LURE OF SUNKEN TREASURE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23097, 23 July 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

LURE OF SUNKEN TREASURE

By AUBREY L. THOMAS—(Copyright)

Divers in Peril on Sea Bed Attempting to

THE hope of recovering sunken treasure has always held the same mre for men as the finding of the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow has for children. Many expeditions have set forth with high hopes of salvaging some of the treasure, and with few exceptions have returned empty-handed. Many lives have been lost, for the sea is a jealous mistress of the treasure she has exacted from hapless ships and guard:, it zealously.

BIT now science has come to the aid of treasure-hunters. New apparatus has been invented for the location of treasure ships, and new diving suits have been designed which permit men to descend to depths hitherto never visited. Kadio and photography are to be pressed into service as auxiliaries. [With this equipment, hopes are again bright that possibly the pot of gold is not unattainable. This summer in the_ Northern Hemisphere, at least tlireo 'major expeditions are planning to sea forth orhaye already started. Chief among these is tho expedition of the Tritonia Corporation, of Scotland, to salvage tho treasure said to be in tiie strong-room of the ill-fated jiUsitania, sunk by a German submarine c>ff the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915, carrying gold, silver and jewels variously estimated at between £1.000,000 and j£0,000,000, to the bottom of the sea. Steel Diving Suit During tho twenty-three years which have elapsed since the steamship went down, a number of salvage attempts have been made but all proved unsuccessful. In the summer of 1935 the wreckage of the Lusitania was defnitelv located in 312 ft. of water, twelve miles offshore between Galley Head and Old Head of Kinsale. A diver, James Jarrat, equipped with a steel diving suit to withstand the terrific pressure at that depth, had actually stood on the wreck's hullScience played its part in the location of the wreckage. The liner had foun-

Blit. high and 769 ft. in length, the exact measurements of the sunken liner. She was lying in 312 ft. of water. The Lusitauia had been found! Terrific Water Pressure But to make doubly sure, it was decided to send a diver down. Previously the corporation had had an all-metal diving dress made. This was known as the Tritonia suit and was constructed entirely of steel with steel hooks for hands. Cumbersome though it was,-it was so constructed that its makers believed it could withstand the terrific pressure of water at great depths. Jarrat climbed into the suit and was hoisted over the side. He was lowered down and down. Finally the lines became slack at 2-loft. and soon Jarrat's voice was heard over his telephone. "I am standing on the plates of a ship. 1 can see her rivets. The hull is covered with slime, but under it there is little corrosion. 1 will measure the rivets." Then a few minutes later he called again. "They are about 2in. in diameter," he said. Menace of Anchor That proved to the men on the Orphir that at last they had located the Lusitania for she was the only ship of such size in whose construction such largo rivets had been used. Jarrat nearly lost his life on that one trip to the ship's hull. Hardly had be completed his measurement of the rivets than the huge anchor which the Orphir had caught in the wreckage to hold her fast became loose. The great hook swung past his faceplate and he saw it. He thought he had escaped it, but it swung back behind him.

dered in sight of a number of people on shore. Agents of the Tritonia Corporation began systematically to question these men, most of whom were fishermen and accustomed to take sights at Bhips at sea. From the answers received a rough map was drawn within which the wreckage of the liner must lie. Then the Orphir, a former lighthouse service vessel, set forth under the command of Captain Henry B. Russell. He had with him not only the chart which had been prepared from the fishermen s description or the sinking of the Lusitania, but also the chart of the Lusitania's master, Captain Turner, which had been saved. Depth Recorder In addition the Orphir was equipped with a British Admiralty depth recorder. J his is an ingenious device which records on a graph the topography ot the ocean floor, indicating every rock, valley, ledge and wreck, giving its height and lei ßaJk and forth over the area the Orphir sailed,. dragging the depth recorder Wreck after wreck was located, hut all were too small to have been the Lusitania. Patiently the search was C °Thon one dav the instrument recorded a wreck on the ocean floor which was

He realised it was swinging around him in a circle closing him in and eventually it would strike him and crush him to death. He shouted to those on deck through his telephone and he was quickly drawn upward to safety. Operations to be Filmed He was the first and the last man to stand on the Lusitania's hull since she foundered. Fog and rough seas closed in and all salvage operations had to be abandoned. Jii the summer of 1936 it had been planned to resume the salvaging operations, but these were called off owing to difficulty e.\|>erieneed in obtaining certain essential machinery. Last year they were again called off, but the attempt is being made this year. In the meantime the Tritonia Corporation had signed a contract with Captain John Craig, pioneer in undersea photography, to film the Lusitania salvage operations. There seemed to be insurmountable difficulties to taking such pictures, but here again science has achieved the impossible. Dress for Photographer In the first place new lights had to be designed and manufactured for use in the gloomy depths of the sea. Then there was the question of a new diving dress for the photographers, because the Tritonia dress, while suitable for salvage operations, did not permit the use of the hands, and a camera could not be worked with steel claws. Furthermore, its weight and necessary lines ami cables interfered with mobility. Kventually the lights were manufactured to withstand the pressure am! Captain Craig and his associate, Max Gene Xolil, turned their attention to a

diving dress. After months of experimenting, a diving dross with a now helmet, having ii circular glass giving 360 degrees of vision, was developed. Captain Craig had lo lg before reached tin? conclusion that he must rig some sort of apparatus which would be selfcontained in order to do away with the cumbersome air hoses. In moving about the deck of a sunken ship these are highlv dangerous and impede the mobility of the diver. If the hose becomes tangled or kinked, the air is shut otl and the man inside the helmet is immediately in difficulties. After months of experiments, Captain Craig and Xolil discovered that helium could l)e used in a special mixture. 1' urthermore its use eliminated the necessity of "decompressing" the diver as he is brought to the surface to avoid the "bends." So they devised three small tanks for the helium, which was to furnish them with air while under the sea. They estimated tlfat the tanks would hold suflicient for ten to fifteen hours of undersea work. Into the helmet was also built a radio microphone and receiver. Off Virginia Coast Other treasur.e-hunting expeditions are now under way. .Even Captain Craig, not content with his hazardous contract to go down to the wreckage of the Lusitania, is planning first to have a "shot" at the millions said to be still in the wreckage of tho Ward liner Merida, which lies off the Virginia coast in 208 ft. of water.

The Merida went down in 1911 and, according to reports, carried with it the crown jewels of the ill-fated Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, and the priceless necklace of his consort, Charlotte. In addition there was a fortune in silver bars on board the craft. The jewels and silver were being taken from Mexico after the downfall of the Diaz regime. Here, too, numerous attempts have been made to salvage the valuable, and while divers have been able to get to tho vessel's deck, none of the treasure has been taken out. Captain Craig, with his new diving apparatus, believes he will be more successful. Search for Galleons Still another trcasurc-lumter is Lieutenant Harry E. Rieseberg, formerly of the United States Steamboat Inspection Service. He and his expedition plan to eruiso off tho Florida coast in search of fourteen treasure-laden galleons reported to have sunk in tho seventeenth centurv en route to Spain. Moro than £1,000,000 in silver bars are thought to be in their wreckage. His submerging apparatus consists ot an iron man robot said to bo-capable or withstanding the terrific pressure at even, a 1000 ft. below tho surface. He also proposes to emploj a diving sphere or "bell" with a submerging range ot 2500 ft. , . Lieutenant Rieseberg says he has charted the approximate location of some 240 ships which were carrying great treasure to Spain when they went down. Innumerable difficulties surround the salvage of any of this ancient gold, silver and jewels wrested by the Spaniards from the Inca temples. Much money and many lives have been lost and the return has been pitifully small. —S.F.B.