"GAS-BAG" TO RAISE SHIPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17145, 26 April 1919, Page 2 (Supplement)

"GAS-BAG" TO RAISE SHIPS.

NEW SALVAGE INVENTION. INFLATION UNDER WATER. All previous attempts to raise two large liners having failed, a new method is now to be' adopted- The apparatus employed is of the simplest. It consists chiefly of a "gas-bag" combined with an air pump. The promoters claim that the new invention will revolutionise the whole science of salvage. The " gas-bag/' _or flexible " camel/' can be '.teed at any depth of water where divers can work; it can be passed through small spaces such as porta and hatches into the hold of a vessel. It is then Mated, and will fit itself into every corner. The air in the "gas-bag" displaces the water, and produces the necessary buoyancy to raise the ship. It is fitted with air connections at three positions, so that the most convenient one may bo used, and cannot be overcharged or burst by pressure due to rising from great depths. The largest of the " camels" at present constructed is built to displace a hundred tons; fhen deflated it can be

packed into tho space of approximately one ton shipping measurement and weighs about one ton gross. It is stated that the apparatus possesses all the advantages of the ponderous steel apparatus now omployed, combined with extreme portability and cheapness, which will make it a profitable proposition to raise ninety-nino out of a hundred ships. •