DEEP-SEA DIVING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 139, 15 June 1932, Page 12

DEEP-SEA DIVING

THE EGYPT’S BULLION WORK OF THE ARTIGLIO. A cable message appearing recently stated that divers on board the Artiglio had restarted salvaging the Egypt’s bullion. Behind that announcement is a story of great daring, of grim determination, and at the last of bitter tragedy—the story of the first attempt to recover the bullion that lies iii the strong room of the liner Egypt which was sunk off Ushart on the coast of France in .1922 in 400 feet of water. The Egypt was a P. and O. liner of 8000 tons running between London and Bombay. On Friday, May 19, 1922, the Egypt left Tilbury docks carrying 44 passengers, and in her strongroom bullion to the value of £1.054,000 in gold and silver bars and coin—about 10 tons of silver and five tons of gold. The following day the liner encountered a dense fog off Ushart, and at 7 pan. one of the greatest maritime disasters of recent years occurred, when the French steamer Seine rammed the Egypt amidships, the latter sinking in 20 minutes. Ninety six lives were lost, and £1.000,000 worth of bullion was sunk in over 60 fathoms of water, 30 miles from the nearest land. In those days 120 feet was regarded as the practical limit at which divers, using rubber suits and supplied with air by means of a pipe line from the surface, could work, and it was con-

sidered that the Egypt’s treasure had gone to swell the vast hoard of wealth which the sea holds for her own. There were those, however, who were not content to allow the ocean thus to defy them. In England, Germany. Ita*y. and France scientists and diving experts turned their attention to the problem of inventing some means by which a man might work hundreds of feet below the surface undetered by the vast pressure of water above bim and free from the disadvantages and dangers which attended the use of rubber suits at a depth greater than 20 fathoms. At length, in 1926. an Italian firm, the Societa Ricuperi Maritimi (Maritime Salvage Company), commonly known as the “Sorima, ” using a metal diving suit, revolutionised deep-sea diving by successfully undertaking the salvage of wrecks Iving at depths of 200 and 300 feet. The new metal suit consisted of a steel shell with movable arms and legs, which, although lacking the flexibility of the rubber suit, permitted the diver to move about in a restricted manner, and undertake such simple operations as the tying of a knot in a rope or retrieving of a fairly large object from a wreck by _ means of mechanical hands. The air line always a weak point with the rubber suit, and the fouling of which was the constant dread of the diver was no longer necessary. The shell was large enough to permit the diver to move about inside, while the problem of air supply was overcome by the introduction of an apparatus which enabled the diver to use the same air over and over again. The shell had windows let into the. top for observation purposes, and communication with the surface was maintained by means of a telephone system. Round the * ‘ waist ’’ of the shell was a baPast tank, which could be allowed to fill with water or be blown clear with compressed air by the diver. When this tank was full the shell would sink. When the water was bloAvn out of it it would rise, and this was the diver’s standby in case the •cab 7 © by which he was raised broke or became fouled. The complete shell weighed about 8001 b. in the air, and about 401 b. in the water, allowing for flotation.

Following several successful salvage operations in the Meditteranean the “Sorima” undertook the task of recovering from several sunken vessels along the coast of France the most valuable portions of their cargo. With the experience thus gained and using an improved type of diving apparatus, the company in 1929 commenced work on the recovery of the Egypt’s bullion. Aboard the main salvage ship, the Artiglio, were some of the finest deepsea divers in the world, flushed with their successes of the previous three seasons and confident of adding fresh honours to their record. The first task was that of locating the spot where the Egypt was sunk. Directly after the liner had been struck the chief wireless operator broadcast, her calculated position, and the wireless stations ashore were able to take bearings from his signals with their direc-tion-finding apparatus. These, with the position recorded by the captain, were the only data available for finding the wreck. The sea floor off ''Ushart is rough, strewn with reeks and the numerous wrecks of ships that have there found a watery grave, and despite the use of electric search gear, the most intensive dragging and even recourse to the diviner's aid the search was unavailing. At the end of tho 1929 season the Egypt’s resting place was still a secret. The following summer the Artiglio and her two consorts, the Rostro and rhe Baffin. again took up the quest. After months of fruitless work success crowned the Italians’ efforts, and on a day in August the Egypt was located. Immediately the divers set about the task of working their way to the strongroom, using explosivesand powerful hauling gear from the Artiglio, 400 feet above. But the season was then too far advanced to permit them to complete the work, and the autumn gales drove them from the Egypt with the gold still unrecovered. It appSaired, however, that success was certain in the coming year, and with a light heart divers and crew turned their attention to demolishing tho wreck of the 9000-1 on steamship Florence. This ship, with a cargo of explosives on board, had been sunk in 1917 as the result of the explosion of an infernal machine in her bows. Following a number of attempts to explode the cargo of shells below the surface of the sea. the divers came to the conclusion that the munitions through long immersion had hevome “dead."’ A final charge was laid to destroy the poop, and the \rtiglio drew off to a distance of 300 yards. There was a terrific roar of bursting explosives, a column of water leaped 90(1 feet into the air, and a vast wave ru.-hed with terrifying suddenness upon , th« doomed Artiglio. 11. r hatches : were wide open, and. like a stone, -he sank to the bottom, carrying with her the finest diving equipment in the world am! her splendid team of divers. Stunned by the loss, tho “Sorinia” abandoned operations, and the sea was allowed to retain its treasure. The Egypt’s gold, it seemed, was to In? fonbeneath ihe «i the A'

' ’antic. which holds so many prizes ' Vow. two years later, a fresh at--1 tempt has been made, and a new Ar- • tiglio with another team of divers will make this month a final attack , [upon tlie strongroom of the Egypt, ami ' ! |il’s £ of bullion. Should the ' 1 1 "rk be siiece'-sful the “Sorima” will j 1 reap a rich reward for its efforts. In | •’iiv event a heroic chapter in flic h's- I lorv of deep-sett diving will hnvp been | recorded, ami the name *‘ A i tigli<- " . seems certain of I’viiiembranve whereever divers go down to the. sea. in pur- < suit of their perTous calling.