HOW IT WAS DONE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4771, 12 November 1935, Page 2

HOW IT WAS DONE

FINDING LUSITANIA. VALUE OP THE ECHO-SOUNDER. A recent cablegram from London announced the fact that the sunken wreck of the Lusitania, which fell victim of an attack by a German submarine during the Great War, had been located by a salvage expedition at a depth of 350 feet. The following report gives an idea of the immense value of the equipment with which the search was carried out. The steamer Orphir was commissioned in June in preparation for exploring and, if possible, salving documents and valuables from the Lusitania. The Orphir is equipped with two competitive echosounders ,a Marconi-Langevin ultrasonic pattern, and a Huson Admiralty Recorder. After the ship had steamed five miles south and ten east from Old Head, the echo-sounder chartered a large wreck lying in 47 fathoms. Those on the bridge, who were excitedly watching the wreck's outline forming on the echo-sounder chart, had a striking illustration of the instrument's delicacy. As the anchor chain paid out, its outline was clearly registered on the chart. Bad weather and the loss of an important marking buoy' hampered diving operations, but Captain Russell was confident that the echo-sounder would be the means of locating the wreck, since its extreme accuracy made its results foolproof. A later message showed that his faith was justified. The value of the echo-sounder has been recognised for some time by maritime authorities in New Zealand, and steps are being made to have the possibilities of the appar-

atus more widely recognised with a view to utilising it -in determining the depth of the channel in certain of the more important barharbours of New Zealand, Such an equipment would provide a. quick and very accurate record of the state of the channel, and would have a tremendous advantage over the present sounding methods.