SALVAGE OF TREASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20384, 12 October 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

SALVAGE OF TREASURE.

DAVY JONES' LOQKER<

PROBLEMS AND PERILS.

DIVERS' DIFFICULT TASKS

INGENUITY OF EXPERTS,

Tho recent salvage operations in connection with tho P. and 0. liner Egypt, sunk off ware-beaten. Ushant, attracted world-wido interest. In May, 1920, a French steamer crashed into tho vessel, and sho sank with a loss of a hundred lives. In her strong-room sho carried flvo tons of gold and 45 tons of silver. For nino years sho' has lain on tho floor of tho ocean, somo 70 fathoms deep, ono of tho many wrecks around that rockbound, storm-beaten coast.

The bullion —bars of gold and silver, with 165,000 golden sovereigns, altogether worth more than a million sterling—is encased in tho very heart of tho ship, beneath the three docks under tho saloons. Tho problems and perils of retrieving tho treasure are formidable and manifold, but lich is the roward of success. Tho attempt last year to recover the jewels in tho Belgian stcamor Elizabcthville, sunk by a German submarine off Bello He in 1917, wero followed with intense interest. The Elizabethville, n 12,000 ton vessel, carried 13,000 carats of diamonds and quantities of other precious stones, valued at £1,250,000.

It was found that the eteamcr struck a rock in sinking and broke her backin two places, lying in three portions at n depth of 230 ft., the steeply tilted deck and the strong currents making the work of the divers particularly difficult nnd dangerous. Great was the disappointment when, after much trouble in reaching tho mail-room by the use of dynamite charges and tho removal of huge masses of metal, prolonged search failed to locate the jewels. The Steamer Lusitanla.

Operations in connection with tho Lusitania will be undertaken later or;, and they are sure to excite tho greatest public interest owing to the poignant memory of her dastardly sinking. Many of the ships sunk by enemy submarines lie closo in shore, for the Germans hoped, after conquering the Allies, to reap a rich harvest by salvage. Tho Laurentic, for example, was deliberately sunk in a chosen position off tho Irish coast, and a strict submarine watch instituted to prevent tho bullion being raised. Before tho end of tho war, however, almost the whole of tho five millions sterling had been recovered by daring and skilful British divers. Once, when a German submarine interrupted the work, tho salvage ship "ran for it" nnd tho diver was dragged through tho ocean in full kit for seven miles. Tho story of salvage, says Mr. Anthony Clyne, is a record of the acumen of scientific investigators, the ingenuity of inventors, tho, consummate technical skill of practical experts, and above all the courage, resource, and pertinacity of divers—spiced with sensational but true talcs of adventures encountered in raising treasure or documents, or a 24,000-ton battleship, or, most moving of all, yet breathing men imprisoned in a sunken submarine.

Risks Taken by Diver?

Thero was that enthralling tale of treasure raised in . Chinese seas, then -a r.ico to an island to get water for tho exhausted diver, and finally the approaching sails of pirate junks seen just in time. Oi- that of diving to recover secret orders from a sunken German submarine, and finding them in a stiffened hand protruding from the conning tower. As the submarine plunged to her doom the cover had slammed against the arm of the commander ridding himself of his papers. Or of sharks. " If a shark persists in disturbing you at your work," says a diver, " you signal up for a knife, hold out you hand as bait, like a bone to a dog,"and stab the brute as ho turns. As for tho octopus, you squirt air at him.". Presumably, but for one's helmet, ono would just make faces at him. It is difficult to conceive the conditions in which tho diver works. Even at the comparatively small depth of 50 fathoms, tho water is so dense that it takes a concent rated effort to lift a hand. Diving suits are constructed of cast steel cylinders with jointed iron legs, designed to withstand immenso pressure. When air cannot bo supplied by pipe line, owing to tho danger of tho pipe being twisted or severed, tho suit contains compressed-air bottles.

Constant communication with the ship is maintained by telephone and caijle. Tho apparatus weighs over 8001b. but iiijtho water the effective weight is 101b. The diver is brought to the surface slowly, stopping every so many feet to perform physical exorcise designed to prevent the formation of bubbles of nitrogen in tho blood.

Salvaging of a Battleship.

Each kind and sizo of vessel, each situation, and set of conditions, presents its peculiar problems. In one case during the war, monitors dug trenches 12ft. long under a vessel in order that thirtytwo wiro ropes could be placed in position and the ship, weighing 5200 tons, lifted by the barges. Tho salvaging of a battleship is a totally different proposition from that of a merchant vessel. Enormous masses of metal, sometimes over 200 tons in weight, havo to bo dealt with. Tho German ships in Soapa Flow stand in awkard positions. The Hindenburg sank upright, tho Derfilinger went down on her side, tho Sedilitz bottom up, while some of tho cruisers havo bows poking straight up. The salvaging of these bntleships is a task of vcars.

A noteworthy feat was tho raising of the Vindictive, so heroically sunk to block the harbour of Ostein! in May, 1918. .Tust 03 she had beon brought to the surface and put in a condition to be brought homo as a relic of an immortal exploit, bad weather came up, and during a gale, her back was broken. All the bulkheads of the Vindictive had been shattered and tho bottom nearly blown to pieces by tho charges used in sinking her. The removal of concrete and mud proved a protracted and nvduous undertaking. In the end tho structure had to be tied together with very heavy girders, and after it had been raised, tho historic vessel was presented to tho King of tho Belgians. Equipment of Salvage Ships.

Salvage ships are equipped with a great variety of engineering appliances and carry an abundance of dynamite charges of carefully graduated sizes. There arc huge cranes and derricks capable of hoisting up to 50 tons. Everything that is employed in tho sea has to bo of special material or pattern to resist tho action of water. Tho modern diver uses pneumatic tools, worked by compressed air. Men expert in all branches of engineering are carried, and special tools have often to bo made On board.

Sometimes pontoons and hollow iron tanks are used, of various shapos and sizes to fit tightly around a wreck. Theso aro fastened in position, and when tho water is pumped out, exert an enormous lifting power. Tho salvage ship herself, with immense strength of hull, anrl with powerful engines for towing, when manoeuvred to take advantage of the rising tide, is like a huge tool, exerting tremendous leverage*