SALVAGE FEAT

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 February 1947, Page 5

SALVAGE FEAT

DIVER TELLS STORY WORKED IN DESPERATION LAST NIGHT “MADE IT BY SKIN OF TEETH” (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Feb. 7. “It was a miracle —we only made it by the skin of the teeth,” said Diver i A. Johnstone, interviewed to-day on the moving of the Wanganella. Johnstone qualified his statement slightly by saying that the miracle was brought about to a large extent by hard work, knowledge, experience and ingenuity, and paid a tribute to Captain G. McDonald, who was in charge of the operations, and John Dilworth, a. London salvage expert, who assisted Captain McDonald. Of Johnstone these men said: “He is the man who knows most about it and has the background for any story you want. Ingenious Method. “The method used in salvaging the Wanganella was a most ingenious one. It was decided on by Captain McDonald and Mr. Dilworth and it is the only one which could have saved the ship, said Mr. Johnstone. “The bottom of the ship was so badly torn that it would have been hopeless to try and .patch Nos. 1 and 2 holds. There was a pinnacle of hard rock extending five feet into the No. 2 hold above the keel and a ledge of rock underneath on which the ship was pivoting badly. “It would have been hopeless to try and pull her off. We had to lift her off the rocks, and the only way to shift her was to buoyance. So we sealed the forward holds, decks, hatches, trunkways, and ventilators Air was forced in and water thereby forced out of the holes below.” A Gaping Hole. Mr. Johnstone said the port side of the No. 2 hold had a gaping hole 20 feet deep by 13 feet. This was only one of many, and the position changed daily with the ship bumping on the reef. His first examination showed five holes in No. 1 hold, but in three days he had lost count of the number there. The water in No. 3 hold came from the leaks caused by strained plates. “On my past experience I would say that this is an outstanding piece of salvage—the ship could easily have been lost,” he continued. “Yesterday we were afraid of the weather and swell, and it was only in desperation that we got at it last night. When I saw her moving, I knew she was right.” Mr. Johnstone said the use of explosives was first mooted and the rocks were being drilled for tests,

but explosives could not be used on the tanks under pressure, so the salvage workers had to concentrate on the use of air compressors. He would make no estimate of the time needed to make the ship ready to go into dock, saying the work was only starting now. The whole crew, from the captain down, had given of their best, and were interested not in how long they worked but in how soon they could save the ship. Credit to New Zealanders.

“The sealing operations are a credit to New Zealand workmen,” Mr. Johnstone concluded. “The men put in the most exacting work. It was the best job I have seen yet done in so short a time. Not one of William Cable’s men let up.” The Wanganella came into port on compressed air literally. The two forward holds are capped with welded steel plates, and beneath them the air under compression lifts the forepart of the ship by pressing down on the water, which the jagged rocks of the reef let in. The No. 3 hold held about 30 feet of water by noon, with the level rising slowly as the bow fell slightly. This hold was not sealed off. With the list to that side the saloon had about two feet of water in it about midday.