +BY THE BOW SHE IS RENDERED HELPLESS. SHE MAY STILL REMAIN AFLOAT, HER +ENGINES MAY BE PERFECT, BUT HER CAPTAIN NO LONGER HAS ANY CONTROL OVER +HER BECAUSE HER PROPELLER IS OUT OF WATER] + +Fourteen weeks after work was first started, Commander Kay decided that +the time had come to make the final lift and get the _Westmoreland_ to +dry dock. The electric pumps were switched on and kept running until +the waterlogged holds were cleared, and the torpedoed vessel rose off +the sandy bottom and floated. Then cropped up the vital matter of +balance. For weeks the divers had been fighting to rid the ship of +water, and now, paradoxically enough, they found they had pumped out +so much that her stern came up clear of the surface, while her bow was +barely clear of the sand. + +It was useless to attempt to tow her to port under such conditions, +for in a short while she would have been digging her nose into the +sand and sinking once more. Before the journey could be essayed, it +was essential to balance her properly, and this could only be done by +leaving a sufficient weight of water in the after holds to balance the +water in the forward hold. They had to trim the ship by using water as +ballast. Calmly they allowed the after holds to fill again, then they +set the pumps going until she rose on an even keel. The stumpy tugs +fastened on to her and did not let her go until she was safely in dock. + +Altogether the Admiralty Salvage Section during the war salved nearly +500 ships, valued with their cargoes at about £50,000,000. While the +submarine campaign continued, the British need for shipping was so +great that all salvage efforts were concentrated on those ships that +could be quickly salved and put into commission again. The easiest +cases were dealt with first, and the more difficult cases were left +until there was a reasonable opportunity of coping with them. + +A careful list compiled by the Admiralty after the war showed that +there were 416 war wrecks lying in less than 20 fathoms, or 120 feet, +around the British coast, and of these it was estimated that one in ten +might perhaps be raised. Actually 51 war wrecks were salved after the +Armistice, but as some of these were lost in foreign parts the original +estimate was not so wide of the mark. + +These wrecks, upon which the British Government had paid out millions +in insurance, were the property of the State, but the chances of +raising them were accounted so slight that it was not considered policy +to spend further money on them. Well-known salvage concerns, however, +had no difficulty in obtaining permission to salve any ship which they +had a fancy to raise. They had but to go to the shipping department +concerned in order to win a sympathetic hearing. The terms of the +contract were on the “no cure, no pay” principle, which meant that any +salvage firm with the courage to risk a few thousand pounds in trying +to raise a particular wreck was quite at liberty to do so. In return +for the concession to work on the wreck, they agreed to give the +Government a certain percentage of the value recovered, the percentage +being arrived at by mutual agreement. All risk was consequently borne +by the salvage concerns, who lost their money in the event of failure +and shared their winnings with the Government if they were successful. + +The high cost of shipping at that period led to considerable activity +on the part of salvage concerns, for if luck happened to be with them +there was the prospect of making a fortune out of one operation. But +a shipping slump without precedent in all history quickly worked a +tremendous revolution. Some new ships halved their value in six months, +second-hand ships fell in price from £30 a ton to £7 or less a ton. +One great shipping firm had to set aside a fund of half a million in +order to write down the value of their new ships directly they were +launched, for their new liners were worth more on the stocks than they +were in the water. The only way of making their ships pay at all was +to decrease their cost, and this could only be done by sacrificing the +money saved and placed in reserve. In many cases shipowners paid huge +sums to shipbuilders in order to be released from contracts, for they +were able to buy new ships at half the price similar ships would cost +to build. + +This remarkable change was brought about by the great shipbuilding +programmes forced on the Allies by the submarine campaign. Not until +after the war was the full force of these programmes felt. The new +ships coming off the stocks made up the lost tonnage in a few months. +The seized German ships helped to increase the slump, and the world +found itself richer by 11,000,000 tons of shipping than it had been in +1914. The war had destroyed the markets, the Continental nations had no +longer any money with which to buy goods, and the result was the most +dramatic change in history. Shipowners who a year previously had been +clamouring for ships at any price, were compelled to let 8,000,000 tons +of shipping lie idle. + +Of course these conditions played havoc with salvage concerns. The +fortunes that might have been locked up in war wrecks quietly vanished. +It must be borne in mind that enemy torpedoes in the first place had +done enormous damage to the sunken ships, and what the torpedoes had +left undone the storms of the Armistice years had finished. + +The immersion of a ship for a year or two in the sea, with the +consequent rust set up in the metal, works sorry havoc, while sand and +mud swirling about in the engine-rooms tend not to improve the engines. +Every hour that a ship spends on the ocean bed she deteriorates in +value. Mud is silting into her, sand and rust are gnawing away at her, +the swell is shaking her continuously. The sea soon finds out the weak +spots and hammers at them until the whole structure collapses into a +fantastic mass. It can be imagined what some of the war wrecks were +like after a thousand days of such treatment. They were not worth +salving, for no salvage concern would risk thousands of pounds just +to recover a little scrap metal. These factors eventually led to a +cessation of salvage activity around our shores. + +For long after the Admiralty Salvage Section had ceased to operate +in home waters, one or two units were working on the Belgian coast, +struggling to clear the harbours of Ostend and Zeebrugge from the ships +that British sailors had so gallantly sunk in order to prevent the +Germans from using them as submarine bases. When the _Vindictive_ went +down in her allotted place, she covered the British Navy with glory. +All the might of Germany, all the skill of which she boasted, failed +to move the sunken ship from the spot where the British had placed +her. The Germans did their uttermost--for they were anxious to use the +harbour--but they were beaten. + +The genius of the Admiralty Salvage Section, Commodore Sir Frederick +Young, studied the problem. The _Vindictive_ was not only full of +cement, which had set hard directly the water ran into it, but there +were also many mines aboard, and no one knew whether all these mines +had gone off or whether some of them were still alive. Added to the +problem of the _Vindictive_ was the fact that the Germans, in their +retreat, had sunk all sorts of craft in the harbour to bottle it up +completely, and ensure that the Belgians would never use Ostend again +without going to an awful amount of trouble. + +For months the divers of the Salvage Section were struggling with the +wrecks in Ostend, clearing the channel, blowing tons of cement out of +the _Vindictive_ in order to lighten her, cutting away hundreds of tons +of steel so that there should be so much the less to lift. Mighty steel +cables were passed under the _Vindictive_ by divers and attached to +two lifting craft, one on either side of the ship; two giant pontoons +were sunk into place and attached to the hull so that when the time +came they could be pumped out and their power used to help lift the +stricken ship off the bottom. Some of the compartments in the wreck +were made watertight, and after about a year of strenuous toil the task +of lifting the structure was undertaken. Pumps were set going, and as +the tide rose the shattered British warship came off the bottom and was +moved some distance before the falling tide baulked further endeavours. +The next day saw the operations carried to a successful conclusion amid +scenes of wildest enthusiasm. + +The raising of the _Vindictive_ signalized the last days of the Naval +Salvage Section, but it was by no means the least of the many triumphs +that crowned it during the war. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +During the days of the fateful German submarine campaign, the divers +of the Admiralty Salvage Section played their part in many a drama, +ferreting out clues of vital importance, acting as detectives of the +deep. While the _Untersee_ boats of the Germans menaced our national +existence and ruthlessly committed many crimes against humanity, the +deep-sea detectives of the Salvage Section were always on their track, +studying their habits, learning their methods, recovering from watery +fastnesses those sealed orders which Tirpitz and his staff would have +given anything to keep out of the hands of our alert Admiralty. + +More than one U-boat, struggling frantically to free herself from the +mighty nets in which she had become entangled, found herself caught in +a trap from which there was no escaping. The guardians of the nets, +going their rounds, marked the agitation of the buoys which told of a +giant fish struggling below, and if the prize could not be brought up +and captured, a depth charge soon put an end to its struggles. + +Sometimes a submarine was found on the bottom without any visible +damage to the hull. An accident to her machinery had rendered her +helpless. The Germans fought desperately to put things right. As they +grappled with the damaged machinery, they saw death coming nearer and +nearer. When it was obvious that they could do nothing, that there +was no escape for them, many shot themselves to put an end to their +sufferings. Entering these steel tombs, the divers of the Admiralty saw +ghastly sights--shot Germans lying about all over the place. In some +cases it was apparent that the trapped men had been driven mad by their +terror and had run amuck and fought each other savagely before they +died. They were pitiless to others, but in the end the fear of death +had turned their brains and transformed them into madmen. + +Of all the submarine crimes which dishonoured the name of Germany, one +of the worst was the atrocity of the _Belgian Prince_. It started with +the sound of guns and the whine of shells from which it was impossible +to flee, and as the wireless mast of the _Belgian Prince_ went +overboard her captain rang down to the engine-room and the ship heaved +to. The U.44 approached warily, waiting to strike again at the least +sign of resistance, but seeing that the _Belgian Prince_ had frankly +surrendered a collapsible boat put out from the submarine, which was +now lying idly on the surface, and pulled off to the steamer. Captain +and crew of the steamer were ordered to take to their boats and pull to +the submarine, and, as they rowed to the U.44 under armed escort, the +Germans went down below to open the sea-cocks of the vessel and place +bombs to blow the bottom out of her. + +Their work completed, the boarding party of Germans rowed back to the +U.44. Paul Wagenfuhr, the German captain, ordered the crew of the +_Belgian Prince_ to line up on the deck of the submarine. They were +searched for arms, ordered to take their outer clothes off, their +lifebelts were taken from them, and their boats destroyed with axes. +Leaving the seamen partially undressed still standing on the deck, the +Germans entered the conning tower of their boat and shut it after them. + +The crew of the _Belgian Prince_ still stood as they were ordered, +wondering what was going to happen to them, expecting that now their +ship and boats had been destroyed the Germans would take them into the +submarine. + +Gradually the U.44 began to move on the surface of the sea, and +continued to forge ahead for about ten minutes. Then suddenly, without +warning, just as darkness descended, the submarine dived, and the +forty-three helpless and defenceless men were thrown into the water. +For a time the air was rent with their cries as they fought the eternal +sea for their lives. Then the darkness blotted out the sights and +sounds, and one by one they sank. + +It was as deliberate and cold-blooded a murder as was ever +committed--the very epitome of that order of the German Naval +authorities to “destroy without trace.” The destruction of the boats +with axes to cut off all means of escape, the deliberate taking away +of the lifebelts, the search for weapons, the order to the men to take +off their outer clothes, all were thought out, were part of a settled +policy on the part of Captain Wagenfuhr, if not on the part of the +German Higher Command. All were easy to understand. Even the object of +depriving the crew of their clothes, which is obscure to many, becomes +plainer upon consideration. Men carry papers and things in their +pockets which lead to identification. In taking their clothes from the +men, the Germans were also robbing them of their identity, for if any +of the poor victims happened to be found clad only in their shirts +floating dead in the sea, there was practically nothing to furnish a +clue as to who they were, what ship they belonged to, if they belonged +to a ship at all. + +But the Germans, in their hurried search of the men, overlooked +the fact that three of them wore lifebelts concealed beneath their +clothing, and these three men, by the aid of their lifebelts, managed +to survive until they were picked up. So the world learned of the +German crime. But for these three witnesses, nothing would have been +known except that the _Belgian Prince_ had vanished with every soul +aboard. + +Throughout August 1, 1917, the naval craft were scouring the +neighbourhood for a sign of the U-boat, trying to get on its track. The +sea was empty. Casting farther and farther afield, one of our torpedo +boats sighted a periscope on the afternoon of the next day nearly a +hundred miles from the scene of the outrage. Keen eyes at the other end +of the periscope must have detected the torpedo boat almost as soon as +the torpedo boat saw the periscope, for our naval gunners had time to +get in only a couple of rounds before the periscope disappeared. Racing +to the spot, the torpedo boat dropped a depth charge. But she was too +late: the enemy was gone. + +A torpedo fired at a cattle boat proceeding from Ireland to England +furnished the next clue to the enemy submarine. The torpedo missed, and +the cattle boat, calling up patrol boats by wireless, managed to escape. + +The U-boat hunted warily, for Paul Wagenfuhr had a definite mission +to perform. His task was to lay a minefield in the way of the cattle +boats coming out of Waterford harbour in order to interfere with the +regular traffic to England. The submarine was equipped with a number of +huge mines and special mine-laying apparatus which enabled her to lay +these death-dealers while she herself was snugly out of sight beneath +the surface. Mostly the mine-laying was done at night, and regularly +about once a month a U-boat would scatter her deadly cargo and pen the +shipping in harbour until the mines were swept up and a passage cleared. + +Hardly a ripple stirred the sea when darkness stole down over Waterford +on the evening of August 4. The fisherfolk along the coast, gathering +in the village inn, spent an hour or two smoking and chatting over the +doings of the day. Some were still standing before the doors of their +cottages about midnight when they were startled by the sound of a +terrific explosion at sea, a sound that reverberated over the water in +the absolute silence of the night. Then, faintly, cries were heard. + +The cries sent the fishermen speeding to the quay. In a short time +three fishing boats were speeding over the sea, heading in the +direction whence the cries came. None knew what lay ahead of them, none +troubled even to ask. Death might be lurking for them, but that aspect +of the case did not concern them. The sound of the explosion and the +cries still rang in their ears, betokening a disaster which sent the +fishermen on their swift errand of mercy to succour whomsoever they +could find. + +Standing alert in the prows of their boats, the fishermen scanned the +sea for signs of wreckage. From time to time they called, and listened +vainly for an answer. They were about 4 miles from shore when a dark +object loomed in the water, a faint cry answered their calls. A minute +later a man was dragged over the side of one of the boats. + +The stranger was in a bad state. It was obvious he could not long +survive. Heading about, the fishermen landed the man as quickly as +possible, but stimulants liberally administered had little effect. Just +for a time he rallied and managed to gasp out the information that he +was a member of the crew of the U.44, and that they were laying mines +when a tremendous explosion occurred and shot him up to the surface. +His end came suddenly soon afterwards. + +The U.44, laying mines in the stilly night to deal death and destruction +to others, strayed unwittingly into one of our minefields. One of her +mines in floating upwards after its release knocked against one of +ours, and the two exploded with such terrible force that the stern of +the submarine was practically blown away and the men who manned her +were drowned like rats in a trap. Thus Nemesis overtook the Germans. + +By Monday, August 6, Commander G. Davis of the Admiralty Salvage +Section was recalled from another salvage case with instructions to +recover the sunken U-boat. All that night the salvage officer and his +men laboured at getting the necessary gear aboard the salvage ship, +and at midnight on the Tuesday they reached Waterford. + +Early next day minesweepers were at work clearing a passage for the +salvage vessel. It was dangerous to move in that area at all, as was +manifested during the morning when one of the minesweepers herself +struck a mine and foundered. Without waste of time, Commander Davis +tackled and raised the minesweeper as a preliminary to the important +task of raising the U-boat. + +The usual method of finding the wreck by dragging the seabed with +grapnels was adopted, and the submarine was located in 90 feet of +water, lying right athwart the current which, owing to its strength in +this spot, did much to hamper future operations. + +The Admiralty was particularly anxious to recover not only the papers +of the submarine, but also the submarine itself. Given the German +submarine, the British naval experts could go over it at their leisure, +see exactly how German design was developing, browse among the latest +German improvements and pick to pieces all the most recent German +ideas. Not that the British Admiralty lagged behind German design, but +it had the good sense not to despise the enemy and to realize it might +be possible to learn something even from Germans. + +To issue an order for the sunken submarine to be brought into harbour +was easy. A few words in code tapped out on the wireless and the +thing was done. But the carrying out of the order was beset with +difficulties. Commander Davis decided to adopt one of the best known +methods of raising the wreck by utilizing the lift of the tide to +accomplish his purpose. + +One of the outstanding things about salvage experts is their uncanny +ability for seizing on any power that happens to be handy and +compelling it to serve their own ends. There is unlimited power in the +rise and fall of the tides, and the salvage men are clever enough to +harness this power to raise wrecks off the seabed. They literally use +the sea to rob the sea of its prey, and the ways they follow are more +or less those put into practice by Commander Davis, who decided to lift +the submarine in a cradle of cables and carry her ashore. + +A mighty steel cable was taken from one salvage boat to another, an end +was secured on each boat, and the cable was dropped until the loop of +it dragged on the bottom. Then this cable was swept under the submarine +and hauled along by the salvage boats until they had dragged it into +position right under the wreck. Directly it was in place, the two ends +were buoyed, and the salvage men began juggling with another cable. One +by one the cables were worked into position, and by the ninth day the +salvage officer had as many cables as he desired lying snugly under the +U-boat from end to end. + +The tenth day brought a gale that made further salvage operations +impossible. Dirty weather continued for twenty-four days before the +gale blew itself out. The salvors, desperately anxious as they were to +get on with the job, had perforce to cool their heels ashore while the +seas played battledore and shuttlecock with the buoys at the ends of +the cables. + +On September 10, however, the day dawned fine, and soon after daylight +the sweepers were clearing a passage out to the wreck--a task they had +to perform every day any work was undertaken. No sooner was the passage +swept than the salvors brought to the spot one of those modern lifting +vessels which helped to perform many wonderful feats during the war. + +In appearance the lifting craft is like a huge, flat barge with a +covered deck. Its hull contains a series of great tanks, or watertight +compartments, which can quickly be flooded or emptied, just as the +salvage expert desires. As the tanks are flooded, so the craft sinks +lower and lower in the water, and as they are pumped out so she rises +again. When the tanks are full, the lifting craft sits 4½ feet lower +in the water, and if she is then attached to a wreck and her tanks be +emptied she is capable of lifting a weight of 1200 tons from the seabed. + +[Illustration: IN RAISING THE U-44 AND CARRYING HER TO PORT, COMMANDER +DAVIS, R.N.R., THE NEAREST FIGURE ON THE LIFTING VESSEL, ACCOMPLISHED +A BRILLIANT FEAT. THE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS THE U-BOAT JUST AFTER SHE WAS +BROUGHT TO PORT AND ALSO GIVES AN EXCELLENT IDEA OF WHAT A LIFTING +VESSEL LOOKS LIKE] + +Say that the difference between low tide and high tide is 16 feet. If +the lifting craft be placed in position over a wreck at low tide and +pumped out, the cables between the lifting craft and the wreck being +made taut, as the tide rises, so the lifting craft swings the wreck off +the seabed, and at high tide the wreck lies slung under the lifting +craft over 20 feet from the bottom. She can then be towed inshore until +she grounds again. + +[Illustration: HOISTING OUT THE DEADLY CARGO OF MINES FROM THE U-44] + +In other words, a vessel floating on the surface is nearest to a +submerged wreck at low water. If the tide happen to rise and fall 20 +feet, the vessel will be 20 feet nearer the wreck at low tide than +at high tide. By filling their lifting craft with water the salvors +can bring it another 4½ feet nearer the wreck, and if they then pump +out the water tanks they can raise the wreck 24½ feet from the bottom +at the top of the tide, provided they have craft capable of lifting +a weight as great as that of the wreck. Towing into shallower water +follows, as before described. + +Commander Davis placed his lifting vessel in position exactly over the +wrecked submarine, and the cables running under the wreck were brought +up on each side of the surface craft and securely fastened. The tanks +of the lifting craft were blown out with compressed air and, as the +tide began to rise, the lifting craft rose with it and dragged the +U-boat from her bed 90 feet below the surface. Just before the tide was +at the full the salvors began to tow the lifting craft with her burden +inshore and succeeded in covering a distance of three-quarters of a +mile before the submarine grounded again. Next day, at the top of the +tide, the performance was repeated, and the wreck was carried inshore +for another three-quarters of a mile. In two days the salvors thus +gained a mile and a half, and the wreck now rested on the bottom, about +three miles from the beach. + +The salvors, making the most of favourable conditions after their +enforced idleness, were toiling until far into the night on the +wreck. They feared a recurrence of bad weather, and their fears were +well-founded. Wednesday brought in its train a strong wind that +increased in strength all the morning and made work impossible. By the +afternoon it was blowing a gale, and so severe was the storm that one +of the salvage lighters was unable to withstand its fury. She started +to founder, and it was only with the utmost difficulty and in the face +of tremendous risk that one of the salvage men managed to get aboard +and bring her safely to harbour. + +The calm courage and confidence of the salvors were things to marvel +at. They knew beyond doubt that live mines were aboard, and that these +mines were liable to go off at the slightest jar and blow them all to +pieces, yet they went about their jobs for hour after hour, day after +day, as though such things as mines did not exist. Time after time +the sea bumped the submarine against the bottom and, every time it +happened, death in its most horrible form hovered near them. Once the +submarine dropped sheer from the cables, and no one knows even now why +they were not all wiped off the face of the sea. There was just one +tense moment, then, as nothing happened and their luck held good, they +started to get the submarine back into the slings again. + +Another lifting craft was brought on the scene and, picking up the +wreck again, the salvors went ahead with the work tide by tide. In +their passage shorewards they performed the extraordinary feat of +carrying the wreck over a bar of sand that rose steeply for 14 feet--an +operation requiring the greatest skill and delicacy in adjusting the +lifting cables. The nose of the submarine had to be lifted inch by inch +until it attained an angle that enabled it to rise up the slope without +digging its bow into the sand. Had the nose of the craft been lifted +too high, she might easily have slipped backward out of the cables +supporting her, and such a slip might not have ended so happily as the +previous one. However, Commander Davis succeeded in negotiating this +supreme difficulty surely and safely, and his brilliant work was later +rewarded with the Distinguished Service Cross. + +In the end, after making twenty-one lifts in twenty days, the salvors +beached the infamous U.44. She proved a golden haul, for the mass of +confidential information recovered from her turned out to be of the +utmost importance. She had on board nine mines, which were cautiously +taken out by Commander Davis and rendered innocuous, besides several +torpedoes and a big collection of shells. + +Followed the grim and ghastly task of disinterring the dead. On +September 26, twenty-one bodies were removed under the direction of a +surgeon and carefully searched. One by one the dead Germans were sewn +in canvas and weighted with firebars. + +That evening the salvage ship, fitted for the occasion with special +platforms on which the bodies were placed, steamed out to sea. At +midnight she stopped. The salvage men with bared heads stood solemnly +by while the chaplain read the burial service in grave, sonorous tones. +Then, very reverently, the dead were committed to the deep and the +cleansing sea closed over them. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Although we live in an enlightened age, superstition is still rife, and +not many people would care to dive for the first time in a submarine +bearing the unlucky number 13. Yet in spite of the fact that sailors +are generally credited with being more superstitious than most people, +no thought of danger crossed the minds of the seventy-three men who +during the war stepped aboard the British submarine K.13 in order +to carry out her trials. She was a wonderful craft, 334 feet long, +just under 27 feet wide amidships, and as she lay at her moorings she +displaced 1880 tons. + +Like her sister ships of the same type, she was one of the fastest +submarines afloat, capable on the surface of overtaking most +battleships in order to send them to their doom, able to take her place +with the Grand Fleet and steam along with them at top speed without +being left behind. This wonderful speed was attained by fitting her +with steam turbines in addition to the usual oil engines and electric +motors. Her stumpy funnels folded down when she was diving, and the +introduction of steam made it essential to fit fairly big ventilators. +In order to dive she could take into her ballast tanks 800 tons of +water in four minutes, but with a big submarine over 100 yards long, +all divided into many compartments, diving was a delicate operation +that depended for its safety upon all the men carrying out their duties +instantly. It was necessary that the crew should be quite conversant +with their craft and that there should be perfect team work. But an +absolutely new craft is bound to present some strange features to +her first crew. In this case she was a new development in submarine +practice, and it was probably the fact that the K.13 was unfamiliar +that brought about the ensuing disaster. + +Built on the Clyde, she was taken along to the Gareloch to be put +through her paces. The Gareloch was quiet, away from spying eyes, free +of the attentions of the unwelcome enemy submarine, and here the K.13 +carried out her surface trials satisfactorily. The conning tower was +closed, the funnels were dropped back flush with the deck, and orders +were given to trim the boat for diving. The watertight doors were shut +and the sea began to flow into the tanks. Then, as the craft submerged, +came disaster. A mighty rush of water swept into the after part of the +ship, drowning instantly the thirty-one men on duty there, and carrying +the K.13 stern downwards to the bottom. It was afterwards discovered +that in diving some of the ventilating scuttles had been left open and +these had flooded the stern of the ship. It was a tragic oversight that +in a moment swept thirty-one men into eternity. + +In the forward part of the K.13 forty-two men were imprisoned, held +fast on the seabed by the weight of water in the ship. There was no +trace of panic. Nobody turned a hair. As quietly as though they still +floated serenely on the surface, they stood by and carried out their +commander’s orders. + +For hours they strove to get the ship to move, to lighten the tanks +sufficiently to bring her to the surface again. The ship remained fast. +No trace of movement was to be detected. The watertight bulkhead across +the centre of the vessel held death at bay for the moment, but no one +knew how long it could withstand the terrific pressure. At the other +side of the bulkhead lay their dead companions, and the hungry sea was +waiting to engulf the living. Death threatened them from all quarters, +death from drowning, death from asphyxiation owing to the exhaustion of +their air supply, death from starvation even if the air held out. Hour +by hour death came nearer. They realized it only too well, but still +they remained cheerful. + +When it was seen that all their efforts were useless, Commander Godfrey +Herbert, D.S.O., who was in command, and Commander F. H. M. Goodhart, +D.S.O., who was aboard to watch the behaviour of the vessel before +taking over the command of K.14, conferred and agreed to try to get to +the surface, 90 feet above their heads, in order to obtain help. They +knew perfectly well that they were probably going to their deaths, that +the odds were so tremendously against them that they were not worth +considering. They did not think of themselves; they thought only of the +forty men caught in that death-trap. + +The one way of getting to the surface was through the conning tower. +But the terrific weight of the water above closed the lid so tightly +that the strongest giant in the world could never lift it. To raise +it were beyond the strength of mere human beings. The only way of +accomplishing the feat was to let into the conning tower compressed air +until the pressure of the air equalled the pressure of the sea, and as +the air burst a way upwards the gallant officers hoped to be carried +with it to the surface. + +Quietly they entered the conning tower, and partially flooded it. The +compressed air was turned on. Minute by minute the pressure increased, +minute by minute the officers waited, wondering if death or life was to +be theirs, whether their attempt was to succeed or fail. + +So great grew the pressure that the air could no longer be kept within +bounds. With incredible strength it burst upwards and Commander +Goodhart was dashed violently against the steel sides of the conning +tower and killed instantly. + +By the greatest good fortune Commander Herbert missed the full force of +that deadly upthrust of air. Still he, too, was hurled upwards and, as +the water rushed in and the air gushed out, was carried clean through +the conning tower to the surface. + +Already the disappearance of K.13 was arousing anxiety up above, and a +salvage craft had been called to the spot. A couple of men in a boat, +noticing the figure of Commander Herbert as he came up in the Gareloch, +pulled quickly towards him and dragged him over the side. He was almost +dead with exhaustion, and the wonder is that he ever survived that +terrible ordeal. + +As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, he gave an account of what +had happened and told how the men were trapped in the submarine. The +urgency of the case was obvious. It needed no stressing. + +Then began one of the most thrilling salvage fights in the history of +the human race. It was a fight, not for treasure, but for human life. +It was a race against time, a long tussle with death. + +Divers dropped down the shot-ropes to the bed of the Gareloch and began +to search for the sunken submarine. The light was none too good, owing +to the water being fogged with mud, but they were searching only a +short time when the dark hull of the submarine loomed in front of them. +They hurried up to it. One drew an axe from his belt, hammered hard at +the side. + +Answering knocks came from within, and those waiting anxiously on the +surface heaved a sigh of relief as the divers telephoned up: + +“We’ve found her. They’re still alive!” + +Surveying the wreck, the divers discovered that the bow of the +submarine was about 20 feet higher than the stern, which was already +covered by a dozen feet of mud. Wading in slime sometimes up to the +armpits, the divers worked their way round her, then quickly sped to +the surface and reported her position. + +At once the experts summed up the situation. The K.13 with her stern +full of water, covered up aft by a dozen feet of mud, was too heavy to +raise bodily. She was well over 3000 tons, and up to that time nothing +like this weight had ever been lifted from the seabed. The only thing +to be done, the sole hope of saving the imprisoned men, was to strive +to lift the nose of the craft to the surface while leaving the stern +resting on the bottom. Nothing else was possible. + +“The first thing to do is to get through supplies of food and air to +them,” the salvage officer remarked. + +The divers slid down to the bottom and, disregarding all thought +of their own safety, laboured hard and long to connect up with the +entombed men. They must have broken the endurance record of the world, +for one worked for over twelve hours continuously on the seabed without +taking food, without resting. Time was too precious for them to waste +a second. They realized the risk, but they accepted it as gladly as +Commander Goodhart ran the risk which led to his death. They worked +until they were ill and dizzy, floundering in the mud, wrestling with +giant steel cables. + +Forty men were depending on them for their lives. The thought nerved +the divers to prodigious things. It was essential to communicate with +the imprisoned men, to let them know that everything possible was +being done for them, to strive to sustain their spirits. Commander Kay +of the Salvage Section found the way. Sending down a submarine flash +lamp, he instructed the divers to rig it up in front of the periscope. +By peering into this instrument the prisoners were thus able to read +the messages that were flashed to them in Morse Code, and were made to +understand that they were not entirely cut off from the world after +all. With many a struggle, the divers managed to open a valve in the +hull and to attach a pipe through which food such as Bovril, bottles of +hot soup and chocolate, as well as life-giving air, were passed from +the surface. All this entailed long hours of endeavour. + +The coolness of the men in the submarine was almost unbelievable. + +“Send us down a pack of cards to while away the time!” one shouted up +the pipe. + +The cards were procured and sent down, and these British seamen played +cards while Death peeped over their shoulders. + +Up to then the men had been carefully conserving their supplies of +compressed air, not knowing how long they would need them to keep +alive. Now that air was being pumped from the surface, they were able +to use what was left of their own supplies to blow all the oil out of +the forward tanks. This lightened their craft considerably. + +After a terrific struggle, the divers managed to fix mighty steel +cables under the nose of the submarine. Salvage craft and lifting +vessels strained away. For a time they made no impression. Then slowly +the grip of the mud began to relax and the bow of the submarine, +lightened by the blowing out of the oil tanks, began to rise nearer and +nearer the surface until, about midnight, it broke clear into view. + +It was a weird sight. Great arc lamps lit the scene, and under +their glare the salvage men attacked the steel hull of the K.13 +with oxy-acetylene blow-pipes. Every one was desperately anxious, +afraid that the submarine might slip. Under the intense heat of the +blow-pipes, the steel grew soft and melted. Gradually, laboriously, the +salvors burned their way through the stout outer plates. + +[Illustration: HISTORY REVEALS NO MORE THRILLING RESCUE THAN THAT OF +THE SURVIVORS OF THE K.13 AFTER SHE HAD BEEN AT THE BOTTOM FOR TWO AND +A HALF DAYS. THIS RARE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS THE BOW OF THE K.13 AFTER IT +HAD BEEN HAULED TO THE SURFACE TO ENABLE THE MEN TO BE CUT OUT] + +They now made an onslaught on the inner hull, directing the flame on +the steel shell. The metal glowed and flowed. A rush of air leaped +upwards from the interior of the vessel and blew out the roaring flame +of the blow-pipe. + +“Get us some matches!” the divers called to those above. + +Under their very noses a hand from inside the ship suddenly slid +through the hole in the metal, the fingers holding up a box of matches. + +“Here you are,” said a cheery voice, and the divers knew that all was +well. + +Another period of strenuous endeavour and the hole in the metal was big +enough for a man to squeeze through. Then, as the forty prisoners were +helped and carried to freedom, the cheers of the salvage men echoed to +the shore. + +Never will men be nearer death than those saved from the K.13. For +fifty-seven hours they were imprisoned in the sunken submarine at the +bottom of the sea, for two and a half days they lived with death at +their elbows, not knowing when the end would come. Their ordeal has +never been equalled, and their rescue is one of the most thrilling +deeds in the annals of sea salvage. + +Barely were they rescued when a storm arose. The cables holding up the +K.13 snapped asunder, and the submarine plunged again to the bottom. +The men had been cut out not a moment too soon. + +In due course followed the salvage of the unlucky K.13. It was effected +solely by the use of compressed air, which was pumped down one pipe +into a compartment until it had driven all the water away through +another pipe to the surface. In this way she was pumped out compartment +by compartment, but even when all the water was expelled she still +stuck in the mud. For two or three days the salvors strove to drag her +from the clinging mud, but not until she was freed of the overlying +silt by sand-pumps did she bob to the surface just like a cork. Proving +little the worse for her adventure, she was put into commission again +under another number, so the unlucky K.13 vanished for ever from the +British Naval Lists. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Quite as thrilling as the experience of the men who went down in the +K.13 was the adventure which befell the crew of an American submarine, +the S.5, and it is doubtful if any popular novelist, with all his +imagination and powers of invention, ever thought out a more remarkable +situation than that in which these American sailors found themselves. + +The American submarine concerned had been travelling on the surface, +when the commander gave the order to prepare to dive. Down she went, +and for a time glided unseen in the depths. Then her commander got +ready to bring her up once more. + +Of a sudden something went wrong. The air failed to blow out the +forward tanks. The men felt the floor slip away under their feet as +they rose. They were thrown on their backs, on their faces, rolling +sideways in all directions. There was no shock, not the slightest jar. +The submarine just swung like a pendulum, and when the officers and +men managed to disentangle themselves from the various positions into +which they had been thrown, they found the bulkheads had changed places +with the floor of their craft. + +The submarine was actually hanging perpendicularly, bow downward, with +just the end of the stern showing above the surface. It was a terrible +plight to be in, and every man aboard recognized at once that he was +face to face with death. Their only hope was that a vessel would sight +them and manage to rescue them before their air gave out, yet there was +so little of the stern peeping above the surface of the sea that the +odds against it being noticed were tremendous. + +Most submarines nowadays are equipped with a portable telephone which +can be floated to the surface, where it is supported by a buoy. This +telephone was designed for just such an emergency, and the commander +quickly uncoiled the cable and sent the telephone floating upward. + +Followed a most nerve-racking experience. For hour after hour they +swung about under the sea, rocking this way and that, spinning +sometimes like a top, ringing on the telephone at regular intervals, +and waiting tensely for the sound of a voice to tell them that they +were found. All day they waited without any reply. Air was being used +up every minute, and death by suffocation was not pleasant to think +upon. Even worse was the thought that at any moment the submarine might +cease to swing, and would plunge to the bottom like a stone, fracture +her plates and wipe them all out in a few seconds. + +Twenty-four hours passed. All through the darkness of night until dawn +those insistent signals went up to the telephone and a sailor waited +tensely for an answering voice. None came. + +Another day of suspense began. The men were like prisoners in a +condemned cell, not knowing whether they were going to their doom or +whether a reprieve was coming. All the time they were striving to find +out what was wrong, struggling to right their craft again. The task +was beyond them. Their efforts were of no avail. Still they rocked +and swung like a pendulum in the broad Atlantic. It was a nightmare +situation. For men to remain so strong and yet so helpless was +maddening. So the dreadful hours crept by. + +An American transport, the _General Goethals_, was steaming down to +Panama when one of the men aboard thought he heard the sound of a +telephone bell. + +“What’s that?” he said. + +His companion looked at him, “What?” + +“Sounded like a telephone,” said the first man. + +His shipmate was about to retort when he, too, heard the sound of the +bell. + +“There it is again,” said the first man. + +“Sure!” answered the companion. + +Other men came crowding up. + +“What’s wrong?” they inquired. + +“Didn’t you hear it?” asked the first man. + +“What?” + +“The telephone!” + +At that moment the sound came to them again. They looked at each other. +Some wondered if they were bewitched. They were far out on the open +sea, and it seemed impossible that a telephone bell could be ringing +there. + +More and more men crowded round, and more and more heard the bell. +There was no mistaking it. It was certainly a telephone bell. So plain +was it, so insistent, that at last the captain signalled down to stop +the engines. + +Half a dozen seamen took their places in a boat. Outwards it swung from +the side of the ship and a moment later sat with a splash in the sea. +Rowing in the direction of the mysterious sound, the sailors at last +sighted the buoy with the telephone attached. The stern of the craft +was barely visible. + +Imagine the transports of those unfortunates when voices hailed them +cheerfully from above! They had been swinging about in their awful +predicament for thirty-five hours when the telephone was picked up, and +air was running so short that they had only enough to last them for an +hour or two longer. + +Instantly the men below made clear their peril. The troopship flashed +out her wireless call for help. + +Not a ship within radius heard the call. + +Then cropped up another of those strange tricks of Fate. An American +schoolboy, named Moore, keen on wireless long before the wireless boom +set in, was experimenting with his home-made set when he picked up the +call. Proudly he sent out this message of life and death on his own +transmitter. The nearest naval depot picked it up and destroyers with +special plant aboard were hurried at full speed to the rescue. + +Meanwhile the captain of the transport had managed with the greatest +difficulty to get strong hawsers round the submarine, lashing them +tightly to his transport in order to keep the stern of the submarine +above water. Then his engineers after a deal of labour cut a small hole +in the steel skin and began to pump fresh air in to the prisoners. + +This was the situation when the destroyers appeared on the scene. +Immediately they fixed more hawsers round the submarine to prevent her +from slipping to the bottom, and with the special appliances at their +command they managed to cut through the rivets and force out one of the +plates of the up-ended craft. + +One by one the twenty-seven men and their commanding officer scrambled +through to the open air again, after being imprisoned for forty hours +in that crazy submarine swinging about under the sea. Thus a telephone +ringing in the open sea, where no telephone could possibly be expected, +and a boy playing with his wireless set were instrumental in saving +the lives of an entire crew after a most terrible experience. + +Not so fortunate were the crew of a British submarine which, like the +K.13, met with a mishap that sent her plunging to the bottom. All were +killed except one man, who with his own lips afterwards related how he +had battled with death and won his way back to life after one of the +most amazing adventures that have ever befallen man. + +He happened to be in the engine-room when he perceived the water +pouring in through the conning tower in one mighty cascade. In a flash +he realized that the boat was doomed. Rushing along the engine-room he +shouted at the top of his voice to warn his comrades in the other parts +of the ship. The sea swept into the engine-room after him. In a moment +the floor was flooded. + +Fast as he moved, the water was faster. Before he could get out, he +heard the sinister sound of the engine-room door slamming. He turned +and thrust his shoulder against it. It would not budge. He was trapped +in the engine-room of a sunken submarine! The rush of water had closed +the bulkhead door, and the space beyond was completely flooded, making +it impossible for the imprisoned man to move the door. Even if he had +succeeded in opening the door, it would have been merely a matter of +seconds before the hungry sea drowned him. + +He stood to compose his thoughts, to make up his mind what to do. More +than once he had imagined himself trapped in just such a manner, and he +was well aware that if he could succeed in equalizing the pressure of +the air inside with the water outside he might get out of the submarine +and escape. + +But to work things out in theory is much easier than to carry them out +in practice, especially if your life depends on your doing everything +exactly as it should be done, when the least little slip means death. + +The man reached out his hand to grasp a metal lever. His fingers closed +on it. He recoiled from a severe electric shock. He touched something +else, and again felt the jolt of electricity. His knee knocked against +one of the engines and he felt a big shock in his leg. Very gingerly +he put his finger on another metal object, and once more experienced +the sensation of electricity. Everything around him was charged with +electricity, and it was some time before he realized that the flooding +of the engine-room had short-circuited the electric current. + +Now another factor crept in to make the situation still more desperate. +The sea water, flooding the electric batteries, began to set free +chlorine gas. The smell of it grew stronger, made him gasp. So to the +risks of drowning and suffocating was added the danger of gas poisoning. + +In like circumstances few men could have kept their nerve. Most men +would have abandoned themselves to their fate, would have given up all +hope in the face of so many perils. But not this British sailor. With +all his strength he began to fight to get out of the submarine, to put +his theories into practice in order to save his life. He must have +possessed tremendous will power, wonderful courage and determination. + +He tried the torpedo hatch, to make quite sure that the pressure above +was such that he could not shift it. He might have been pushing against +Mount Everest itself. Wasting no time, he set the bolt of the hatch so +that the merest touch would release it, then he opened a valve to let +in more water. As the water flooded the compartment, the air in it was +compressed more and more. Higher and higher crept the water, greater +and greater became the pressure of the air until he felt he could stand +it no longer. He slipped the bolt of the hatch, and as he felt it give +to the pressure he slipped a hand on the outside. A gust of air swept +out, held up the cover momentarily, then the great metal lid slammed +down again, crushing all the fingers of the brave man’s hand. + +Maimed though he was, his courage remained unshaken. Giving up his +idea of escaping by raising the air pressure, he determined on the +most desperate expedient of all. He made up his mind to flood the +compartment completely, when the pressure of the water inside and +outside would be equal, and he could open the hatch--if he were not +drowned in the attempt. + +Opening more valves, he scrambled on top of the engines and watched +the water pouring in. It rose to the hatch coamings, till only his +face was above the surface. Then with a quick heave of his shoulder he +pressed against the hatch. The imprisoned air burst out and the water +rushed in, sweeping over his face and head. Holding his breath, he +thrust again at the hatch, which luckily passed the vertical and fell +backwards with a clang. Then he struck out desperately towards the +surface. + +A destroyer steaming along saw a tiny patch of white in the water. +It was the face of the hero of the submarine. He was to all intents +lifeless, practically dead. Wasting not a moment, they forced the water +from him and after a hard struggle succeeded in bringing back to life +one of the bravest men who ever breathed. + +Not without its amusing side was the adventure which befell three +unhappy men on an American naval submarine. She was engaged in making a +series of cinematograph pictures, and orders were given to prepare for +a very rapid dive, known as a crash dive. + +Two cinema men were still standing on the deck with their cameras, and +the commander was in the top half of the conning tower, which was, +of course, open. To their consternation the boat began to submerge. +Realizing that there had been some misunderstanding, and thinking only +of saving his ship and crew from a terrible disaster, the commander, +who had no time to enter the ship, shouted to the men to close the +hatch under his feet. + +It was slammed not a moment too soon, and the commander inside the +conning tower was carried beneath the surface. His first thought was +to escape. He scrambled upwards towards the opening. Something stopped +him, held him fast, kept him a prisoner. + +What had happened was that a projection in the conning tower had caught +in his open pocket and was holding him down. + +Struggling desperately, and swallowing a deal of water, he managed to +tear himself free and kick up to the top. Gulping in the fresh air, he +looked around him. One cinema man was swimming strongly some little +distance away. Of the other, there was no trace. + +Just as the commander was beginning to give the other man up for +lost, the submarine herself reappeared. The commander gazed at her +in astonishment, hardly believing his own eyes. With her came the +half-drowned cinema man, his arms thrown round his camera and the +wireless mast, and clinging to them like grim death. + +“What the dickens did you go down with her for?” asked the amazed +officer, when he was taken aboard. + +“I couldn’t swim a stroke, so I thought it safer to stick to the ship,” +explained the camera man naively. + +Luckily for him the crew instantly saw that something was wrong and +brought the boat up at once. + +So recently as the last days of October, 1923, two American seamen, +Henry Breault and Lawrence Brown, were immured for thirty hours in a +submarine at the bottom of a bay near the Panama Canal. Breault most +heroically dashed into the ship as she was sinking to see if he could +assist anybody who happened to be within. He found Brown asleep in the +torpedo-room, and they just succeeded in closing the door when the O.5 +went down in 40 feet of water. + +There was not a morsel of food aboard, not a drop of drinking water. +First the lights failed, then the batteries exploded and caused a fire +which blazed furiously for some time. + +Meantime, a third man, Charles Butler, caught in the engine-room, took +refuge in an air pocket, stripped off his clothes and made for the +hatchway. Emulating the plucky fellow who escaped from the British +submarine, he thrust open the hatch. So enormous was the pressure +that he was blown right out of the water, breaking the surface like a +leaping salmon. He was soon picked up, after being at the bottom for +eight minutes. + +In three hours the other two prisoners heard the knocks of a diver and +knew that attempts were being made to rescue them. Nine hours later +they felt the submarine begin to move upward. For a little time she +continued to rise, then their hopes were dashed by a sharp snapping +sound and they felt their craft fall with a bump to the bottom again. + +The ticking of the clock for hour after hour, the dreadful dragging of +the hands round the face of it nearly drove them distracted. They could +not bear to watch it longer. There they sat, wondering, hoping. + +Another sixteen hours passed before they felt the submarine again begin +to rise, moving so slowly that both men were consumed with anxiety. The +maddening clock ticked on as the craft was wound up. Water splashed on +the deck, the pent-up air gushed out, footsteps sounded and they knew +deliverance was at hand. Breault pushed open the hatch and both men +stood blinking blindly in the dazzling sunshine. + +Their heads reeled. So sick and ill were they owing to the sudden +change of pressure that grave danger was only averted by quickly +placing them under the same pressure in another submarine, and then +slowly reducing the pressure in accordance with the recognized diving +practice. Thus they came unscathed through their dreadful trial. + +The K.5 during battle practice with the British Fleet in 1921 sank +in such deep water that no attempt was made to recover her. But the +American naval experts, when a similar disaster overtook the submarine +F.4 at Honolulu in March, 1915, were so anxious to find out what had +happened that they determined to do their utmost to retrieve the +sunken craft. + +Going out for a practice spin, the F.4 quietly submerged and was +never seen again. Boats were soon in search of her, and the result of +dragging operations led to her discovery on the bottom outside Honolulu +harbour in just over 50 fathoms, or 304 feet, of water. + +Unhesitatingly the greatest salvage experts in the world would have +pronounced her lost beyond recovery. She was 100 feet deeper than the +British record dive of 210 feet, a depth which no other divers in the +world had ever reached, and she was far deeper than any craft hitherto +lifted from the seabed. + +The experts of the American Navy, aware of these and other facts, knew +that they desired to achieve the impossible, but instead of admitting +that it could not be done they straightway set about doing it. A big +rise and fall in the tide would have been of tremendous assistance to +them, but at Honolulu the tide rises and falls only 18 inches. It was +of no help to them at all. So they made their plans to haul her up +bodily by winches and tow her into shallower water until she grounded; +while for the last stage of the journey into the harbour they placed +their faith in six pontoons, each sheathed in a jacket of timber 4 +inches thick to prevent the cables from cutting it. This stout timber +casing successfully protected the pontoons from all damage when they +were brought into play. Nor was it unnecessary, for, incredible as it +may seen, the chafing of the submarine during a sudden gale quickly +wore through the mighty steel cables as she rubbed them against the +bottom. + +It was in connection with the cables that the greatest diving feat in +all history was accomplished. The cables were swept underneath the +submarine by surface craft in the usual way. But the salvors could +not be sure that the cables were exactly where they ought to be. With +cables too near the bow and the stern, the submarine would just fold up +as she was lifted and break her back, the two halves, falling apart, +probably defying recovery. Even if they could be raised, the damage +would be so great that all traces of the original accident would be +destroyed and the experts could never learn why the submarine had +foundered. + +The one way of finding out whether the cables were properly in place +was to send down divers to see. A diver in Lake Huron in the ’nineties, +trying to recover sunken treasure, was crushed to pulp at a depth +of 198 feet; even a diving bell, operating later on the same wreck, +was unable to withstand the pressure, consequently it seemed like +sentencing a man to death to order him to dive to a depth of 304 feet. +However, the cleverest diving expert in the American Navy pondered +over the matter and, in the light of recent experiments, considered it +could be done provided all the rules were most rigidly observed. The +finest divers in the American Navy, men who had been specially trained, +were thereupon sent to Honolulu to carry out this gigantic task. + +The leading diver struggled into his suit. For aught he knew, he would +never come up alive; the enormous pressure of the water might squeeze +his unprotected legs and body and arms until it had squeezed all the +blood in his body through his eyes and ears and nose and mouth. He knew +that the metal helmet protected his head from the sea pressure, which +was the reason why the nip of the sea drives all the blood in the body +up to the head. But he smiled cheerfully as his helmet was screwed into +place. + +A few moments later he was sliding down the shot-rope. Down and down +he went, the sea pressing heavier and heavier on his body. Up on the +surface the air pumps heaved quickly to pass down to him the air that +would prevent him from being squeezed to death. + +Reaching the wreck at last, he found the pressure so enormous that it +was almost impossible for him to lift his hand in the water. To move +at all was really like pushing his way through some solid substance. +Nevertheless, he managed to survey the wreck and was slowly drawn up +again to safety, after spending ten minutes at the bottom. + +Several times he and his fellow divers penetrated to these startling +depths to see that adjustments were properly made. Then, just when +everything seemed all right, the sense of impending tragedy gripped the +watchers on the surface. They had drawn up one gallant diver to 200 +feet, when he found that his lines were entangled and that he was stuck +fast. It was a fearful situation. For a diver to be caught at this +great depth is almost certain death. + +Relays of divers were sent down to his aid, and for two hours they +struggled and fought to release their comrade who was dangling there +at death’s door 200 feet below the surface of the sea. In the end they +disentangled him, and he was drawn up in a most critical state. Double +pneumonia struck him down, and for months his life was despaired of. +Eventually a fine constitution and tireless nursing enabled him to pull +round and regain his lost health. But it was a desperately close shave. +That any man could reach this depth and still live is little short of a +miracle. + +Eventually the ill-fated F.4 was towed into harbour. In raising her +according to plan, the American Navy broke three records. By attaining +the incredible depth of 304 feet, the American divers wrested the +diving record from the British Navy; that unfortunate diver who was +forced to remain at 200 feet for two hours, without fatal results or +permanent injury, created another record; and their third record was +achieved by lifting the submarine from the greatest depth at which any +wreck has ever been raised. It is impossible to praise the divers and +salvage officers too highly for these magnificent feats. + +If the American Navy has robbed the British Navy of the diving record, +the British Salvage Section still has a few more records left. For +instance, when a German submarine was put down in 190 feet of water +off our rocky northern coast, the British Admiralty calmly ordered the +Salvage Section to bring the submarine to port. + +In the face of a definite order of this sort, there was nothing to be +said. The Director of Salvage hastened to the spot, and sent divers +down to survey the wreck and if possible recover the papers. They found +an arm protruding from the partly-closed conning tower, the fingers, +stiffened by death, clutching as in a vice some of the secret orders +which the commander was endeavouring to cast away when he saw that +capture or destruction was inevitable. Before he could rid himself of +the papers, the submarine plunged to her doom and the cover of the +conning tower slammed down on his arm. + +With an effort, the divers unlocked those clammy fingers and took the +papers. Then they managed to raise the lid of the conning tower and +enter the ship, although it was practically at the limit of the depth +at which divers can possibly work. Their submarine lamps lit the gloom +of the interior, and a search brought to light the log and other +papers, which were sent post haste to the Admiralty. + +The order to take the wreck to port was much more difficult to obey. +She was down on such a rocky coast in such a position that lifting her +in the ordinary way was quite out of the question. Commodore Young +thereupon decided to do what had never been done with a craft of this +size since the world began, that is, raise her from the depths by sheer +mechanical power. The cables were swept underneath, and divers saw that +they were properly in place. Then the powerful machinery installed in +the salvage ships began to work, and slowly but surely the great steel +cables, thicker than a man’s wrist, were wound up until the U-boat was +within a few feet of the surface. It was an extraordinary feat to lift +this wrecked submarine, weighing nearly 1000 tons--practically four +times the weight of the American F.4--from a depth of 190 feet by the +sheer power of machinery. + +The salvors crowned this remarkable effort by carrying the submarine in +her cradle of slings nearly 40 miles round the coast, which was another +record the British Salvage Section made that month. Just as they got +her to the mouth of the harbour, she slipped from the slings and went +to the bottom again. Picking her up once more, the salvage men towed +her into dock so that the submarine experts could dissect her. + +Another astonishing feat performed by British salvage men was the +raising of a collier that sank right in the fairway at Rosyth. The +danger of other ships striking her and piling up was so great that her +removal became imperative. To pick her up in the approved style by +sweeping cables under her and using lifting craft to swing her clear of +the bottom was the obvious way of clearing the channel. But she was a +dead weight of 3000 tons, or about 1000 tons heavier than the heaviest +wreck raised by such methods. + +If her cargo had been bales of cotton or something easy to handle, +divers would have gone down and removed part of her burden in order to +lighten her. But coal is about the worst thing in the world to deal +with under water. Consequently the salvors tackled the job with a brace +of lifting craft, which enabled them to master 2400 tons, and a couple +of mighty pontoons, which provided the power to lift the remainder. +Everything was fixed, and as the tide rose the salvors managed to +drag the wreck out of the way of other ships, and eventually, after a +terrific fight lasting a considerable time, succeeded in beaching her. + +Commodore Sir Frederick Young also mastered a weight of about 3000 tons +in lifting Captain Fryatt’s ship, the _Brussels_, at Ostend, and these +two feats performed by British salvage experts constitute a world’s +record for the greatest deadweight ever raised in recent times from the +bottom of the sea. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +The resources of the salvage experts in fighting for the life of a ship +are amazing. They will cheerfully run the gravest risks, do the most +extraordinary things to get her into port. But that they, whose avowed +aim in life is to save ships, should deliberately sink them, savours of +something akin to madness. Yet occasions arise when prompt decisions +have to be made, when the salvage officer is literally between the +devil and the deep sea. An outbreak of fire aboard a ship places him +in this quandary. Damage to a ship by water can be remedied, but fire, +once it gets a hold, consumes ship and cargo. Of two evils, the salvage +man chooses the lesser, and if there is no other way of combating the +fire he will calmly sink the ship as a preliminary to saving her. + +[Illustration: A GIANT OIL TANKER WHICH BLAZED FOR DAYS, BLOTTING OUT +THE HEAVENS WITH DENSE CLOUDS OF SMOKE. THE SALVAGE MEN WERE EVENTUALLY +COMPELLED TO SINK HER TO PUT OUT THE FIRE] + +More than once during the war British salvage officers had hot times +with burning ships, and one of their most thrilling adventures sprang +from a collision between two oil tankers called the _War Knight_ and +the _O. B. Jennings_. A big convoy of ships was proceeding along +the English Channel in the early hours of March 24, 1918. It was pitch +dark, and the ships with their attendant destroyers were steaming at +full speed without lights in order to dodge the attentions of German +submarines. Too late the officers on the _War Knight_ saw a dark shape +appear immediately in their course. A moment afterwards came a terrific +impact. The bow of the _War Knight_ cut into the side of the _O. B. +Jennings_, bursting one of the mighty tanks full of naphtha. It flashed +into one gigantic flame which instantly blotted out most of the crew +of the _War Knight_, and in a minute or two a Niagara of naphtha from +the fractured tank was setting the whole sea ablaze. The one or two men +still alive on the flaming _War Knight_ frantically hurled themselves +overboard, to meet a terrible end in the fiery sea. It was an awful +sight. + +The fire leaped to the skies, while the men of the _O. B. Jennings_, +in that moment’s respite before the blazing naphtha floated round to +the other side of their ship, rushed to their boats and got away. But +Captain Nordstrom and his officers stuck to their ship, though she was +belching flames and every moment her other tanks threatened to explode +and blow her sky high. Then a British destroyer speeded into the full +glare of the light, and one by one the little band of heroes jumped to +safety. The captain, leaping last, slipped between the two vessels to +what seemed certain death, and for a space it seemed that he, too, +was to lose his life, but the prompt measures of the British sailors +eventually led to his rescue. + +By now the two ships were blazing like funeral pyres in a sea of +flames. Great billows of smoke rolled from the stricken tankers in the +dawn, blotting out the heavens, looking almost solid enough to stand +on. With incredible pluck a naval officer, watching his opportunity, +plunged into the inferno aboard the _War Knight_ and made fast a mighty +steel towing hawser. Jumping back to his ship, he took in tow the +flaming tanker which had now drifted right into one of our minefields. +It was a gallant piece of work. British mines were all around him, +waiting to blow him to pieces, but regardless of danger he kept his +course. Once a big explosion shook the stricken vessel as she struck a +mine. Luckily, the ship towing her escaped, and the salvage officer, +seeing at last that it was not possible to prevent the tanker from +burning out, decided to sink her by gunfire on a sandy bottom where +there was at least the prospect of salving her later on. Never again, +however, did the _War Knight_ sail the seas. She proved a total loss. + +[Illustration: A STRIKING PHOTOGRAPH, TAKEN FROM THE AIR, OF THE +CAMOUFLAGED TROOPSHIP ONWARD LYING ON HER SIDE BY FOLKESTONE QUAY AFTER +SHE HAD BEEN SCUTTLED TO PUT OUT A FIRE. THE SALVAGE SHIP IS ANCHORED +JUST OFF THE ENDS OF HER FUNNELS, WHILE THE RAILWAY LINES ON THE QUAY +ARE SEEN IN THE FOREGROUND, THE UPRIGHT PILES OF THE QUAY ITSELF HAVING +THE APPEARANCE OF THE SLEEPERS OF A RAILWAY TRACK] + +The _O. B. Jennings_ was also taken in tow and brought to Sandown +Bay in safety. Day after day the fire continued to rage in her, vast +clouds of smoke continued to foul the heavens. Nothing could quench the +flames, and at the end of ten days the Admiralty salvage officer +gave instructions for a torpedo boat to shell the tanker until she sank. + +[Illustration: THE ONWARD WITH HER FUNNELS CUT OFF AND DECK HOUSES +REMOVED. NOTE ONE OF HER PROPELLERS JUST SHOWING ABOVE THE WATER AND +ALSO THE LIFTING CRAFT BETWEEN HER AND THE SALVAGE STEAMER] + +It was a desperate remedy, but it proved a brilliant solution of the +puzzling problem. As she went down, the sea just overwhelmed the fire +and allowed the salvage men to tackle the wreck. Divers tapped the +undamaged tanks of the ship, pumps were connected up and 8000 tons of +oil taken from the sunken vessel. Then the places where the shells had +pierced the hull were repaired and the _O. B. Jennings_ was pumped out +and floated into dock. + +A patch was put on her wound, and she set out for the United States; +but, as ill-luck would have it, she was caught by another German +submarine less than 100 miles from New York and sent to the bottom for +good, so all the efforts of the British salvage men were wasted in the +end. That collision cost Great Britain just £1,000,000. + +Another outstanding case where the ship was deliberately scuttled in +order to put out a fire was that of the troopship _Onward_, which +carried many thousands of troops to France. She was lying about +midnight at the quay at Folkestone when flames suddenly burst from her, +owing, it is thought, to a thermit bomb secreted by a spy. She blazed +up furiously, threatening destruction to the whole quay and endangering +our communications with France. The destruction of the quay at that +time would have been a disaster compared with which the loss of the +steamer was as nothing, so quickly the decision was made to sink the +_Onward_ by opening her sea-cocks. This was done, and the fire went out +in a venomous hiss as the sea swept in. + +Unluckily, in sinking, the ship turned over on her side, and before +she could be raised she had to be set upright. As she lay, she was +preventing a much-wanted berth of the quay from being used, so the +Salvage Section was given a month to get her out of the way. + +Masts, funnels and various cabins were cut off the upright deck to +clear the vessel of all her top hamper. Then the salvors, toiling night +and day, built enormously strong tripods out of huge baulks of timber +on the quay. By the time these were finished, lifting vessels were +brought on the spot and moored close to the overturned ship. Cables +were taken from the lifting vessels down under the keel of the ship and +attached to the visible upper side of the hull, so the lifting craft, +in straining upward, would tend to pull her over. Other cables were +made fast to the deck and carried across the tops of the tripods on the +quay. + +[Illustration: FIVE RAILWAY ENGINES HAULING THE OVERTURNED TROOPSHIP +UPRIGHT. THIS EXTRAORDINARY TUG OF WAR BETWEEN A WRECK AND RAILWAY +LOCOMOTIVES IS UNIQUE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD] + +Then came the touch of genius on the part of the Director of Salvage +which makes the case unique. Five powerful railway locomotives steamed +on to the quay and came to a stop by the sunken ship. The ends of the +cables were made fast to the locomotives, and there followed one of +the strangest tugs of war in the world between railway engines and a +sunken ship. The five railway engines began to pull, and they pulled +and hauled and strained away until they dragged the _Onward_ upright. +Pumping out soon followed, and within a month the scuttled troopship +was raised and in dry dock. It was a difficult and novel feat, +admirably performed. + +[Illustration: PUMPING OUT THE SUNKEN TROOPSHIP IN ORDER TO RAISE HER +AFTER SHE HAD BEEN PULLED UPRIGHT BY THE RAILWAY ENGINES] + +It was by no means the first overturned ship that Commodore Sir +Frederick Young had dealt with, for some years ago he righted and +raised H.M.S. _Gladiator_ after the _St. Paul_, of the American Line, +had crashed into her during a blinding snowstorm on April 25, 1908, and +sunk her in the Solent. The British Admiralty called in the assistance +of the Liverpool Salvage Association, who sent Captain F. W. Young, as +he was in those days, to deal with the case. + +Up to that time it was as gigantic a task as any one had ever +undertaken. There the cruiser lay on her side, 6000 tons of dead +weight, on the sandy bed of the Solent, a fifty-foot hole ripped in her +hull, several of her boiler rooms exposed to the sea, her grey plates +just showing above the water. + +The salvage expert was not a bit dismayed. He began to lighten the +ship in every possible way. Her guns were taken out and salved. Then +uncouth divers got busy with pneumatic chisels and cut off the funnels +and ventilators and other deck fittings. Every hole in the deck was +covered with wood and made watertight. Only the gash in her side, where +the thick armour plates had folded down like tinfoil, was left open, +and this in turn was dealt with by the divers, who carefully blasted +away the ragged plates to prevent them from impeding the righting of +the ship. + +Seven enormous pontoons, each 50 feet long, were made and lashed to +the wreck. Two strong tripods were built up from the side of the hull, +so that cables attached to the ends of the masts could be carried over +them and hauled on by a couple of tugs when the time came to right the +ship. The cables from the masts ran straight up in the air to the tops +of the tripods, and when tugs began pulling, the tendency was to drag +the ship over into an upright position. Inch by inch the _Gladiator_ +was turned after a terrific struggle, helped by 280 tons of iron +which the salvors piled on the keel to press it down while the tugs +were hauling up. The fight was severe, and even when she was righted +her upper deck was still several feet under water, so the salvors +determined to cover it with a huge coffer-dam built of strong planks. +This coffer-dam looked like a great deck-house built up from the sides +of the ship, and as it was made watertight and pumped out, it helped to +pull the vessel to the surface. + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of the Merritt & Chapman Wrecking Company_ + +A VERY STRIKING VIEW OF THE OVERTURNED LINER ST. PAUL, WHICH PROVIDED +SOME DIFFICULT PROBLEMS FOR THE AMERICAN SALVAGE EXPERTS] + +Five months of strenuous work saw the pumps conquering the sea. The +cruiser rose sluggishly, the tugs caught hold of her, and nightfall +saw the little procession creeping into Portsmouth harbour. The cost of +raising the wrecked cruiser was £50,500, and ultimately the Admiralty +sold her to the shipbreakers for £15,125. + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of the Merritt & Chapman Wrecking Company_ + +TEN YEARS TO THE VERY DAY AFTER THE LINER ST. PAUL SANK H.M.S. +GLADIATOR IN THE SOLENT, SHE HERSELF TURNED OVER AND SANK AT HER QUAY +IN NEW YORK. SAILORS MAY BE SEEN MAKING A PROMENADE OF HER HULL THE +NEXT DAY] + +The end of the _Gladiator_ was the beginning of a dramatic sequel, a +sequel so remarkable that it borders almost on the uncanny, raising +once more the question whether there is anything in those legends of +ghostly ships, like the _Flying Dutchman_, flitting about the seas +until they are avenged or their long quest is over. For year after year +the _St. Paul_ sped along the sea lanes between America and England, +thrusting through fog and shine and storm. Then the Great War demanded +her conversion into a troopship, and early in the spring of 1918 the +work was completed. + +On April 25, 1918, ten years to the very day that she sank the +_Gladiator_, the tugs were manœuvring her beside her quay in New York +when she slowly began to heel over. Men gazed on her with amazement +as she heeled more and more. Her masts touched the quay and crumpled +like twigs, and as they smashed she went down on her side, even as the +_Gladiator_ had gone down in the Solent. In a short time 2000 tons of +liquid mud gushed through her open portholes, which had now taken the +place of her keel, and the salvage experts of the Merritt and Chapman +Wrecking Company found her settled comfortably in a dozen feet of mud +between the two quays. Why she sank is still a mystery. + +Mr. R. E. Chapman, the salvage engineer, had a most difficult problem +to tackle. He had to grapple with a dead weight of 13,000 tons in a +space so circumscribed that there was hardly room for the salvage craft +to move. He did not worry. He set his squads of divers to work cutting +away funnels and all the tackle from the top deck, as was done to the +_Gladiator_, and when they had finished he sent them into the bowels +of the ship in pairs in order to close all the open portholes that +were buried many feet in the mud and over 50 feet below the surface of +the harbour. It was inky black down below; they had no lights, because +lights would not have penetrated the gloom, so they relied on their +fingers instead of their eyes, and by using powerful hose to wash away +the mud they managed to close over 500 openings in the ship. + +One particularly clever piece of work was the making of a steel plate +to fit over an opening around which were seventeen bolt holes. To get +the bolt holes in the plate directly opposite the bolt holes in the +ship seems almost an impossibility, but the diver solved the problem +by taking down a sheet of lead which he hammered all round the opening +until he had made a pattern with every bolt hole exactly in its place. +From this pattern the steel plate was made, and it fitted perfectly! + +Bulkheads to a ship afloat are an undisguised blessing, but the salvors +found them a decided drawback on the sunken _St. Paul_. The bulkheads +effectually stopped the flow of water from one end of the ship to +the other, and before pumping could start it was imperative that the +water should flow freely to the pumps throughout the whole length of +the ship. It meant breaking through the bulkheads. The divers blasted +through one or two with explosives, but the damage was such that the +salvors decided to cut holes through the remainder with the electric +torch. + +Among the modern miracles that are little understood may be ranked +that of creating a flame hot enough to melt metal immersed deep in the +sea. Plunge a lighted match into water and the flame goes out; sink +a blazing ship in the sea and the fire is conquered; yet the divers +working on the _St. Paul_ not only made a flame burn under the sea, but +they also melted and cut holes through strong steel plates. + +This marvel was worked by combining electricity and gas. The end of the +torch was shaped like a cup, and the gas, driven at a high pressure +through the pipe from the surface, reduced all the water within this +cup to steam. Set in the centre of the cup was the electric terminal, +and by holding it close to the metal plate to be cut an electric arc +was formed with the terrific temperature of 6700 degrees! Under it the +metal flowed like wax, and the divers were able to cut a dozen round +drainage holes through the bulkheads. So blinding was the glare from +the torch that even the muddy water was insufficient to stop it, and +the divers were compelled to fit masks over their helmets in order to +protect their eyes. + +Meantime the men had been busy outside the ship, and there arose +a long line of twenty-one legs, built of steel girders, all along +the overturned hull. Shaped like the letter “A,” 30 feet high, they +presented a remarkable spectacle, and to gaze under their whole length +was like staring at the under-framing of some mighty bridge. + +Dredging a deep trench at the bottom of the next quay, the salvors sank +twenty-one giant blocks of concrete, burying them with 15 feet of clay +to make them immovable, and from these blocks they carried strong steel +cables over the tops of the legs, and back to twenty-one steam winches +set on the quay. When the time was ripe all the winches started to +haul on the great legs, which began to lever the liner over. Powerful +pontoons and wonderful floating derricks lent their aid, and after a +ding-dong struggle lasting a week the liner came over sufficiently for +the salvors to put in hand the final phase of the operations. Just as +the _Gladiator_ was floated at last by building a large coffer-dam over +the deck, so the _St. Paul_ was encased in a coffer-dam from end to +end. Came a day when the pumps were set going, and the liner floated +once more. + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of the Merritt & Chapman Wrecking Company_ + +THE WONDERFUL MAZE OF STEEL LEVERS OR LEGS, SHAPED LIKE THE LETTER “A,” +30 FEET HIGH, ERECTED ON THE OVERTURNED HULL OF THE LINER. BY HAULING +ON THESE LEGS WITH STEEL CABLES THE SALVORS MANAGED TO DRAG THE ST. +PAUL UPRIGHT] + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of the Merritt & Chapman Wrecking Company_ + +AN EXCELLENT VIEW OF THE ST. PAUL AFTER SHE WAS RAISED, SURROUNDED BY +THE MAMMOTH FLOATING DERRICKS WHICH PLAYED SO IMPORTANT A PART IN THE +SALVAGE OPERATIONS] + +Salvage men are used to so much that they will tackle almost anything; +but even salvage men would not tackle the 200 tons of decayed meat in +one of the refrigerators of the liner. So horrible was the stench that +they positively refused to go anywhere near. Money would not tempt them +to the task. Eventually the trouble was overcome by a diver, who went +into the refrigerating chamber fully equipped and was thus able to +remove the carcasses without suffering from the offensive smell. It was +a happy way out of the difficulty. + +While the experts will dwell upon the brilliant feat performed by the +salvors in righting and raising the _St. Paul_, the average person +will think of the strangeness of the case. That the liner should +sink without cause on the tenth anniversary of the day that she +sank the warship, that she should overturn like the warship, that +pontoons, coffer-dams and legs erected on the hull should play so +important a part in both cases, are all links in a chain of remarkable +coincidences, the final link of which is provided by the fact that +the salvage operations on liner and warship each took five months to +complete. These are the incidents which make the case of the _St. Paul_ +so noteworthy. + +The blizzard which caused the collision between the _St. Paul_ and the +_Gladiator_ cost Great Britain a considerable sum, but not so much as +the fog which led to the wreck of H.M.S. _Montagu_ on the Shutter Rock +at Lundy Island. The British Admiralty spared no effort or expense to +get the battleship off, but after spending £85,000 in salvage work the +navy had to confess itself beaten. So the proud battleship which cost +over £1,000,000 was sold for the trifling sum of £4250 and was broken +up for the sake of the metal she contained. + +But for the genius of Commodore Young, the dreadnought _Britannia_ +might have met with a similar fate. Returning from a sweep of the North +Sea during the war to her anchorage in the Firth of Forth, she was +thrown by a heavy squall hard on the rocky island of Inchkeith. Tugs +and torpedo boats failed to move her, and when Commodore Young came on +the spot he found the rocks had not only pierced her bottom, but had +also fractured her double bottom. Hopeless though her position seemed +to others, the Director of Salvage considered it possible to refloat +her. + +All her stores, ammunition and coals were hauled out to lighten her. +Still she sat tight, held firmly in the grip of the rocks. So a +poultice of cement was fixed over the fractured plates in the second +bottom to enable the engine-room to be pumped out, after which were +made many connections leading into the flooded bottom. The air-pumps +were linked up and set going, and as the air was driven into the +flooded bottom it formed a belt which increased in depth until it +expelled all the water through the holes made by the rocks. + +Directly the salvors felt the battleship stir, they towed her off +the rocks into dry dock, where the damage was quickly repaired. Duty +called her later to the Mediterranean, where she was caught by a German +torpedo and this time sent to the bottom for good. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Of the many remarkable salvage feats performed during the war, that +concerning the s.s. _Araby_ is of more than passing interest. Driven +ashore on the French coast on December 21, 1916, owing to an accident +to her steering gear, she was towed off two days later and by Christmas +Eve arrived at Boulogne. The tugs were shepherding the cripple into +harbour when trouble overtook her once more. The towing hawsers parted, +and she was swept by the strong tide broadside across the harbour +mouth, her bow being jammed against the end of one quay and her stern +against the end of the other quay. + +The excitement was intense, for she was blocking our most important +port of entry into France. To make matters worse, the tide was almost +at the full, and unless she were got off at once it was obvious that +her days were numbered. As the tide fell she was sure to ground at the +bow and stern, and a deep channel between the quays left nothing to +support her amidships, so she would be lucky not to break her back. + +[Illustration: HOW THE ARABY BLOCKED THE ENTRANCE TO BOULOGNE +HARBOUR] + +[Illustration: AS THE TIDE FELL, THE ARABY BROKE HER BACK. THIS +PHOTOGRAPH CLEARLY SHOWS THE FRACTURE BETWEEN THE BOW AND THE STERN +WHICH LED TO HER FALLING COMPLETELY IN HALVES] + +Despite the utmost efforts, the _Araby_ remained wedged between the two +quays, and as the tide ebbed, her huge cargo of oats began to make its +weight felt. Slowly she sagged in the middle until her keel was unable +longer to support the strain. She broke her back and settled down right +across the fairway, doing very effectively to Boulogne what the British +Navy so gloriously succeeded in doing to Ostend and Zeebrugge. + +It was a desperate case, calling for prompt measures, for somehow, +anyhow, Boulogne harbour had to be cleared, and that quickly. Its +urgency led to the happy co-operation of army and navy, so while the +divers were jettisoning the cargo, in order to lighten the ship, +Lieutenant-Colonel R. V. Jellicoe, D.S.O., of the Royal Engineers, was +planning to make history by salving the first ship with the aid of +ferro-concrete. Never before had anything like this been suggested. It +seemed an impossible sort of dream. + +The engineer was determined to prove that the seemingly impossible was +possible. So on each side of the fracture, which was amidships, wooden +moulds were deftly built up in the form of bulkheads stretching right +across the inside of the ship. Cement and gravel were carefully mixed +in certain proportions laid down by the engineer, and into these moulds +the concrete was thrown. It set as hard as rock, forming two watertight +walls shutting off the bow and stern of the ship, and leaving the +fracture between them open to the sea. + +The rapidity with which the work was carried out was so remarkable +that by January 11, just eighteen days after the _Araby_ was wrecked, +the flooded compartments were being pumped out. To the joy of the +salvors the rising tide lifted the ship clear of the bottom, and +clever manœuvring enabled Captain H. Pomeroy, the salvage officer, to +clear the harbour entrance and haul the ship into position practically +parallel with the quay. By the end of the day she had been worked +some little distance up the harbour and ships could pass in and out. +The falling tide let her down again in the middle of the channel, but +although she still interfered with traffic the salvors had carried the +work a big step forward. + +The hauling and the towing, however, had subjected her to a tremendous +strain, as a result of which the crack across her keel began to extend +up each side of her hull. This necessitated two strenuous days being +spent in strengthening her, before she could again be pumped out and +lifted a little farther into the harbour. Again she grounded at the +fall of the tide, and once more as the tide rose she was lifted higher +up the harbour. Throughout it was only possible to keep her afloat by +continuous pumping, and once the pumps stopped she soon sank under the +inrush of water. + +[Illustration: BOTH HALVES OF THE ARABY BEACHED IN BOULOGNE HARBOUR, +WHERE THEY LAY FOR MANY MONTHS] + +During these operations the crack had been creeping higher and +higher up the hull under the alternating strains to which she was +subjected. The mighty steel plates were rent and wrenched open until +the greatest calamity of all overtook her and she broke right in two. +She just fell apart, as a sliced apple falls apart, and sank to the +bottom. + +[Illustration: TOWING THE STERN OF THE ARABY BACK TO ENGLAND. THE SIGHT +OF HALF A SHIP AFLOAT AT SEA IS SELDOM SEEN] + +Such a disaster would daunt most men, who would probably decide that +the only thing to be done in so parlous a case was to finish the job +by blowing the ends to smithereens and then to dredge up the pieces +and throw them on the scrap heap. But the men tackling the case were +in no wise disconcerted. If the problem had been complicated in one +way, it had been simplified in another. For one thing, a ship breaking +in halves required more delicate handling than one broken in halves, +because the salvors would naturally try to prevent the worst from +happening. Once the worst had happened, the salvors could go ahead +without any thoughts of impending disaster. So, wasting no time, +Captain Pomeroy brought some giant pontoons into play. Each was capable +of lifting a weight of 800 tons, and by their aid, after a tremendous +tussle, the two ends were lifted and beached out of the way of traffic +in the inner harbour. + +For weeks the tide washed in and out of them, leaving behind a foul +sediment, and the remains of the _Araby_ gradually became part of the +landscape of Boulogne harbour--two ends of a broken ship, rusted and +scarred, with the boilers in the engine-room exposed to sea and air. +A year passed, during which the German submarine campaign kept the +Salvage Section busy day and night, then the _Araby_ was found to be +interfering once more with our war activities. It was essential to +extend the landing-place for flying boats and seaplanes at Boulogne, +and the only available space was the strip of beach occupied by the two +ends of the _Araby_. + +In July, 1918, the frequenters of the harbour saw figures again at work +on the wreck. The job of preparing the two ends to enable them to put +to sea was carried forward with vigour. Then, unwittingly, came one of +those tragedies which are fortunately rare in the annals of salvage. +The ends still contained quantities of oats quite spoiled by the action +of the sea. Grain in these conditions gives off fumes so poisonous that +any one caught in them is instantly gassed and killed. Generally the +fumes are kept down by spraying with chemicals, a procedure adopted +during these operations. + +One of the divers, however, penetrated too deeply into the hold without +his diving dress and somehow got into a foul pocket of this gas. Almost +at once he was overcome and fell in a state of collapse. No sooner had +he fallen than his mate was also stricken by the fumes and rolled over +unconscious. + +[Illustration: THIS TORPEDOED SHIP WAS THE FIRST IN THE WORLD TO BE +PATCHED WITH CONCRETE. THE TIMBER FRAMEWORK COVERING THE HOLE IN THE +HULL FORMS THE MOULD INTO WHICH THE CONCRETE WAS POURED] + +Followed one of the gallant deeds which add fame to Britain’s name. +Discovering that the two men were in difficulties, and knowing full +well the deadly danger that lurked below, a salvor lowered himself in +an attempt to rescue them. Instantly the gas attacked him, and he, too, +went down. By the time the three men were hauled out they were all dead. + +[Illustration: THE CONCRETE PATCH FROM THE INSIDE OF THE SHIP, SHOWING +HOW THE CONCRETE WAS REINFORCED WITH STEEL RODS] + +Marred as it was by this sad tragedy, the work aboard the _Araby_ +was pushed ahead with unabated zeal. The concrete bulkheads, erected +as described under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Jellicoe some +fifteen months earlier, remained solid walls, impervious to the +encroachments of the sea. So the Admiralty salvage officer completed +arrangements for removing the remains of the _Araby_, and about the +middle of July powerful tugs were hauling on the after end of the ship. +At high tide they succeeded in towing the end off the beach into deep +water, and the sailors of the Dover patrol later witnessed the strange +sight of half a ship floating serenely to England. They were more +astonished a few days later to see the other half being towed across. + +In this wonderful way did a soldier, forsaking his own element, assist +to salve a ship that broke in two, and so brilliantly successful was +his work that he was “lent” to the Admiralty Salvage Section. On +another occasion his genius was exercised upon a steamer which had a +vast hole blown in her hull by a torpedo. Taking the case in hand, the +soldier salvage officer determined to prove that ferro-concrete used +under expert supervision would unite perfectly with the steel hull and +make the ship as tight and sound as she had ever been. That concrete +ships were possible was already proved, for there were one or two +afloat to confound the sceptic, but the patching of a steel ship with +concrete was not generally considered feasible. + +However, the engineer set to work, and under his supervision divers +built a huge mould over the gaping wound. The engineer himself donned +a diving dress and went to the bottom to inspect the work and see that +everything had been carried out to make the experiment successful. The +concrete, reinforced with steel rods, was rammed into the mould, where +it set almost as hard as the iron with which its edges were solidly +united. Concrete piers were moulded inside the ship to strengthen the +back of the patch and enable it to sustain the force of the waves, and +when the vessel was pumped out and floated officials of the seamen’s +union, calling to inspect it, expressed their approval by certifying +the ship as fit to go anywhere. It was an amazing new departure in +salvage that proved an unqualified success. It was probably the first +ship to be patched with concrete, although it was rumoured that +the German cruiser _Goeben_, which gave us so much trouble in the +Mediterranean, was also patched up with that material. + +[Illustration: HOW THE CONCRETE PATCH WAS STRENGTHENED WITH CONCRETE +PIERS ON THE INSIDE OF THE SHIP TO WITHSTAND THE HAMMERING OF THE SEA] + +The _Araby_, however, was by no means the first ship to be salved +in halves, for years ago Mr. Tom Armit, one of the cleverest salvage +experts who ever tackled a wreck, undertook to recover the s.s. +_Montgomery_ which had sunk and broken in two in the river Garonne. +Under his instructions divers timbered in the open ends of the vessel +to make them watertight, and eventually each end was pumped out and +raised. They were afterwards taken to dock and joined together again +without the ship being one whit the worse for her adventure. + +[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE CONCRETE PATCH IN THE SHIP’S SIDE AFTER +SHE HAD BEEN PUMPED OUT] + +Equally remarkable was the salvage of the steamer _Milwaukee_ which, +going ashore on the rocks near Aberdeen during her maiden voyage in +1898, was held so securely that there was no hope of ever towing +her off again. The salvors who were called in to deal with the case +recognized this in a flash, but, gifted with a vivid imagination, they +determined on an extraordinary experiment. It was the bow of the ship +that was caught by the rocks, but all the valuable machinery was in the +afterpart. Unable to save the ship whole, they made up their minds to +try to save the half that mattered, planning to operate on the vessel +just as a surgeon operates on a man, but, instead of using scalpels, +they sought to cut with dynamite. A belt of dynamite cartridges was +fastened round the ship just forward of the engine-room bulkhead. The +brainy salvage men pressed the button. Scarcely had the sound of the +explosion reached their ears when they saw the ship break in two and +the stern slide into the sea. + +They had reason to be proud of their success, for it requires courage +as well as imagination to operate on a ship in this manner. Eventually +they towed the stern of the _Milwaukee_ back to the Tyne, and in due +course another bow was built and spliced on to the stern, thus making a +new ship of her. + +This noteworthy instance of ship surgery was duplicated in the case of +the Atlantic liner _Seuvic_ which went ashore on the Stag Rocks on the +ragged Cornish coast. The untiring efforts of the salvors failed to +move her, so they calmly cut her in two with dynamite and brought the +after end to port, where she was made whole again! + +Those who get a living by marine salvage need be resourceful, masters +of a hundred tricks to win ships from the grip of the sea. When the +liner _City of Paris_ came to grief on the same cruel coast, the jagged +rocks cut right up through her hull and held her so tightly that her +position from the first appeared hopeless. It seemed that she was +destined to remain there hard and fast until the sea had battered her +to pieces. + +Whatever the underwriters thought, there was one enterprising salvage +man who was prepared to match his skill against the strength of the +sea. Offering to salve the ship on the “no cure, no pay” principle, he +set his divers to work and little by little they blew away the rocks +that transfixed the ship. It was a ticklish operation. Too strong a +charge of dynamite would have injured the hull and made the case worse +than ever; too weak a charge would have failed to remove the rock, so +it was necessary to wed judgment with caution in this work. Bit by bit +the rocks were blasted away and in the end the _City of Paris_ was +patched and floated. She was taken into Falmouth harbour for repairs, +and when she again took the seas she was known as the _Philadelphia_. + +That feat, performed a good many years ago, was equalled by Commander +Cunningham of the Salvage and Towage Company when the Furness Withy +steamer _Norton_ ran ashore on Zogria Island off the coast of Greece +a year or two ago. The rocks threatened to tear the whole bottom out +of the ship if an attempt were made to tow her off, so the salvage +expert, seeing there was no other way back to the sea, decided to blow +the age-old rocks from beneath the bilges of the steamer. He set to +work, and, using extraordinary judgment in placing the dynamite and +gauging the power of the charges, succeeded in eight strenuous days in +pulverizing the imprisoning rocks without doing any further injury to +the steamer. At the top of the tide the tugs and salvage craft towed +her into deep water and finally took her to port. + +She was a rich prize, worth with her cargo some £330,000. The repairs +to the steamer cost about £20,000, and the salvors by their fine work +earned an award of £22,000. This seems a large sum for the salvors to +make in so short a time, but it must be borne in mind that such prizes +do not often come along, and the upkeep of a salvage steamer and her +trained crew may easily run to £150 or more a week, without reckoning +the cost of the steamer and plant, so it is plain that a big capital +is required to keep a salvage unit in continual commission. In other +words, although the award was good, taken in conjunction with the +capital employed and the risk run, it was not by any means excessive. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +A ship cast ashore always reminds me of a hospital ward and the men and +women who are deprived by illness of the power to carry on the struggle +of life. The ship, too, is a cripple, driven out of her element, unable +to carry on the duties for which she was created, and this is why my +curiosity in a case is always tinged with a little sadness. To the +salvage expert, however, the beached ship is merely a problem, and his +mind, like that of the physician, is wholly occupied in effecting a +cure. + +If straightforward towing will not get the ship off, he will try other +means. He may set a gang of men digging a deep trench round the keel +of the vessel at low tide, and as the tide rises the water, flowing +into this trench, will give her just enough buoyancy under her keel to +enable the tugs to do the rest. Or he may try a trick that was tried +very effectively on one occasion during the war when a whole convoy of +ships grounded during a fog. The salvage officer, when his tugs failed +to shift them, set torpedo boats thrashing round at a high speed and +the wash they created lifted the grounded ships sufficiently for the +tugs to get them off. It was a simple, yet clever, solution to the +problem. + +But there may be factors in the case which make these methods useless, +as happened when the s.s. _Timbo_ was thrown ashore in Carnarvon Bay in +1921. She drifted at the mercy of a terrific gale, which was blowing +dead on the shore. Lifeboats that put out to succour her were swamped +by the enormous seas, and more than one brave man lost his life that +stormy day before the _Timbo_, absolutely helpless, was driven right +across the bay. Just when tide and tempest were at their height, she +was caught up by a tremendous wave and thrown heavily ashore. + +That tide happened to be exceptionally high, and when Mr. Henry Ensor +came on the scene he found a strip of shingle just 100 feet wide +separated her from the sea when the tide was at the full. There she +lay, broadside on to the ocean, and over 30 yards beyond the reach +of the largest comber that rolled up the beach. She was indeed out +of her element, so much so that 30 yards or 30 miles would have made +no difference to the average city-dweller, for to him the problem of +getting her back would have been insuperable. + +[Illustration: BY DIGGING A DEEP TRENCH ROUND THIS WRECK, THE SALVORS +MANAGED TO TOW HER OFF INTO DEEP WATER] + +To tow her off on a beach like that was not to be thought of, for +if tugs had been set to work they would merely have added to the +difficulties. Directly they began to haul, the stony beach would +have heaped up under the weight of the steamer, and the more they +pulled, the deeper the wreck would have burrowed into the beach. + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of H. Ensor & Sons_ + +THE TIMBO, CAST ASHORE A HUNDRED FEET ABOVE HIGH WATER MARK, WHERE SHE +WAS THROWN DURING A TERRIFIC GALE. SALVORS PROPPING UP HER BILGES TO +PREVENT HER FROM FALLING OVER BEFORE THEY STARTED THEIR STERN STRUGGLE +IN THE DARK] + +The first thing the salvage expert did was to put timbers under the +bilges of the steamer to prop her upright and prevent her from falling +on her side. Then, using lifting jacks, he gradually raised her and +placed launchways beneath her keel to prevent her from burrowing into +the shingle when the tugs started to pull her off. This work was +completed just before the highest tide there was likely to be for some +time, and rather than miss this tide the salvors started to get the +steamer back into the sea in the dark. + +Inch by inch they hauled that steamer across the intervening shingle +until half the space was covered, until the seas lapped the launchways, +splashed the keel. It was a tremendous fight. The tugs were hauling to +their last pound. Slowly the launchways disappeared into the water and +at last the salvors felt the _Timbo_ tremble. Another long, strong pull +and the steamer rose to the swell. Success had crowned the efforts of +the salvage specialist. + +Refloating the _Timbo_ was a fine piece of work, just as was the +raising of the steamship _Fleswick_ with compressed air by the same +expert, many years ago. But in raising the _Silurus_, Mr. Ensor +accomplished a feat that ranks with the finest wreck-raising feats +ever accomplished. The _Silurus_ was a dredger, one of the most +powerful ever constructed. Built for duty in the port of Bombay, she +was completed about eighteen months after the outbreak of war. As it +was considered far too risky to attempt to tow her out to India at that +time, she was taken to the Gareloch, where enemy submarines were not +likely to penetrate, and anchored until such days as peace returned. + +She had been serenely sheltered in that haven on the Scottish coast +for nearly a year, when dirty weather sprang up. In the ensuing gale, +she dragged her anchors and was driven hard ashore. Had she remained +upright, a tug might have remedied the matter in a simple fashion +when the tide rose again. But unluckily she grounded on a very steep +shore, which shelved away rapidly, and as the tide dropped she capsized +and buried her funnel so deeply in the mud that she was all but +upside-down. The top of the tower carrying the dredging buckets was +thrust into the bottom of the Gareloch, and while the tower tended to +pull her over, once she had overturned, it no doubt prevented her from +finishing with her keel right in the air. + +As in the cases of the _Onward_ and the liner _St. Paul_, the problem +was to right the ship before she could be pumped out and raised. But +with the _Silurus_, the difficulties were increased by the top hamper, +consisting of the tower with the dredging buckets. + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of H. Ensor & Sons_ + +THE CAPSIZED DREDGER SILURUS, WITH TIMBER FRAMING ERECTED ON HER HULL +TO PREVENT THE STEEL ROPES FROM CUTTING RIGHT THROUGH HER] + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of H. Ensor & Sons_ + +THE WONDERFUL TANGLE OF WIRE ROPES AND GREAT BLOCKS THAT WERE USED TO +PULL THE SILURUS ON TO AN EVEN KEEL AGAIN] + +Mr. Ensor, as unlike a miracle-worker as any one could imagine, went +to the Gareloch and quietly looked over the sunken dredger. She was a +big problem, but not too big for him to tackle. Moreover, he had the +courage to back his ability with his own money. Calmly he offered to +salve the vessel on the usual “no cure, no pay” principle. It meant +risking quite a fortune, but this did not worry him. + +Then he began to get out his plan for righting the vessel, the +intricate calculations such a plan involves being not only amazing, +but perfectly incomprehensible to the average man who is not possessed +of engineering ability. He calculated on obtaining 1000 tons of +lift by pumping compressed air into some of the compartments of the +overturned vessel, and looked to pontoons attached to the tower and +other parts of the structure to aid him in his plans. But, for the real +work of pulling the ship over, he determined to rely on the power of +steam-engines operating on the shore and hauling on a series of giant +steel cables attached all along the ship. + +The risk of pulling the ship to pieces in a job like this is so great +that the novice would drag the ship apart far quicker and easier than +he would drag it upright. If a cable were placed round the hull and a +powerful steam-engine given full play ashore, that cable would crumple +up the steel plates and gradually cut through them like a wire through +a cheese, instead of moving the ship. These were the risks that had to +be avoided. + +Divers started to strengthen the ship with gigantic logs, 12 and 14 +inches square, in order to withstand the terrific strain. A huge, +strong frame of similar logs, protected by steel grooves, was fixed to +the hull, to prevent the cables from cutting the ship to pieces. + +It was slow work, for the salvors could only devote time to the wreck +when there were no important war jobs to claim their attention. +However, they managed to get in a day now and again, preparing for the +great tug-of-war, upon which depended a fortune. Materials were not +easy to obtain owing to the demand for munitions at the Front, so the +salvors had to make shift with anything that would serve their purpose. + +The divers, who set to work with hacksaws to cut holes through the +steel plates for the passage of some of the cables, were greatly +handicapped by the rust and mud, which made the water so cloudy that +the work was difficult to see. Yet they stuck to their job and slowly, +monotonously ate a way with their saws through the metal. Then they +took up the task of preparing the seabed for the ship to come over on. +She was practically lying on a submerged hill, and about a thousand +yards of the seabed had to be removed to make a flat table on which the +ship could rest in safety without slipping over again. All this took +time as well as money. + +Then it was necessary to find something ashore that would withstand the +pull of the ship when the tug-of-war started, something that would be +absolutely immovable while nearly 2000 tons was dragging on the ends of +the hawsers. The salvage expert tackled this difficulty by getting four +old boilers, sinking them into pits dug down to the rock, and filling +them and the space about them with concrete, thus making them as solid +as the rock on which they stood. These boilers were in this way turned +into four bollards, each capable of resisting a pull of 200 tons. Then +a propeller shaft, 12 inches in diameter, was cut into suitable lengths +and from it eighteen more bollards were made and set hard in concrete, +each bollard being capable of withstanding a pull of 100 tons. These +were placed at various intervals on the shore opposite the wreck, and +by the time they were ready the salvors began to juggle with some 10 +miles of steel cable, from 6 inches up to 8½ inches in circumference, +that had been specially made by Bullivant, whose cables have dragged +many a ship back into her element while making a snug sum for the +salvors. + +If there is any special work to be done, any heavy weight to be lifted, +the salvage expert the world over knows he is safe with Bullivant’s +cable, that it will not break at the psychological moment and let him +down. Some of these cables made of twisted strands of steel wire are +12 inches round--as thick as a man’s leg at the calf--and they will +support without breaking a weight of 320 tons: 320 tons could dangle +from this cable in the air and a man could stand under it in perfect +safety. + +The largest hempen ropes made for salvage work are up to 24 inches +round, even 25 inches on occasion, so it can be imagined how difficult +they are to handle. If 1 foot of a 25-inch rope were cut off, it would +be more than most men could lift, for it would weigh 146 lb. A short +length of 15 feet would weigh practically a ton. A rope of this size +will withstand a pull of 125 tons, against the 320 tons of a 12-inch +steel rope. It might be thought that a rope half the size would support +half the weight, but a peculiarity about hempen ropes is that, while +a rope of 4 inches will support 4 tons, if you treble the size of +the rope to 12 inches you increase the breaking strain by more than +sevenfold to 29 tons; double the size of the rope again to 24 inches +and it will support just four times the weight of the 12-inch rope, +or 115 tons. Similarly, the bigger the wire rope, the bigger the load +it will take in proportion. Whereas a 4-inch steel cable will support +35 tons, an 8-inch cable will carry 150 tons, or nearly five times as +much, while a 12-inch cable will support 320 tons, or nearly four times +as much as the 6-inch cable, which takes 88 tons. + +[Illustration: + + _By courtesy of H. Ensor & Sons_ + +THE SILURUS RAISED, WITH THE PONTOONS, WHICH PROVED OF THE UTMOST +ASSISTANCE, FLOATING NEAR BY] + +Few people know that such wonderful ropes exist, but the salvage expert +has full knowledge of where to get them when he requires them, as +he did in the case of the _Silurus_. The ropes were all fixed in place +on the edge of the Gareloch, two batteries of boilers were set up to +supply the power, but before they could be used it was necessary to +arrange a series of signals owing to the fact that the boilers were +out of sight of each other. For one lot to haul faster than the other +would have been fatal. It was absolutely essential that each rope took +its share of the load and that all were hauled on at the same time. As +showing how carefully everything must be considered in so important a +case, the salvors even worked out how much efficiency they would lose +through friction when hauling on the ropes. They left nothing at all to +chance. + +Giant wire ropes were lashed round some of the top gear to prevent it +breaking away when the ship came over, a big trench was cut for one set +of ropes to work in, as only by cutting the trench was it possible here +to get a direct pull on the ship, and at last the signal was given to +haul away. + +Slowly the _Silurus_ came up, her funnel was tugged from beneath 10 +feet of mud. The hauling went on until the pontoons were clear of the +water, until they were no longer a help but a hindrance, so the salvors +cut through the wire lashings with blowpipes and freed them from the +ship. Adjustments were made and the next haul set the _Silurus_ on a +fairly even keel. Despite the strain to which she had been subjected, +the salvor made all his calculations so carefully that she was not in +the least damaged by the operations. Over £56,000 was spent by the +salvor on these operations, but he won his tug-of-war with flying +colours, and the award he received was the reward of sheer merit. + +As already mentioned, the divers used hacksaws to cut holes in the +hull under water. In other cases they may bring into play a range of +pneumatic tools--hammers, chisels, and drills worked by compressed air, +which is pumped through a pipe from a boat on the surface. The hammer +and chisel will deliver hundreds of blows a minute, each blow doing an +almost imperceptible amount of work, but the hundreds of blows tell in +the end. An air-driven drill, in spite of the disadvantages of working +under water, will cut a hole an inch in diameter through a plate or +girder an inch thick in one minute. + +Frequently, it is desired to remove some submerged rock which +interferes with navigation, and for this purpose pneumatic drills are +often brought into play to make the holes for the charges of dynamite. +The diver proceeds by drilling a series of holes, inserting his +cartridges, after which he stops up the top of the hole with a special +stopping in order to drive the force of the explosion downward. Then he +withdraws to the surface and the boat removes to a distance before the +dynamite is exploded. + +Sometimes, however, when it is desired to deepen a rocky channel, a +powerful rock-cutter weighing several tons is brought into play. This +tool is shaped like a pencil and the nose is fitted with a specially +hardened cutter. It is raised to a height and allowed to drop upon the +rock, which it gradually pulverizes and breaks up, the rock-dredger +coming along and completing the work. + +Another method followed in the deepening of the channel of the Clyde +was to use diamond drills for boring the holes for the explosives. +The famous Enderslie Rock which caused all the trouble was revealed +one day about the middle of the nineteenth century through the keel +of a steamer coming into contact with it. Up till that time nobody +knew of its existence, but when this steamer damaged herself the +authorities started investigations. They found a bed of rock just over +900 feet long by 320 feet wide, which menaced the bigger ships that +were beginning to navigate the river. The only way of making shipping +safe was to deepen the channel by removing the rock. Accordingly it +was attacked by men working in a diving bell who began blasting it +away with gunpowder. By 1869, after working on it for five years and +spending £16,000, half the channel was deepened to 14 feet, the other +half remaining at 8 feet. + +Eleven years later the rock was again attacked, this time by diamond +drills worked by steam-engines. Five years of continuous work saw +the rock removed to a depth of 20 feet over the whole channel. This +improvement, which entailed the blasting away of over 100,000 tons +of rock, cost £70,000, so the Enderslie Rock, upon which the Clyde +authorities spent in all a sum of £86,000, proved rather an expensive +obstruction to find in the river. But it was no mean feat to remove it, +as was done, without in any way interfering with the traffic. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +There have been few pluckier fights for a ship than that waged over a +great, camouflaged merchantman torpedoed by the Germans off the Cornish +coast during the war. She was badly holed, but her captain bravely +stuck to her and managed to beach her near Bude. + +Hastening to her aid, the salvage officer found her on a beach exposed +to the full force of the Atlantic. With wind and sea rapidly rising, +it was obvious that nothing could prevent her from going to pieces. +The rollers were battering her, shaking and straining her ominously, +seeking to finish what the German torpedo had begun. + +So desperate was her situation that her one chance lay in reaching a +more sheltered spot. The salvage officer looked at the sky, saw the +wind blowing the crests off the waves, then he got busy. Working at +pressure, he and his men managed to set a few baulks of timber within +the ship to strengthen the damaged hull, and as the tide rose his tugs +and salvage vessel started to haul her off the beach. He knew she was +in a sinking condition, that she might go down before he could get her +to a place of safety, but against this risk was her certain loss if she +remained where she was. + +Then began his struggle to beat the coming gale. The steamer was quite +unmanageable, so he set two tugs hauling away in front, while he hung +on behind with the salvage vessel, making his ship play the part of +a rudder to the damaged craft. Along the coast northward the little +procession made its way. The pumps were working continuously, throwing +out tons of water, but they could not conquer the inrush. The captain +and crew were still aboard, fighting hard to keep down the water. But +all their efforts were useless. Gradually the ship sank lower and lower +in the seas, and by the time they had reached Hartland Point--one of +the most dangerous spots on that exposed coast--her end seemed but a +matter of minutes. Her decks were practically awash. Heavy seas rolled +right over them, and it became imperative to take off the men aboard. +A dozen attempts were made in those heaving seas before the crew were +rescued, and as the last man left he cast off the towing hawsers. + +Only the _Ranger_, that famous salvage ship, hung on, still straining +at the stern of the sinking steamer. A man stood by to slip the cable +as she foundered, and the rescued crew crowded round to see her go, all +waiting tensely for the end. + +[Illustration: THE SHIP WHICH WAS GIVEN UP FOR LOST, AFTER HER MEN HAD +BEEN RESCUED WITH DIFFICULTY. THE TUGS, TO AVOID BEING DRAGGED DOWN BY +THE FOUNDERING VESSEL, CAST OFF THEIR HAWSERS, BUT THE SALVAGE STEAMER +STILL HUNG ON TO THE STERN AND 7 GALLANT MEN GAMBLED WITH DEATH IN A +LAST EFFORT TO SALVE HER] + +For a few moments the salvage officer watched the torpedoed ship. +A few miles along the coast was Clovelly and safety. He wondered if +he could make it in spite of everything, if there was yet a chance of +snatching a victory over wind and wave, not to mention the Germans. +After a close scrutiny of the ship, he determined to try. + +[Illustration: IN THE FACE OF INCREDIBLE DIFFICULTIES THE SALVAGE MEN +TRIUMPHANTLY BEACHED THE SINKING STEAMER AT CLOVELLY] + +Turning to his men, he called for volunteers to help him make one last +attempt. Half a dozen men stepped forward. All knew the odds were +against them, that a watery grave probably awaited them. Yet none +hesitated. + +Watching their opportunity, they brought their boat alongside the +sinking ship and scrambled aboard. Then they took up the fight again. +By great good fortune she had a donkey-engine on her upper deck, and +the salvors succeeded in starting it up and getting the pumps working +again. That donkey-engine proved their salvation, just enabled her to +keep afloat. But it was touch and go all the time. + +These seven gallant men in the end brought the ship to Clovelly harbour +and put her ashore on that stony beach right under the picturesque +village. She was nicely sheltered, and the salvors were able to fit her +with a standard patch before taking her to dry dock. Thus the salvors +wrested a victory out of the very jaws of defeat. + +Several successful dramatists have staged a thrilling fight between +divers, many a novelist penned vivid descriptions of similar +encounters to make the hearts of his readers beat a little faster. Yet +such struggles between real divers in the depths of the sea are so rare +that it is doubtful if more than one authentic case exists. + +This historic fight between divers took place at the bottom of the +Solent during the recovery of some of the relics from the _Royal +George_. The two divers, Jones and Girvan, were keen men, proud of +their skill as submarine workers, each a little jealous of the other. +One day Jones came across a cannon buried in the sand and, being unable +to deal with it, marked it for a future occasion. Divers as a rule +are extremely chivalrous. They would scorn to take a mean advantage, +and they would never think of breaking the rule that what one finds, +the finder salves. Whether Girvan, coming on the cannon, thought it +a new find that he was entitled to salve, or whether he deliberately +made up his mind to try to salve the other diver’s find, is not known. +All we know is that Jones, who had been working some little distance +away, came on Girvan trying to get out the cannon. Naturally, Jones +was indignant, and indicated to Girvan by energetic dumb show that the +latter had no right to deal with the piece. + +Girvan was by no means inclined to relinquish the cannon, and further +remonstrances were followed up by blows. The divers began a rough and +tumble fight at the bottom of the sea, striking at each other savagely +with their fists. They were by no means equally matched, for Jones was +much the smaller man of the two. Realizing that the encounter might +cost him his life, he took the first opportunity of trying to get to +the surface. Reaching the shot-rope, he went up it about 5 or 6 feet, +closely pursued by Girvan who, grabbing his legs, did his utmost to +pull him down again. The divers fought desperately in their rage, Jones +to get away from those clutching hands that gripped his legs, Girvan +to drag him to the seabed again, and that dramatic fight reached its +climax in the greatest disaster that can overtake a diver. The glass +of Girvan’s helmet was smashed by a blow, and as the water swept in it +seemed that his end was nigh. + +Luckily, however, the men on the surface, unable to explain the violent +agitation of the lines and feeling that something serious must be +wrong, dragged both men to the top. Girvan’s smashed helmet told its +own tale and set them working frantically to pull him round. He was +at his last gasp. Another minute and they would have been too late. +He was removed to hospital, where his splendid physique, coupled with +excellent nursing, enabled him to pull round. Those two divers who +fought that strange fight at the bottom of the Solent came to the +conclusion that it did not pay for divers to disagree, so they ended +their differences by becoming the staunchest of friends. + +Other attendants in tropic waters, feeling a strange dragging at the +lines, have also drawn the divers to the surface without loss of time, +to find them in the clutches of the deadly octopus, whose horrible +tentacles have been coiling round the divers, striving to draw them +within reach of the deadly beak that would go through the rubber diving +dress as though it were paper. There, on the deck of the diving vessel, +they have had to fight desperately to free the divers from the grip +of the loathsome creature, only succeeding in the end by chopping +and hacking away the encircling tentacles. As recently as the spring +of 1924, when I happened to be in the South of France, a diver at +Marseilles had to be rescued from an octopus in this thrilling manner. + +The octopus, or squid, is, indeed, the greatest danger that the diver +has to face beneath the surface of the sea so far as the denizens of +the deep are concerned. Those squids occasionally found round the +British coast are too small to threaten the diver, but in warmer +waters, where the squid attains a huge size, he will rapidly attack any +unlucky diver who unconsciously ventures too near his deep-sea lair. + +The habits of fish are rather quaint. Should they be near the surface +when a shadow falls on the water, a flick of the tail sends them +disappearing into the depths. But undersea they are as inquisitive as +cows. When fish see a diver standing still on the bottom, they find +something about him too fascinating to withstand. Perhaps it is his +form, perhaps the long line of bubbles flowing continually from the +exhaust valve of his helmet. Whatever it is, they are drawn to the +strange creature, and their fishy mouths suck at arms and legs and +body in an effort to find out whether the diver is good to eat. The +least movement sends them speeding away. The bigger fish are just as +inquisitive, and just as easily scared. The diver needs only to open +his air valve to let a little air escape in order to frighten them out +of their fishy wits. Even the shark, the so-called tiger of the seas, +is not generally feared by divers, for he is as scared by a sudden +escape of air from the valve as are the smaller fish. + +Yet the shark is fearfully inquisitive, and will come back again and +again to see what the strange figure is doing. Sometimes, indeed, the +same shark becomes such a confounded nuisance, and the diver wastes so +much time in scaring him away, that he is forced to put an end to the +intrusion by slaying the monster. One diver, who had been worried day +after day by the same shark, was compelled to signal to the surface for +a knife. He then calmly held out his hand as bait, just as you hold out +a bone to a dog, and as the monster turned to snap the delicacy, he +stabbed it to death. Slipping a noose round the body of the fish, he +sent it to the surface so that it would not attract other unwelcome +visitors--for the scent of death in the sea is carried far afield by +the invisible currents and soon brings the sea creatures swarming +round--and was then able to resume his work in peace. + +As already mentioned, it is often difficult for divers to see owing to +the sand and mud suspended in the water, especially near the mouths of +big rivers. A few feet down, and the light is quite shut out by the +clouds of mud and sand floating about. Sometimes the divers work up to +their armpits in foul slime--I recollect some years ago when a racing +yacht was recovered from underneath 20 feet of mud--at other times +the mud is so deep and thick that they spread-eagle themselves on its +surface and manage to work in this recumbent attitude. + +But when the diver gets to a hard bottom he is not handicapped in this +way, and in sunnier climes and seas he can easily see at a depth of +100 feet. The sea-growths around Great Britain are not to be compared +in size and colouring with the lovely tropic growths of coral and +fern-like weed found in the warmer waters. Out, for instance, in the +Pacific the depths of some of the lagoons are just like Fairyland: +filmy forests of ribbons and ferns, inhabited by fish of the most +gorgeous and dazzling colours, butterflies of the deep. This submarine +scenery, in its way, is as beautiful as anything to be found on earth. + +More than one salvage man in the past has made a snug fortune salving +ships on the distant coasts of South America and the Pacific, often in +the most simple manner by patching and pumping. Until comparatively +recently the salvage man, if he wanted to lift a vessel, generally +bought up a couple of old hulks and used these for slinging the wreck +inshore. By the time the wreck was beached, the hulks were about +smashed to pieces. + +The principle of lifting a ship by means of a coffer-dam has already +been indicated. It was a principle of which Mr. Tom Armit was a +brilliant exponent. He raised several ships this way, building timbers +all round to extend the hull upward, and then timbering all this over, +virtually adding another deck to the ship. This coffer-dam, covering +the whole ship, was made watertight, and, as it was pumped out, the +added buoyancy refloated the ship. If leaks happened to manifest in the +coffer-dam during pumping operations, the salvors calmly fed spun oakum +into the water which carried it into the leak and soon stopped it! + +On occasions during a collision at sea, mattresses and clothes have +been thrown into the water, which has carried them to the leak, where +they have become wedged, enabling the sailors aboard ship to tackle +the damage from the inside. Collision mats are specially made for such +emergencies so that they may be lowered over the hole, the pressure +of the water holding them tightly against the side of the ship and +enabling the carpenter to get to work on the inside as the inrush of +water is stopped. Another salvor’s trick is to stretch a tarpaulin over +the hole to hold back the water. It is but temporary, yet it enables +him to gain time to get timbers in place inside so that the pumps can +then deal with the water that finds its way in. There are also special +patches that may be pushed through the hole in the hull from the inside +of the ship and opened out like an umbrella, after which they are drawn +tightly against the hull by screwing up from the inside. + +Pontoons alone have raised more than one little wreck in the manner +already described. Other small ships have been raised by filling their +holds with air-tight bags which, upon being blown up, have striven to +rise to the surface, carrying the wreck with them, much to the delight +of the salvors. + +Vickers, the great armament firm, have their own patent system of +raising wrecks by means of canvas containers. An American concern has +a submarine machine, something like an army tank in appearance, for +drilling holes in the hull of a sunken ship. These holes are drilled +in line and large hooks are inserted, to which are attached strong, +air-tight containers, one to each hook. The intention is to drill holes +along each side of the hull of a wreck, attach the air bags, blow them +up and lift the craft. + +Whether the plates composing the hull of a ship are strong enough to +support the entire weight of a ship in this way, or whether they would +collapse under the strain of raising the ship from the bottom remains +to be seen. It must be borne in mind that the backbone of a ship is +the keel, that the whole ship is built up from the keel, which is its +strongest part, the foundation of the ship. The inventors of this new +system propose to lift the dead weight of the ship from the seabed, but +hitherto salvors who have accomplished these feats have always swept +their cables under the keel of the vessel to avoid the risk of pulling +her to pieces. + +Before the War there existed at least one special lifting craft, +consisting of two steamers linked together by strong girders. These +twin craft were brought into position so that the wreck lay between +them, cables were fixed under the wreck, and the lifting craft picked +up the sunken ship as the tide rose, steamed away with it until it +grounded again, when the operation would be repeated next tide. + +The salvors have several ingenious ways of getting cables into +position. Sometimes two tugs towing cables between them sweep them +under the wreck. At other times the end is let down to a diver who digs +or scrapes a hole under the keel and forces the cable through; another +rope is then let down from above, the diver attaches it to the end of +the cable, which is drawn to the surface and attached to the lifting +craft. A quicker method of forcing a hole under the keel is to use a +powerful pump which, directed by the diver, rapidly drives a way under +the wreck for the lifting cable. + +It was while using a pump for this purpose on the wreck of the +_Intrepid_ on the Belgian seaboard that a most amazing adventure befell +a diver of the Salvage Section. The wreck was buried 20 feet in clay +and mud, and the diver by skilful use of the pump dug his way down to +the keel. He was standing at the bottom of this pit when it caved in on +top of him. He was buried alive, held as in a vice under a dozen feet +of mud and clay, the weight of which doubled him up. + +Luckily he still retained his hold of the pump, and after a desperate +struggle managed to direct the jet of water on to himself until he +loosened one arm. As the water softened the clay, he worked the other +arm free, then little by little his legs. Wrapping them round a wire, +he directed the pump upwards and inch by inch wriggled and burrowed his +way through that dozen feet of clay to the surface. His air-pipe was +hopelessly entangled, so he was compelled to cut it before he could be +hauled up to safety. No diver would care to undergo such an experience +a second time. + +Comedy so seldom plays a part in diving adventures that a case which +occurred some years ago is worth recording. Divers had been at work +for some time hauling the cargo out of a submerged wreck, when one +of them, upon being drawn up, displayed quite exceptional signs of +exhaustion. A sleep soon put him right, and he resumed work next day. + +Again he showed signs of acute fatigue, which passed away after a +night’s rest. The following morning he went down as usual, and this +time when he came up he was quite unable to stand. He collapsed on the +deck, while those aboard crowded round, very concerned about his safety. + +Hastily unscrewing his helmet, one of the salvors sniffed in a puzzled +sort of way. A familiar smell came to his nostrils. He sniffed once +more, the others looking at him queerly. + +“What’s wrong?” + +“Whisky!” muttered the kneeling man, thinking his sense of smell must +have betrayed him. + +They all sniffed in unison, and the smell was unmistakable. + +“He’s drunk!” said the first man. + +The idea was preposterous! + +“But how----?” queried another. + +That was the question which baffled them. How was it possible for +a diver to get drunk under water? The mystery would have delighted +Sherlock Holmes. There were cases of whisky in the wreck at the bottom +of the sea, but the diver would be drowned if he attempted to drink +it. He was imprisoned in his suit. So how? + +Not a word did they say to the drowsy diver, but when he went down the +following day another diver discreetly followed. He saw the first diver +take a bottle of whisky and proceed to a cabin. Instantly the mystery +was cleared up. The exhaust air from his helmet, collecting here, had +formed an air pocket, and the diver, poking his helmet out of the +water, calmly unscrewed the glass front and took a good pull at the +bottle. In this ingenious manner did he manage to get drunk under water! + +For recovering metal objects, such as anchors accidentally lost in +dock, there is the electric magnet. Among other inventions for seeing +on the seabed and recovering lost treasure is the hydroscope of the +Italian, Cavaliere Pino. The hydroscope is a floating chamber, from +which depends a series of steel pipes that may be extended or shortened +at will, just like a telescope. The pipes terminate in a chamber with +observation windows made of stout glass, and a man sitting here can +observe the whole seabed round about, provided the water is clear, +while the hydroscope is being slowly towed along on the surface. + +[Illustration: WHEN A SHIP OVERTURNS ON QUICKSANDS, THE SALVORS ERECT +GREAT LEGS ON THE HULL, AS SHOWN HERE, AND TAKE STRONG STEEL CABLES +FROM THE MASTS OF THE WRECK OVER THE TOPS OF THESE LEGS AND HAUL ON +THEM UNTIL THEY DRAG THE SHIP UPRIGHT] + +The hydroscope has done some good work, and by its aid one wreck was +raised in five hours after salvors who had been working on it for +months had declared that the craft was lost for ever. It was this +Italian invention that the Japanese used in clearing the sunken +Russian fleet from the bottom of Port Arthur after the termination of +the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. A similar invention worked out by a Mr. +Williamson has resulted in some extraordinary underwater cinema films +being secured. + +The War led to a big development in the use of compressed air for +raising wrecks, divers sealing up all the apertures in the tops of the +wrecks with concrete to imprison the compressed air, which was then +pumped into the ship until enough water was expelled to enable her to +float. The War also hatched a crop of cranky salvage ideas that gave +some of the salvage experts one or two happy moments. + +One such moment was just after the War, when an American walked into +one of the British shipping departments and requested to be allowed +to salve a ship in order to demonstrate the efficiency of his new +method. The officer to whom the stranger went was courteous, listening +attentively to the American’s demand, and inquiring at last which ship +of the few hundreds sunk round our coasts he would like to demonstrate +on. + +“Any one!” said the American. “I don’t mind. The bigger the better. +What about the _Lusitania_?” + +“She’s rather deep,” it was suggested. + +“That doesn’t matter. It makes no difference to me what the depth is,” +came the easy reply. + +The officer put a few questions, and then learned that the stranger +designed to use a submarine, which was to fire torpedoes right through +the _Lusitania_, each torpedo carrying with it a steel cable. These +were to be picked up at the other side and taken to the surface, and +then the wreck was to be dragged bodily out of the depths! + +That scheme to salve a ship by first of all smashing a series of holes +through her hull with torpedoes did not commend itself to the British +expert. It was, indeed, quite impracticable. + +None the less, there are people who still wonder if it will ever be +possible to salve the _Lusitania_, which was torpedoed off the Irish +coast on May 7, 1915. From time to time the matter keeps cropping up. + +Those who are curious on the subject may be interested to know that +the chances of raising the _Lusitania_ are so small as to be almost +negligible. The sheer weight of the sea quickly obliterates man’s +handiwork, and the _Lusitania_ probably ceased to be a ship years ago. +It is extremely likely that the tremendous pressure to which she was +subjected at the depth of 288 feet long ago crushed her flat. Proposals +have been made to try to salve the valuable 30-ton safe from the +strong-room of the liner, but personally I should not care to back such +an enterprise. + +The marvellous endurance of divers in going to great depths has been +touched on in previous chapters, but perhaps the strangest task ever +given to a diver was that of saving a cathedral. Some years ago, +Winchester Cathedral was in such grave danger of collapsing that it +became necessary to underpin the walls and strengthen the foundations. +The whole cathedral stood upon a water-logged peat bog, the ancient +builders upon reaching water having laid logs of beech to take +their foundations. The modern architect, Mr. T. G. Jackson, and his +engineering collaborator, Mr. Francis Fox, knew that to pump the water +out would be practically to pump the cathedral to destruction, for the +drift of the water was bound to carry the silt and gravel away from +other portions of the building to where the pumps were working, and so +bring about the collapse of the famous edifice. + +After careful study of the difficulties, the engineer called in one +of the crack divers of Siebe, Gorman & Company to carry out his plan. +It was found that the beech logs put in by the ancient builders at +water-level were resting on 6 feet of clay, which in turn covered a +depth of just over 8 feet of peat, this in turn resting on a bed of +gravel. To save the cathedral it was essential to excavate all the clay +and peat down to the gravel, and replace it with concrete up to the +foundations of the building. + +The walls of the cathedral, properly supported, were treated in small +sections of about 5 feet. The clay was dug out, then the diver +entered the hole and, working in absolute darkness, removed the peat +down to the level of the gravel. Bags of dry concrete were lowered +to him and packed in tightly, a layer at a time, the diver splitting +them open and spreading the contents evenly. In this way the hole was +completely filled. The water soon turned the concrete into a rock-like +mass, upon which the masons were able to build solidly right up to the +foundations, from which the beech trees were carefully removed. Nothing +like it was ever attempted before, so Winchester can boast that its +cathedral is the only one in the world that has been given a solid +foundation by a diver. + +Just as the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_ by the Germans stirred the +whole world, so the sinking of the American flagship _Maine_ in Havana +harbour on February 18, 1898, stirred the people of the United States +and led to the war with Spain. A giant explosion in the middle of the +night carried the American battleship to the bottom with 266 officers +and men, and it was asserted that the Spaniards had deliberately +blown her up. The result was a war in which Spain lost Cuba and the +Philippines. + +Long years afterwards, in 1910, Congress voted a sum of £60,000 and +the work of investigating the wrecked battleship was put in hand. +Tackling their task in a most masterly manner, the engineers decided to +enclose the whole wreck in one huge coffer-dam built of steel piles +driven down through the mud until they were embedded 13 feet in the +solid clay. As the wreck lay in 37 feet of water, with 20 feet of mud +below that, the piles would emerge 5 feet above the surface of the sea, +providing a wall too high for the water to wash over. + +Knowing full well that they would find it difficult to create a plain +circle of piles round the ship to withstand the pressure of the sea, +the engineers decided to build what really amounted to a series of +gigantic barrels, standing on end in the sea with their sides touching. +These barrels, twenty-two in number, varied between 40 feet and 50 +feet across. The staves of the barrels were formed by the steel piles +which were made to interlock as they were driven in side by side, and +where the barrels, or caissions, touched, further piles were driven to +enclose the space and strengthen the junction. + +For months the hammer-blows of the pile drivers resounded over the +harbour, and at last the coffer-dam--a most marvellous piece of +work--was finished and filled with dredged clay. Within a year the +salvage operations were completed at a cost of £135,000. The experts +watched with keen eyes as the pumps lowered the water within the +coffer-dam and the wreck slowly emerged from the slime. There the +battleship lay, a twisted mass of metal, and, before patching up the +afterpart and taking it out on March 16, 1912, to bury in the broad +Atlantic, the specialists held their inquest, striving to discover +whether the explosion that sank her was caused from inside or outside. + +Such a thing after a ship has been at the bottom for over twelve years +is almost impossible to determine. It was said that the explosion came +from outside, but the doubt will always exist that the Spanish American +War may have been due to a grave error on the part of America, and that +the _Maine_ instead of being blown up by the Spaniards, was destroyed +by the spontaneous combustion of the explosives in her magazines, just +as French, Japanese and British warships have been destroyed in the +same accidental manner. + + + + +INDEX + + + Aberdeen, _Milwaukee_ wrecked near, 181. + + Accidents rare in salvage work, 8. + + Admiralty divers and _Laurentic_, 65–78. + + Admiralty list of wrecks, 112. + + Admiralty Salvage Section, formation of, 95. + + Admiralty Salvage Section, ships salved by, 111. + + Admiralty Salvage Section, work on Belgian Coast, 115. + + Adventure aboard American submarine, 149. + + Adventure of diver, 208. + + Air bags, ships salved by, 206. + + Air keeps back water, 85. + + Air-lock, 85, 87. + + Air-pressure blows man to surface of sea, 151. + + Air _versus_ water, 35, 36. + + Allies and shipbuilding programme, 113. + + _Alphonso XII._, treasure recovered, 57. + + American Line, 165. + + American salvage records, 156. + + American submarine, discovery of drifting, 144. + + American submarine F.4, tragedy of, 152. + + American submarine O.5 sinks, 151. + + American submarine S.5, ordeal of, 141. + + Amsterdam, 31. + + _Araby_, 174–179. + + Argyll, Duke of, 21. + + Armada wreck, discovery of, 17. + + Arming merchantmen in war, 97. + + Armistice, war wrecks salved after, 112. + + Armit salves a ship in halves, 181. + + Armit, Tom, 181, 205. + + Atrocity, _Belgian Prince_, 118. + + _Audacious_, H.M.S., 19. + + Award of £22,000 for salvage, 184. + + + Bad weather foils treasure-hunters, 47. + + Ballast tanks in submarine, 132. + + Ballast, using sea as, 111. + + Battle with sand, 30. + + Battleship floating upside-down, 87, 90. + + Battleship raised by compressed air, 90. + + Battleship, salving a, 79–93. + + Battleship, shells salved from wreck, 84. + + Battleship sinks upside-down, 82. + + Baulks of timber, 90. + + Belgian coast, salvage work on, 115. + + _Belgian Prince_, tragedy of, 118, 119. + + Bell of _Lutine_, 26. + + Blasting for treasure, 31. + + Blasting through bulkheads, 169. + + Blazing sea, 161. + + Blazing ship shelled, 162, 163. + + Blow-pipes melt submarine’s plates, 138. + + Boilers as bollards, 191. + + Bollards made from boilers, 191. + + Bombay, 188. + + Boulogne harbour, clearing of, 175. + + Brave deed of salvage men, 199. + + Breathing compressed air, 35, 36. + + Breault, Henry, imprisoned for thirty hours in submarine, 151. + + Britain’s food supplies restricted, 96. + + _Britannia_, extent of damage to, 172. + + _Britannia_ torpedoed in Mediterranean, 173. + + British battleship torpedoed, 173. + + British diving record, 38, 68. + + British Government and war wrecks, 112. + + British Government insures all ships, 96. + + British Navy’s treasure-hunt, 65–78. + + British sailor escapes from sunken submarine, 149. + + British salvage companies and Admiralty, 94. + + British Salvage Section carries German submarine 40 miles, 158. + + British Salvage Section fights U-boat menace, 97. + + British Salvage Section, method of working, 97. + + British submarine disaster, 133. + + British warships and spontaneous combustion, 216. + + Brown, Lawrence, imprisoned for thirty hours in submarine, 151. + + _Brussels_, raising the, 159. + + Bude, torpedoed ship beached near, 197. + + Bulkheads, 107. + + Bulkheads cause trouble, 169. + + Bullivant’s cable, 191. + + Burial at sea, 130. + + Burning ship sunk, 162. + + Business men and treasure, 11. + + Butler, Charles, escapes from sunken submarine, 151. + + + Cables for carrying submarine, 125. + + Cables, how placed under wreck, 125. + + Calmness of British seamen in danger, 133. + + Camera, how cinema man saved, 150. + + Cape Finisterre, 46. + + Captain Kidd, 11. + + Carpi, General, 93. + + Cathedral restored by diver, 213. + + Chapman, R. E., 168. + + Charts, concealed, 99. + + Charts full of flags, 99. + + Chinese pirates chase treasure-hunters, 62–64. + + Cinema man sinks with submarine, 150. + + _City of Paris_, wreck of, 182. + + Clock, a maddening, 152. + + Clothes of diver, 39. + + Clovelly harbour, 199. + + Clyde, 132. + + Clyde, cost of deepening, 195, 196. + + Code, diver’s, 40. + + Coffer-dam round _Maine_, 213. + + Coffer-dam, used on _St. Paul_, 170. + + Coffer-dam, use in salvage work, 166. + + Coincidence, the strange case of _Gladiator_ and _St. Paul_, 167. + + Collision between _War Knight_ and _O. B. Jennings_, 160–163. + + Collision mats, 205. + + Collision that cost £1,000,000, 163. + + Commander Kay, 111. + + Compressed air and sunken battleship, 85. + + Compressed air, breathing, 35, 36. + + Compressed air raises battleship, 90. + + Compressed air, tools worked by, 194. + + Compressed air, used on H.M.S. _Britannia_, 172. + + Concrete, ship patched with, 180. + + Concrete, used to salve ship, 175. + + Congress and loss of _Maine_, 214. + + Conning tower, the protruding hand, 157. + + Continental markets destroyed, 114. + + Convoy, accident to, 161. + + Cork packed into battleship to give buoyancy, 88. + + Cost of salvage operation on H.M.S. _Gladiator_, 167. + + Cradle of cables for U.44, 125. + + Craft, lifting, 126, 127. + + Crew drowned by Germans, 119. + + Crime, a German submarine, 120. + + Cunningham, Commander, 183. + + Currents hinder salvage operations, 30. + + Currents play pranks, 29. + + + Damage to H.M.S. _Gladiator_, 165. + + Damant, Commander, 68. + + Davis, Commander G., and U.44, 123. + + Davis, Commander, raises minesweeper, 124. + + Davis, Commander, wins D.S.C., 129. + + Davis, R. H., 41. + + Deepening channels, method of, 195. + + Deepening Clyde, cost of, 195, 196. + + Depth beats divers, 47. + + Depth charge, 117. + + Depth, greatest, ever reached by diver, 155, 156, 157. + + Derricks, floating, 170. + + Detectives, deep-sea, 117. + + Diamond drills used on Clyde channel, 195. + + Director of Naval Salvage, his calmness, 98. + + Disaster of K.13, 132. + + Diver and sea pressure, 35. + + Diver attacked by octopus, 202. + + Diver buried alive, 208. + + Diver caught at 200 feet, 156. + + Diver crushed by pressure, 154. + + Diver, difficulty of movement at great depths, 155. + + Diver explores flooded Severn tunnel, 54. + + Diver Girvan, his fight on seabed, 200. + + Diver, how clothed, 38, 39. + + Diver Jones, his fight on seabed, 200. + + Diver Lambert, 50. + + Diver offers his hand to shark, 203. + + Diver Penk helps to salve specie, 61. + + Diver restores a cathedral, 213. + + Diver Ridyard salves treasure from a depth of 156 feet, 61. + + Diver, sea plays with, 72. + + Diver, why he cannot whistle, 73. + + Diver works in darkness, 214. + + Divers and inquisitive fish, 202, 203. + + Divers and mud, 204. + + Divers beaten by depth, 47. + + Diver’s boots, weight of, 39. + + Divers breathe compressed air, 35. + + Diver’s code, 40. + + Divers communicate with submarine prisoners, 137. + + Divers discover the lost K.13, 136. + + Divers, fat and slim, 34, 35. + + Diver’s feat in Severn tunnel, 50–55. + + Divers feed submarine prisoners, 137. + + Divers fight on seabed, 200. + + Divers gassed, 178–179. + + Divers lash pontoons to wreck, 89. + + Diver’s luck, 15. + + Diver’s palsy, its cause, 36. + + Diver’s physique, 34. + + Divers, risks of, 49. + + Divers share nearly £6,000, 78. + + Diver’s strange experience, 69. + + Divers survey wreck of _Leonardo da Vinci_, 82. + + Divers use hacksaws, 190. + + Divers use pneumatic chisels, 165. + + Divers wear masks, 170. + + Divers work at 190 feet, 157. + + Divers work in mud, 168. + + Divers work on Belgian coast, 116. + + Diving bell crushed by pressure, 154. + + Diving code, 40. + + Diving dress, 39. + + Diving dress, all metal, 42. + + Diving dresses, ancient, 41. + + Diving, rate of ascent, 37. + + Diving record, British, 38. + + Diving record, British, date of, 68. + + Diving, science of, 34. + + Diving strains, 34, 35. + + Diving to 304 feet, 155. + + Diving tragedy, 178. + + Donegal, 65. + + Doubloons discovered, 18. + + Dredger, salving a, 188. + + Dredging a 1½-mile channel, 89. + + Dress, diving, 39. + + Drill worked by air, 194. + + Drills, diamond, used on Clyde, 195. + + Drink, a lucky, 64. + + Duke of Argyll, 21. + + Duncan, Admiral, 22. + + Dutch claim _Lutine_, 24. + + Dynamite, cutting ship in two with, 181. + + + Electric cable laid 1½ miles out to sea, 84. + + Electric magnet, 210. + + Electric pump, invention of, 103, 104. + + Electric pump, weight of, 104. + + Electric torch, wonder of, 169. + + Electricity helps to salve battleship, 84. + + Emergency patches, 206. + + Enderslie Rock, 195. + + Enemy buried at sea, 130. + + Engineer patches ship with concrete, 180. + + Engines raise a ship, 164, 165. + + Ensor, Henry, 94, 186–194. + + Entombed in submarine, 133. + + Entombed miners rescued, 42. + + Erostarbe, Angel, his diving record, 48. + + Escapes from sunken submarines, 139, 145, 146–152. + + Explosion off Waterford, 122. + + + F.4, American submarine disaster, 152. + + F.4, discovery of, 153. + + F.4, plans for recovery, 153. + + Falmouth, _City of Paris_ towed to, 183. + + Faruffini, General, 93. + + Ferrati, General, 81. + + Fight on seabed between divers, 200. + + Finisterre, Cape, 46. + + Fire, disaster to oil tankers, 161. + + Fire in sunken submarine, 151. + + Fish and divers, 202, 203. + + Fish scent death, 204. + + Fishing for treasure, 24. + + Flags stuck in maps, 99. + + _Fleswick_, salving the, 187. + + Floating dock proposed for raising _Leonardo da Vinci_, 81. + + Flooding of Severn tunnel, 51. + + Floor of gold, 61. + + _Florencia’s_ treasure, 19. + + Fluess, 51–53 + + _Flying Dutchman_, 167. + + Folkestone, 163. + + Food supplies restricted in Britain, 96. + + Fortune from a rumour, 15. + + Fortune saved by a drink, 64. + + Foundering ship salved, 197–199. + + Fox, Francis, his work on Winchester Cathedral, 213. + + French warships and spontaneous combustion, 216. + + Fryatt, Captain, 159. + + Funnels, folding, on British submarine, 131. + + Furness Withy, 183. + + + Gale cheats salvors, 31. + + Gale snaps cables, 154. + + Gale stops salvage of U-boat, 126. + + Gales baffle salvors of _Laurentic_, 75. + + Gales stop salvage work, 108. + + Gales, strength of, 8. + + Gallantry of salvors, 199. + + Gardiner, Captain, 28. + + Gareloch, 132, 188. + + Garonne, 181. + + Gear lost, 7. + + _General Goethals_, 143. + + German mines off Waterford, 121. + + German ships seized, 114. + + German submarine campaign, 96. + + German submarine raised from 190 feet, 158. + + German submarine sinks oil tanker, 163. + + German submarines netted, 116. + + German submarines, risk of salving, 128. + + Germans block Ostend harbour, 116. + + Germans buried at sea, 130. + + Germans drown crew of _Belgian Prince_, 119. + + Germans fail to raise _Vindictive_, 115. + + Germans miss lifebelts, 120. + + Germans sink ships at sight, 96. + + Germans torpedo British battleship, 173. + + Germans torpedo merchantmen, 96. + + Gianelli, Major, work on _Leonardo da Vinci_, 83. + + Giant bollards made from boilers, 191. + + Giant wooden frame supports battleship, 91. + + Girvan, Diver, dramatic fight on seabed, 200. + + _Gladiator_, wreck of H.M.S., 165–167. + + _Goeben_, 180. + + Gold, floor of, 61. + + Goodhart, Commander F. H. M., D.S.O., 134. + + Goodhart, Commander, his heroic death, 135. + + Grain, action of sea on, 178. + + Grapnels, 124. + + Great War, salvage work in, 94–116. + + Great War, ships salved and their value, 111. + + Gun-turrets, detaching submerged, 87. + + Gwynne pumps, 104. + + + Hacksaws, used by divers, 190. + + _Hamilla Mitchell_, wreck of, 58–64. + + Hammer worked by air, 194. + + Havana harbour, loss of _Maine_ in, 214. + + Herbert, Commander Godfrey, D.S.O., 133. + + Herbert, Commander, his escape from sunken K.13, 135. + + Honolulu, 152. + + Honolulu, tide at, 153. + + Hydroscope, 210. + + _Hypatia_, wreck of, 9. + + + Imprisoned in submarine, 146–152. + + Incas of Peru, 11. + + Inchkeith, 172. + + Inquisitive fish, 202, 203. + + _Intrepid_, wreck, 208. + + Invention, an American salvage, 206. + + Invention of electric pump, 103. + + Invention of modern diving dress, 41. + + Isle of Mull, 19. + + Italian Naval Engineering Corps, 81. + + Italian salvage feat, 79. + + Italians dredge 1½-mile channel, 89. + + + Jackson, T. G., his work on Winchester Cathedral, 213. + + Japan raises sunken Russian warships, 211. + + Jellicoe, Lieutenant-Colonel R. V., 175. + + Jones, Diver, his fight under the sea, 200. + + Junks, chased by, 62. + + + K.13, loss of, 131–140. + + K.14, 134. + + Kay, Commander, 108. + + Kay, Commander, and K.13, 137. + + Kidd, Captain, 11. + + + Lagoons, scenes at bottom of, 204. + + Lake Huron, treasure-hunting in, 154. + + Lambert, Alexander, 50. + + Lambert and Severn tunnel, 50–55. + + Lambert explores flooded Severn tunnel, 54. + + Lambert finds treasure of _Alphonso XII._, 57. + + Lamps, submarine, 157. + + Launchways, their use, 187. + + _Laurentic_, blasting operations, 74, 75. + + _Laurentic_ crushed by sea, 72. + + _Laurentic_, depth of wreck, 67. + + _Laurentic_, difficulties of salving treasure, 72–78. + + _Laurentic_ disaster, 65. + + _Laurentic_, length of time divers can work, 73, 74. + + _Laurentic_, lives lost, 67. + + _Laurentic_, value of treasure aboard, 66. + + Leak stopped by oakum, 205. + + Leaks obscured by oil, 86. + + _Leonardo da Vinci_, loss of, 79. + + _Leonardo da Vinci_, armament and cost, 80. + + _Leonardo da Vinci_, plans for salving, 81. + + _Leonardo da Vinci_ floats upside-down, 90. + + Leuconna Rock, 58. + + Leverhulme, Lord, 13. + + Lifebelts, concealed, 120. + + Lifting craft, linked, 207. + + Lifting methods, 125. + + Lifting the _Brussels_, 159. + + Lifting vessels, modern, 126. + + Lighthouses, 2, 3. + + Lightships, 2. + + _Lion_, H.M.S., after Jutland, 96. + + Liverpool Salvage Association, 94, 165. + + Liverpool, treasure landed at, 77. + + Lloyd’s and _Lutine_, 23. + + Lloyd’s great loss, 23. + + Locating leaks in battleship, 86. + + Lodge, Captain, offers to salve specie of _Hamilla Mitchell_, 58. + + London Salvage Association, 94. + + Lucky escape of salvors, 128, 129. + + Lucky treasure-hunt, 15. + + Lundy Island, 172. + + _Lusitania_, chances of salvage, 212. + + _Lutine_, amount of treasure recovered, 26. + + _Lutine_, blasting operations, 31. + + _Lutine_ buried, 29. + + _Lutine_, capture of, 22. + + _Lutine_ rediscovered, 29. + + _Lutine_, treasure shipped, 23. + + _Lutine_, wreck of, 23. + + _Lutine’s_ bell, 26. + + + Macdonald invents electric pump, 103. + + Magnet, electric, 210. + + _Maine_, destruction of, 214–216. + + Malin Head, 66. + + Marine salvage in wartime, 94. + + Markets destroyed, 114. + + Marseilles, octopus attacks diver at, 202. + + Meat, handling decayed, 171. + + Merchantmen armed during war, 97. + + Merritt and Chapman, 167. + + Method of raising vessels from seabed, 125. + + Methods of British Salvage Section, 97. + + Mexiddo reef, 46. + + _Milwaukee_, wreck of, 181. + + Mine destroys U.44, 123. + + Mine-laying from submarine, 121. + + Mine-sweeping, 122. + + Minefield, adrift in, 162. + + Minefield at Waterford, 121. + + Miners entombed, 42, 43. + + Minesweeper, sinking of, 124. + + Models for salvage operations, 83. + + _Montagu_, wreck of, 171–172. + + _Montgomery_, wreck of, 181. + + Morse Code, 137. + + Mud and divers, 204. + + Mud grips battleship, 90. + + Mull, Isle of, 19. + + Mystery of _Florencia_, 19. + + + Napoleon, 25. + + Naval divers and _Laurentic_, 65–78. + + Naval Salvage, director of, 95. + + Netherlands Government and Lloyd’s, 25. + + New York, tanker caught off, 163. + + Nitrogen, its effect on divers, 36. + + Nordstrom, Captain, 161. + + _Norton_, stranding of, 183. + + + _O. B. Jennings_, 160–163. + + O.5, sinking of American submarine, 151. + + Oakum stops leak, 205. + + Oats cause tragedy, 178. + + _Oceana_, blasting operations, 50. + + _Oceana_, difficulties of salving treasure, 50. + + _Oceana_, wreck of, 49. + + Octopus attacks diver, 202. + + Oil hinders divers, 84. + + Oil obscures leaks in battleship, 86. + + Oil salved from tanker, 163. + + Oil tankers take fire, 161–163. + + _Onward_, scuttling of, 163. + + Ostend, 115. + + Ostend, how Germans bottled up harbour, 116. + + Overturned ship, methods of salvage, 164. + + Ownership of war wrecks, 112. + + + Palsy, diver’s, 36. + + Patch, standard, 100. + + Patches, emergency, 206. + + Patching battleship, 85. + + Penk, Diver, 59. + + Periscope, 137. + + Peru, gold of, 11. + + Peruvian treasure, 11. + + _Philadelphia_, see _City of Paris_. + + Phosphate, island of, 14. + + Pino, Cavaliere, inventor of hydroscope, 210. + + Pirates, chased by, 62–64. + + Pit disaster near Falkirk, 42. + + Pizarro, 11. + + Pneumatic chisels used by divers, 165. + + Pomeroy, Captain H., 176. + + Pontoon raises 800 tons, 177. + + Pontoons, 116. + + Pontoons and _Araby_, 177. + + Pontoons and salvage operations, 89. + + Pontoons, assist to raise the _Gladiator_, 166. + + Pontoons, how used, 89. + + Pontoons used in salving F.4, 153. + + Port Arthur, raising Russian fleet at, 211. + + Portsmouth, 167. + + Pressure and divers, 35. + + Pressure crushes diver, 154. + + Pressure, how it affects diver, 155. + + Propeller shaft cut into bollards, 191. + + Pumps, electric, weight of, 104. + + Pumps keep ship afloat, 105. + + Pumps, sand, 29. + + Pumps, types of, 103. + + Pumps _versus_ torpedoes, 103. + + Pumps, wonderful reliability of, 105. + + + Quay, threatened destruction of Folkestone, 163. + + Queenstown, 94. + + + _Racer_, salvage vessel, 65. + + Racing yacht salved, 204. + + Railway engines raise a ship, 164, 165. + + Recompression chamber, its uses, 70. + + Record depth from which treasure has been recovered, 48. + + Record, diving, 38. + + Record, twelve-hour diving, 137. + + Record weight raised, 158, 159. + + Record, world’s diving, 155. + + Redding pit disaster, 42. + + Refloating H.M.S. _Britannia_, 172. + + Refloating the _Timbo_, 186, 187. + + Refrigerator, unpleasant task in a, 171. + + Rescue of crew of submarine S.5, 145. + + Rescue of survivors of K.13, 139. + + Ridyard, Diver, 59. + + Righting a battleship, 92. + + Risk of salvage work, 8. + + Risk of salving German submarines, 128. + + Rock-cutter, 195. + + Rock reveals a fortune, 13. + + Rocks blasted away to salve ship, 183. + + Ropes, breaking strains of, 192. + + Ropes, giant, 192. + + Ropes, steel, 191, 192. + + Rosyth, 159. + + Royal Exchange, 46. + + _Royal George_, salvage operations, 200. + + Rust handicaps divers, 190. + + + St. Bees Head, 105. + + St. Helena, 25. + + _St. Paul_, collision with H.M.S. _Gladiator_, 165. + + _St. Paul_ converted into troopship, 167. + + _St. Paul_ overturns, 167. + + _St. Paul_, salvage operations on, 168. + + S.5, discovery of, 144. + + S.5, rescue of crew, 145. + + S.5, strange accident to the American submarine, 141. + + Salvage and Towage Company, 183. + + Salvage award of £22,000, 184. + + Salvage concerns, 94. + + Salvage idea, a strange, 212. + + Salvage invention, an American, 206. + + Salvage lighter nearly founders, 128. + + Salvage men, lucky escape of, 128, 129. + + Salvage of _Araby_, 174–179. + + Salvage of _Seuvic_, 182. + + Salvage of the _Norton_, 183. + + Salvage officer’s clever feat, 185, 186. + + Salvage on Belgian coast, 115. + + Salvage operations aided by pontoons, 89. + + Salvage operations on _St. Paul_, 168. + + Salvage operations on _Westmoreland_, 108–111. + + Salvage problem, 4. + + Salvage records, American, 156. + + Salvage Section as detectives, 117. + + Salvage Section, laying mines, 95. + + Salvage Section, method of working, 97. + + Salvage Section, nets English Channel, 96. + + Salvage Section, ships salved by, 111. + + Salvage stations round Britain, 97. + + Salvage steamer, cost of upkeep, 184. + + Salvage work, risk of, 8. + + Salvage work stopped by gales, 108. + + Salved by blasting operations, 183. + + Salved five times, 10. + + Salving a battleship, 79–93. + + Salving a battleship by compressed air, 85. + + Salving a racing yacht, 204. + + Salving a ship in halves, 177, 181. + + Salving battleship upside-down, 90. + + Salving £500,000 from _Laurentic_, 73. + + Salving H.M.S. _Britannia_, 172. + + Salving H.M.S. _Gladiator_, 165. + + Salving K.13, 131–140. + + Salving _Leonardo da Vinci_, cost of, 93. + + Salving oil from tanker, 163. + + Salving overturned ship, 164. + + Salving shells from sunken battleship, 84. + + Salving ship with concrete, 175. + + Salving the _Fleswick_, 187. + + Salving the _Maine_, 214–216. + + Salving the _Silurus_, 187–194. + + Salving the _Timbo_, 186, 187. + + Salving treasure, diver’s reward, 58. + + Salving treasure of _Alphonso XII._, 57. + + Salvors balance ship, 111. + + Salvors carry submarine 40 miles, 158. + + Salvors chased by pirates, 62–64. + + Salvors foiled by bad weather, 47. + + Salvors, gallant feat of, 199. + + Salvors of _Laurentic’s_ treasure baffled by gales, 75. + + Salvors, tricks of, 205. + + Sand, battle with, 30. + + Sand-pump, 18-inch, used on _Laurentic_ operations, 76. + + Sand-pumps, 29. + + Sand-pumps, when they choke, 76. + + Sandbanks, submerged, 29. + + Sandown Bay, 162. + + Science of diving, 34. + + Sea ablaze, 161. + + Sea crushes _Laurentic_, 72. + + Sea-growths, their beauty, 204. + + Sea plays with diver, 72. + + Sea pressure, effect on divers, 35. + + Sea water as ballast, 111. + + Secret German orders recovered by divers, 157. + + Secret papers in U.44, 129 + + _Seuvic_, wreck of, 182. + + Severn tunnel, cause of flooding, 51, 55. + + Severn tunnel, diver’s feat in, 50–55. + + Severn tunnel explored by diver, 54. + + Severn tunnel, flooding of, 51. + + Shanghai, 58. + + Shark and diver, 203. + + Shells protected by oil, 84. + + Shells salved from _Leonardo da Vinci_, 84. + + Ship ashore, method of refloating, 185. + + Ship breaks in two, 177. + + Ship kept afloat by pumps, 105. + + Ship patched with concrete, 180. + + Ship, question of balance, 111. + + Ship salved by blasting away rocks, 183. + + Ship salved five times, 10. + + Ship surgery, 181. + + Ship torpedoed three times, 101. + + Shipbreakers buy wreck of _Gladiator_, 167. + + Shipbreakers buy wreck of _Montagu_, 172. + + Shipping, high cost in war, 113. + + Shipping slump, 113. + + Ships, how destroyed, 3. + + Ships, increase in tonnage, 114. + + Ships insured by British Government, 96. + + Ships salved by Admiralty Salvage Section, 111. + + Ships salved by air bags, 206. + + Ships salved in Great War, their value, 111. + + Ships seized from Germany, 114. + + Ships sunk at sight during war, 96. + + Ships, wonder of, 4. + + Shot-rope, 37. + + Shutter Rock, 171. + + Siebe, Gorman & Company help to save Winchester Cathedral, 213. + + Siebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd., 41. + + Siebe invents diving dress, 41. + + Sieve, giant, 30. + + Sifting seabed, 30. + + _Silurus_, cost of salvage operations, 194. + + _Silurus_, plans to salve, 189. + + _Silurus_, wreck of, 187–194. + + Silver bars recovered, 48. + + Sinking of K.13, 132. + + _Skyro_, wreck of, 45–47. + + Slings, U-boat carried 40 miles in, 158. + + Slump in shipping, 113. + + Smoke helmet, 42. + + Soldier patches ship with concrete, 180. + + Solent, 165. + + Spain loses Cuba, 214. + + Spanish-American War, cause of, 214. + + Spanish doubloons, 18. + + Spanish galleon, 15. + + Spanish galleon destroyed, 20. + + Spontaneous combustion and _Maine_ disaster, 216. + + Spy and burning troopship, 163. + + Stag Rocks, _Seuvic_ wrecked on, 182. + + Standard patch, 100. + + State as underwriters, 96. + + Steel cable, giant, 191. + + Steel cables, breaking strains of, 192. + + Steel cables snapped by gale, 154. + + Steel plates, cutting under sea, 169. + + Steel tombs, submarines as, 118. + + Storms defeat salvage, 5, 7. + + Storms snap steel cables, 7. + + Storms, strength of, 8. + + Stranded ships, towing off, 186, 187. + + Stranding of _Norton_, 183. + + Submarine, an American adventure, 149. + + Submarine campaign, 96. + + Submarine carried 40 miles, 158. + + Submarine carried over sandbar, 129. + + Submarine commander’s dilemma, 150. + + Submarine, dropping a, 129. + + Submarine F.4, disaster to, 152. + + Submarine flash lamp and K.13, 137. + + Submarine lamps, 157. + + Submarine menace and British Salvage Section, 97. + + Submarine, mine-laying, 121. + + Submarine O.5, sinks in 40 feet of water, 151. + + Submarine S.5, her strange accident, 141. + + Submarine scenery, 204. + + Submarine sinks oil tanker, 163. + + Submarine tragedies seen by divers, 118. + + Submarine with folding funnels, 131. + + Submarines as steel tombs, 118. + + Submarines, netting, 116. + + Submarines, wonderful escapes from sunken, 139, 145, 146–152. + + Submerged gun-turrets, detaching, 87. + + Survivors of _Belgian Prince_ atrocity, 120. + + Survivors of K.13, 139. + + + Taranto, 79, 84. + + Taranto dry dock, depth of, 87. + + Telephone, submarine, 40. + + Telephone that floats, 142. + + Temperature of 6700 degrees under water, 169. + + Texel, 22. + + Thermit bomb, 163. + + Tide, how it helps lifting operations, 127. + + Tides and salvage, 5. + + Timber frame upholds battleship, 91. + + Timber jackets for pontoons, 153. + + Timber props to strengthen wreck, 110. + + Timber structure, remarkable, 90. + + Timber used in salvage work, 90. + + Timbers support 20,000 tons, 91. + + Timbers withstand 225 tons pressure per square inch, 91. + + _Timbo_, wreck of, 186. + + Tirpitz, 117. + + Tobermory Bay, 20. + + Tobermory treasure-hunt, 19. + + Tonnage, increase in, 114. + + Tools used by divers, 194. + + Torpedoed ships, how their positions were noted, 99. + + Torpedoes found in U.44, 130. + + Torpedoing at sight, 96. + + Torpedoing of _Westmoreland_, 106. + + Towing battleship upside-down, 90. + + Towing off stranded ships, 186, 187. + + Tragedies of sunken submarines, 118. + + Tragedy caused by oats, 178. + + Tragedy of oil tankers, 161. + + Trapped in sunken submarine, 131, 146, 152. + + Trapping air to salve a ship, 85. + + Treasure and business men, 11. + + Treasure, Captain Kidd’s, 11. + + Treasure-hunt at Tobermory, 19. + + Treasure-hunt of British Navy, 65–78. + + Treasure-hunting finance, 12. + + Treasure of _Alphonso XII._, 57. + + Treasure of _Florencia_, 19. + + Treasure of Incas, 11. + + Treasure of _Laurentic_, value found, 77. + + Treasure of _Lutine_, 23. + + Treasure recovered from _Lutine_, 26. + + Treasure recovered from _Oceana_, 50. + + Treasure-hunters beaten, 32. + + Treasure-hunters chased by pirates, 62–64. + + Tricks of salvors, 205. + + Tripods, use in raising ships upright, 164. + + Troopship, scuttling of a, 163. + + Troopships protected by nets, 96. + + Trunkway, 110. + + Tug of war between wreck and railway engines, 164, 165. + + Tugs tow battleship upside-down, 90. + + Tyne, _Milwaukee_ towed to, 182. + + + U-boat carried 40 miles, 158. + + U-boat sinks oil tanker off New York, 163. + + U-boat, why Admiralty salved it, 124. + + U-boats and British Salvage Section, 97. + + U-boats, netting, 116. + + U.44 atrocity, 118. + + U.44 carried three-quarters of a mile, 127. + + U.44, depth of wreck, 124. + + U.44, destruction of, 123. + + U.44, its mission, 121. + + U.44, method of finding, 124. + + Umbrella patch, 206. + + Underwriters lose £900,000, 23. + + + Vancouver, 32. + + _Vindictive_, full of cement, 115. + + _Vindictive_, German failure to raise, 115. + + _Vindictive_, mines aboard when sunk, 115. + + _Vindictive_, problems of raising, 115. + + _Vindictive_ raised, 116. + + Vlieland, 25. + + + Wagenfuhr, Paul, 119. + + War interrupts food supplies in Britain, 96. + + _War Knight_, 160–163. + + War wrecks and British Government, 112. + + War-time salvage depots, 97. + + War-time shipbuilding, 114. + + Water as ballast, 111. + + Water _versus_ air, 35, 36. + + Waterford, 121. + + Weather, influence of, 5. + + Weather prevents salvage work, 108. + + _Westmoreland_, 105. + + _Westmoreland_, depth of wreck, 107. + + _Westmoreland_, extent of damage to, 106. + + _Westmoreland_, fight to save, 106, 107. + + _Westmoreland_, sinking of, 107. + + _Westmoreland_ torpedoed, 106. + + _Westmoreland_, value of, 105. + + Williamson, Mr., his invention for filming seabed, 211. + + Winchester Cathedral saved by diver, 213. + + Wireless mast shot away, 118. + + Wireless romance, 145. + + Work stopped by gales, 108. + + Wreck, balancing a, 111. + + Wreck, method of finding, 124. + + Wreck of _Alphonso XII._, 56. + + Wreck of _Araby_, 174. + + Wreck of _City of Paris_, 182. + + Wreck of _Florencia_, 19. + + Wreck of _Gladiator_, cost of salving, 167. + + Wreck of _Hamilla Mitchell_, 58. + + Wreck of H.M.S. _Britannia_, 172. + + Wreck of H.M.S. _Gladiator_, 165. + + Wreck of H.M.S. _Montagu_, 171. + + Wreck of _Hypatia_, 9. + + Wreck of _Intrepid_, 208. + + Wreck of _Laurentic_, 67. + + Wreck of _Leonardo da Vinci_ surveyed, 82. + + Wreck of _Lutine_, 23. + + Wreck of _Maine_, 214. + + Wreck of _Milwaukee_, 181. + + Wreck of _Montgomery_, 181. + + Wreck of _O. B. Jennings_, 163. + + Wreck of _Oceana_, 49. + + Wreck of _Onward_, 163. + + Wreck of _Seuvic_, 182. + + Wreck of _Silurus_, 187. + + Wreck of _Skyro_, 45. + + Wreck of _Timbo_, 186. + + Wreck of U.44, depth of, 124. + + Wreck of _War Knight_, 162. + + Wreck of _Westmoreland_, 107. + + Wreck patched with concrete, 180. + + Wreck uprighted by railway engines, 164, 165. + + Wreck, working cables under, 125. + + Wrecks, annual value of, 3. + + Wrecks, destruction of, 3. + + Wrecks, effect of sea on, 114. + + Wrecks indicated by flags in maps, 99. + + Wrecks, method of raising, 125. + + Wrecks salved after Armistice, 112. + + _Wrestler_, H.M.S., 77. + + + Young, Commodore Sir F. W., 95, 98, 115, 156. + + + Zeebrugge, 115. + + Zogria Island, 183. + + Zuyder Zee, 26. + + + + +_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ + +THE ROMANCE OF EXCAVATION + +A RECORD OF THE AMAZING DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT, ASSYRIA, TROY, CRETE AND +ELSEWHERE + + _With Twenty-nine Illustrations in half-tone._ + _Second Edition._ _Crown 8vo._ _6s. 6d. net._ + + +SOME PRESS OPINIONS + +_Daily Telegraph._--“A most useful and popularly written introduction +to one of the great subjects before the world to-day. It is a +stupendous and inspiring story.” + +_Sunday Times._--“A most fascinating book. Mr. Masters tells the story +of these pioneer excavators in a remarkably vivid way. The numerous +photographs add considerably to the value of his book. Mr. Masters has +done his work very well indeed.” + +_Daily News._--“A book that will equally delight the grown-ups and the +small fry.” + +_New Statesman._--“An imaginative boy, into whose hands this book +chanced to fall, would in all probability start digging up the garden +within a week. Mr. Masters adds to the learning of a scholar the +enthusiasm of a schoolboy. The book may confidently be recommended to +readers of all ages.” + +_Evening Standard._--“There is adventure and romance sufficient +to satisfy the most eager spirit in the pursuit of the science of +excavation.” + +_Times Literary Supplement._--“Pleasant and readable.” + +_Graphic._--“It enables the reader to capture the thrill of the romance +of digging up the world’s history....” + +_Review of Reviews._--“Tales of treasure trove and adventure are always +attractive, and Mr. Masters has made good use of the innumerable +romantic adventures of archæologists.” + +_Cassell’s Weekly._--“A most entrancing book.... We turn over the pages +with eagerness, and everywhere we find something that attracts us.” + +_Illustrated London News._--“A useful and pleasant book.” + +_Guardian._--“A quite delightful survey of the history of excavation.” + +_Near East._--“It is a difficulty to overpraise this elegant little +picture-story in the space at our disposal. The little book is really +a champagne to the most jaded mind. The story is so simply told; the +author’s gentle enthusiasm is irresistible; his shop-window is full of +jewels; you should not pass it by.” + +_Glasgow Herald._--“The task which Mr. Masters has set before him he +has splendidly accomplished. No school library should be without this +book....” + +_Sphere._--“Popular and readable.” + +_Gentlewoman._--“A book of pure delight.” + +_Contemporary Review._--“A book that will interest all those on whom +the lure of discovery has taken hold.” + +_Public Opinion._--“A handy book on this subject should find a large +market.” + +_Scotsman._--“Told in a popular form that should render it +comprehensible to a wide audience.” + +_Court Journal._--“A book that fathers can read and discuss with their +growing sons.” + +_Education._--“Admirably fitted for prizes for intelligent students.” + +_Egyptian Gazette._--“So much interest and value to the great public.” + + + JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LTD., VIGO ST., W. 1 + + + + +Transcriber’s Notes + + +Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a +predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they +were not changed. + +Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation +marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left +unbalanced. + +Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs +and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support +hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to +the corresponding illustrations. + +The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page +references. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75618 *** |