FAMOUS DIVER WATCHED SALVAGING OF NORMANDIE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 35, 11 February 1943, Page 4

FAMOUS DIVER WATCHED SALVAGING OF NORMANDIE

Famous in every country where there is a free Press by reason of his feat in salvaging £2,500,000 worth of gold bars from the wreck of the Niagara, near the entrance of Whangarei Harbour in 1941, in 436 ft of water, Mr. John Edward Johnstone, deep-sea diver, is revisiting Auckland. He has x-eturned from New York, where the United States Navy authorities permitted him every facility to study the stupendous undertaking of salvaging the Normandie. On numerous occasions he donned a diving suit and went below to watch expert divers at work on the mighty superstructure.

The salvaging of ships sunk byenemy action has become a highlyspecialised industry, especially in the British Empire and United States. New Zealand has had its share of salvage operations, the recovery of the Niagara's gold being one of the greatest salvage triumphs in the world. The Niagara struck a mine on June 19, 1940, and sank in the midst of a minefield.

The chief diver engaged on the hazardous undertaking of reclaiming the Niagara's gold was Mr. Johnstone, who has since had many adventures in Australia and adjacent islands, all connected with the work of salvaging ships either sent to the bottom or beached owing to the operations of submarines or bombing planes. After his return to Australia from New Zealand Mr. Johnstone was appointed salvage officer and shipwright surveyor to the Commonwealth Salvage Board, and in that capacity was sent on a mission to the United States last July to investigate the latest methods adopted in that country for salvaging ships. Sinking of Normandie "I received the most generous treatment from the United States Navy Department," said Mr. Johnstone. "I was taken on a visit to the New York docks, where the greatest salvage operation of all times was being carried out, following the sinking of the United States naval auxiliary, the Lafayette, formerly known as the Normandie, one of the world's largest passenger liners. Just a year ago this great ship caught fire, finally sinking into the mud of the docks. Salvage operations have been carried out practically ever since, but it is unlikely that the ship will be raised before the end of the present year.

"All the latest equipment is in use, and I was able to meet salvage experts and divers and discuss with them details of their work. The most modern means of lifting ships were frankly stated, and I brought back to Australia a fund of information which will be useful to the Australian Naval Department.

"I was amazed at some of the modern methods used by the United States Navy, and I came to the conclusion that there, was much to learn from their operations. The naval authorities willingly showed me everything that was worth while, and I was able to secure for the Commonwealth Government modern equipment, which has been shipped to Australia, and will be invaluable in all future salvage operations." Allowed Free Hand Mr. Johnstone said that to give him actual practical experience in salvage operations the United States Navy authorities allowed him a free hand as far as the Lafayette operations were concerned. "I was on the scene for four months," he said. "I made every post a winner and learned much concerning pumps, diving and salvage methods generally. The big ship is lying on her side in about 40 feet of water, and

still presents a major problem to the naval authorities, but I think she will be raised, probably by the end of the year."

Lying diagonally across the broad slip between piers 88 and 90, in the North River, this once majestic liner is now nothing "out an object as gigantic in its suggestions of pathos as its huge bulk. Now divers rip and tear at the superstructure of the sunken hull of what was once a splendid liner breasting the Atlantic brilliant with flags and brave in its power. No spirit of defeat but rather one of grim determination is the motivating force which drives 48S marine scientists, steel workers, welders, shorers and others, working in two shifts in and outside the Lafayette. Mr. John I. Tooker, chief salvage officer of the Merritt, Chapman and Scott Corporation, a company now part of the U.S. Navy Department, is in charge. He has salvaged hundreds of ships in his thirty s'ears' experience. Mr. Tooker has raised them from ocean depths, retrieved them from crag and beach and shoal. The great steel fabric of the sunken ship looks to-day like an enormous dead whale stranded upon

a beach. No brute strength is being applied in this salvage undertaking. The sullen mass of waterlogged, mud-clogged metal would, indeed, defy any power that could be applied in the circumscribed area. Finesse is the word. Delicate Operation

All removable parts are being gutted out; The hull will then be sealed and pumped out. Thus, at the proper time, the good ship will hunch herself over to even keel and be herself again. In all essentials it is a most delicate operation.

From a platform amidships the immense expanse of hull is seen. It is black down to the waterline, which is a dull r&(3, a band about 6ft wide. Below is the silver-grey underbody, curiously fiat as compared with the ships of an older day. Above water the funnels have been removed and the upper decks, three in the forward section, five afi amidships, have been sheared cleanly down to the promenade deck. It is as though the vessel had been shaved. Not a stanchion, not a bitt, nothing remains on the promenade. But below the water all the decks remain. They must be shaved off, too, and a lot of that will have to be done by steel-working divers. It is this aspect of preparation which will use up much time. Mr. Johnstone said there were 110 divers engaged, ,and he was permitted to go down and have a look around on numerous occasions. The main job undertaken so far was that of cutting away the superstructure, such as the funnels, main decks and heavy equipment from the hull so as to lighten the ship. Hundreds of tons of iron, steel and timber had been already removed from the ship, the divers keeping a number of floating cranes constantly on the move. Oxy-hydrogen torches were used by the divers in the cutting of steel fittings. The weight of the ship was estimated, with equipment, at 86,000 tons.