THE DIVER'S TASK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3249, 21 June 1916, Page 67

THE DIVER'S TASK.

WAR. TIME PERILS. The fact that the wreckage of the Tn« bantia is to be examined by divers will bring under notice a section of naval perfonnel and equipment to whose war service little attention has hitherto been paid, says Mr T. Palmer, in the Star. The coming of the floating dock into every important naval base has cut somewhat into the diver's harbour work, but still he remains of immense importance to the fleet. When leaks or shot-holes are reported he goes overboard, dragging the thick hempen collision mat over the damaged plate, to enable his ship to limp home. Similarly, when a torpedo strikes a less vulnerable' part he goes down to the rescue, and in patching the jagged holes caused by mines lie has had a great value. In this case he may have to a plate—no easy job when a 13,000-tor battleship is rolling and sucking agains? him. The work of the diver is terribly dangerous. When a temporary repair has to be improvised in deep water he takes hi£ life in his hands. The least slip or mis. calculation between heavy hull and twisting rope ladder nieans death. But, all the same, there is no lack of Britons for what is often a desperate and always a difficult and highly-skilled job. —Powerful Men.— Every first-class fighting ship has a diving 'equipment on board, and the captain is responsible for a crew trained to the work. They must be men of firsl>class physique to cope with the heavy work and' abnormal conditions, and with a good deal of intelligence as well. There is no task expected of a lieutenant of engineers on land which may not come within the scope of the diver, even in peace time. No wonder extra pay is allowed for efficiency in this direction. Again and again, in the course of a flec-t"s cruise, some unit has to call upon its diver—maybe to clear the screws from some waterlogged timber lodged on their guards, or similar trifling service. One dav, when a squadron lay in Torbay, a whole team of divers were at work searchins the anchorage for a code signal book which a demented petty officer had shied overboard. The book was ultimately recovered. Uf course, the chief work of the diver is in anchorages, where he may make a survey of the huli plates, or after a long'cruiso clear away the beard of barnacles and weeds which have attached themselves to his ship, and by their resistance to the water reduced her speed by half a dozen knots per hour.

—Wonders of the Sea. — At such times the diver comes across some veritable -wonders of the sea. Ribbon fishes have abandoned their usual hosts of the shark tribe and put their sucker heads against the steel shell. There are curious jellyltke excrescences. which are hard to displace, veritable, gardens of colour. In the days of our eld wooden walls it was not unusual to find, after a cruise in tropic seas, the remains of some giant swordfish. which had charged to the death this intruder of the upper waters. Steel plates, however, show few signs of such attacks. The diving crews of ships stationed in and around homo harbours have had intervals of hard work since the coming of war. Certain portions of the permanent minefields need their regular attention, particularly the deep water mines fired by electricity from the shore fort. The "slightest mishap to the greatest of these can only be repaired by the divers, while the vagaries of mines which now and again get adi-ift in our fairways often cause long hours of search and labour. The small boat with its air pump and ita ladder over the stern is seen in curious and unusual places. A most important mine was recently put out of action for several hours by the

tide scouring away the sand which buried its cable, and then the plunging and tangle of a heavy waterlogged pile which somehow had got adrift in a landward flood