AT SCAPA FLOW.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 6 November 1925, Page 10

AT SCAPA FLOW.

RAISING GERMAN NAVY. . GREAT SALVAGE OPERATIONS. (Melbourne Age Correspondent.) Steady progress is being made in raising the German fleet scuttled at Scapa Flow, the great sea basin in the Orkney Islands, fifteen miles long and eight to twelve miles across, which was the chief base of the British Grand Fleet throughout the war. . After the surrender of the German navy, in accordance with the terms of the armistice, the ships were interned in Scapa Flow with their German crews on board until the Allies decided what should be done with them. Meanwhile, the German officers formulated a plan to scuttle their ships, so that the Allies would not be able' to incorporate them in their own navies. On the afternoon of June 21, 1919—seven days before the Peace •Treaty was signed at Versailles —the signal was given by Admiral von Reuter, and the ships were scuttled. There were 74 ships interned, consisting of 11 battleships, 5 battle-cruisers, 8 light cruisers and 50 destroyers. After the order had been given to scuttle the ships the crews rowed away in boats, and were taken on board the British ships which were guarding the interned vessels. Of the 50 destroyers, 3 sank, 18. were beached and 2 remained afloat. Ten of the 11 battleships, 5 of the lighr, cruisers and the 5 battle-cruisers sank, and the other 4 vessels were beached. Tn all, 50 out of the 74 vessels were sunk.

The task of salvaging these fifty sunken ships is the greatest salvage operation in the history of the world, and will occupy about seven years. It is being carried out by Oox and Danks, Ltd., under contract with the Admiralty, with the most powerful salvage equipment that has ever been got together. Before the Avar such a task as the salvage of fifty ships, including battleships of 24,000 tons, would have been regarded as impossible, but such vast and varied experience in salvage was' gained during the war by the British Admiralty that no salvage task is regarded as impossible, except where a ship has sunk, to a depth at which divers cannot work. The salvage section of the Admiralty, which came into existence during the w'ar, salved 407 vessels whose cargo exceeded £00,000,000 in value. In those days, when there was a shortage of shipping owing to Germany’s ruthless submarine campaign, designed to starve Groat Britain into surrender, when there was a shortage of food supplies and the raw materials required for the manufacture of war stores, every ship that could be raised and patched up, and. every cargo that could be salvaged, was of value. The most difficult salvage operations were successfully carried out by the Admiralty salvage section—operations which to-dav would not be attempted, because from the commercial, standpoint they would be unprofitable. The salvage of the German fleet is not likely to prove commercially profitable. The ships are out ofi date, and would not be used, even if they could be repaired and placed in commission. The copper, brass,, gun metal and steel are valuable, but the main purpose of raising the ships is to clear the harbour for navigation, so that it may again be used as a base for the British Fleet should circumstances require. The salvage equipment at Scapa Flow includes pumps that are capable of drawing up water at the rate of a ton a second, to make room for compressed air in the sunken Vessels; hammers, drills and riveters worked by pneumatic pressure, and striking 1500 blows per minute, either above or under water: electric lamps with which to light up the dark recesses of the sunken vessels, and enable the divers to work; and enormous pontoons or hollow tanks, which are filled with watery lashed to the hull of a sunken vessel and then pumped out, so as to enable them to exert an enormous lifting power. Oox and Dankk, Ltd., recently purchased for their salvaging operations one of the 40,000-ton floating docks, ( 700 feet long and 200 feet broad, constructed by the Germans for testing their submarines. These two floating docks were surrendered by Germany in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, and passed into the possession of the British Admiralty. It was proposed to send oue of them out to Singapore to form part of the equipment for repairing vessels when the great naval base is established at Singapore, but this proposal has been abandoned. One of the six sections of the dock which Cox and Danks, Ltd., have purchased from the Admiralty is being towed to Scapa Flow, and will be used as a dry doek. Some of the scuttled vessels lie in comparatively shallow water, and none are at a depth at which divers cannot work. Some of the cruisers sank stern first, and have their bows showing above water. Up to the present seventeen of the thirty sunken destroyers have been raised. Salvage work was not commenced until 1924, and work has to be abandoned during the winter months because of sthe rough weather. It is expected that the last of the destroyers will bo raised before June, .192(5. Work will then be commenced on'the larger ships. The most difficult task will be raising the 24,000-ton battle-cruiser Scydlitz, which turned turtle, and lies in the mud with her keel upwards. The experience gained by the Italians in salvaging the battleship Leonardo da Vinci, 24,000 tons, will be extremely useful. This battleship overturned and sank in 3(ift of water in the harbour of Otranto on the night of August 2, 1910, as the result of an explosion in one of her magazines, caused by a bomb placed there by an enemy or a traitor. Her funnels and top hamper cut through a bed of mud 30ft thick before a bed of clay capable of sustaining the great 'weight of the ship was reached. By closing all the openings in the hull and pumping in compressed air the ship was gradually raised after the funnels, gun tur-

rets and top hamper had been severed from the deck by divers. But the problem of raising and turning the vessel over on her keel remained. She could not be righted where she sank, because the water was not deep enough. She was towed into dry dock upside down, and after being repaired she was towed into deep water. Water was pumped into compartments on her starboard the weight of it shifted the centre of gravity. The vessel gradually turned over and floated on her keel. The salvage of the Leonardo da Vinci is regarded by experts as the most difficult salvage operation in history.