AUCKLAND'S DIVER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20465, 17 January 1930, Page 12

AUCKLAND'S DIVER.

WORK BENEATH HARBOUR.

EXPERIENCE AT SCAPA FLOW.

INSPECTING SUNKEN FLEET.

With 20 years' experience in all parts of the world Mr. H. Tew, who took part in the Admiralty diving work after the German Fleet had been scuttled and sunk at Scapa Flow following tho Armistice, is now diver to the Auckland Harbour Board' Mr. Tew, who has worked for the board since the war has been beneath the. seven seas, most of bis diving being done with tho Royal Navy. As a result he has an expert knowledge of the intricate theory necessaiy to the equipment of a, successful diver.

Discussing his work at Scapa' Flow, Mr. Tew stated yesterday that four divers on each of four vessels were employed for about three months in 20 fathoms of water, trying to discover the cause of the mysterious sinking of tho German Fleet. A large number of vessels, including 30 destroyers, had been surrendered to the Allies, and they were taken to Scapa Flow, where they were under British control. Each vessel retained its own crew, and British drifters, or trawlers, patrolled tho long lines of enemy boats to ensure that nothing was amiss. Three Months' Investigation.

Everything seemed in order for some time, when one day it was noticed that (he German vessels were settling down. Their crews took to the boats hurriedly and made for the shore, and before anything could be done the whole fleet had sunk. Tt was believed that it had been sunk purposely by the Germans in preference to handing it over to tho Allies, and Admiralty divers, of whom Mr. Tew was one, were detailed to inspect the hulls. It was ascertained thafc they had been scuttled. The divers took three months to make a thorough inspection. The technicalities of deep-water diving are far greater than usually imagined. The deep-water diver must surely be the slowest person in the world to return from his work, Mr. Tew stating that if a roan worked for an hour at a depth of 27 fathoms it would take him another four hours to reach the surface. Such a slow ascent was made imperative on account of varying air and water pressures and sudden changes would be very harmful and probably fatal. Auckland Harbour Bed.

When working at any depth the air breathed by the diver was compressed. In' ascending, a diver usually rose slowly to 80ft., from which level he would rise by 10ft. a time in easy stages over .four hours. He would probably remain for an hour at one level exercising his arms and legs.

The depth at which the divers had to work at Scapa Flow necessitated ascent by easy stages. Of the four divers from each boat one would bo working, one would probably be descending and two dangling at the ends of their ropes resting on the way to the surface again. This meant that actual working time was cut down considerably, hours being wasted while a man hung almost within sight of the surface, recovering normal blood pressure and breathing. During his work in various parts of the Auckland Harbour, Mr. Tew has found its bed most uncongenial. It consists of a deep layer of soft mud on which it is impossible to walk at times, and he has often been almost waist deep in it. Visibility beneath the Waitemata is therefore very poor from a diver's viewpoint. Mr. Tew stated he often had to lie on the mud and pull himself along the surface, stirring up great black clouds, it being impossible to walk. The only exposed part of a diver's body being his hands, persons who throw broken bottles into the harbour are unpopular with those whose work takes them beneath its surface. Incidentally, Mr. Tew stated that during the winter he lost all feeling in his hands in the cold water, the blood circulation almost ceasing in them. No Narrow Escapes.

In spite of his long experience, Mr. Tew slates he has had none of the narrow escapes or adventures popularly supposed to' fall to the lot of all divers. He has never been attacked- by a shark, although when ascending recently a 15ft. shark circled round him the whole time. He believes sharks are curious and would probably not attack anything until after watching ifc for some time or unless food were needed. While diving off Gibraltar during naval exercises he used to come up covered in small octopi, although he never encountered a large one. One of the most wonderful sights he ever saw, Mr. Tew said, was the coloured coral formations near Ceylon. The ocean bed was laid out like a huge garden, with coral flowers of all kinds and colours. "It seemed almost like sacrilege to walk over the coral," he said, "but when taken to the surface the colours disappeared at once. I have never seen such colours before or since, and some of them could not be described in words." A diver's greatest handicap while trying to work beneath water is his buoyancy. Mr. Tew was working yesterday in only a few feet of water, but as soon as he went beneath the surface the water's buoyant power .was apparent in spite of his 321b. boots, 201b. helmet and corslet and two 281b. weights around his neck. Hammering beneath the water is more in the nature of intermittent pressure, for a hard blow is almost impossible. The use of a saw is also hard, for the diver pushes himself away from the tool with each stroke.