TO LIFT THE LUSITANIA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16612, 11 December 1919, Page 7

TO LIFT THE LUSITANIA.

Calamity is the mother of invention. Owing to‘the large number of valuable ships sunk by suumarmos in comparatively shallow water near the Uritish isles,, special attention has lately been given by British inventors to the improvement of salvage methods. _ ihe present system involves the towing of lighters to the scene of operations and a complicated series of under-water operations which make the process so costly and hazardous that in many cases the venture is neither feasible nor profitable. An entirely now method was recently tried, with conspicuous success, on a vessel which had been sunk by enemy action off the coast of Scotland. The salvage boat had on board two flexible pontoons made of special canvas and and each weighing about one ton. These pontoons were fixed to the hull of the sunken vessel and inflated with compressed air, raising the vessel slowly and permitting it to be towed into shallow water for beaching. Each pontoon when inflated is capable of lifting 100 tons, and the makers are now confident of being able to make similar pontoons with a lifting capacity of 200,000 and even 500_ tons. By multiplying the number of largo pontoons, vessels of any size can be raised, provided that divers can reach the hull in order to fix shackles to it. There is thus a clear possibility of raising the Lusitania. A battery of 80 pontoons, each of 500 tons lifting capacity, would be sufficient to lift the vessel so that it could be towed into shallow water, where it could be repaired, pumped out, and refloated at high title.