Patching Battleships.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4627, 14 May 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

Patching Battleships.

After tlie conflict, we frequently read that the battered battleship makes for port to undergo the necessary repairs, but, obviously, if the ship has been hit below the water-line, and a serious leak has been sprung, first aid will hare to lie rendered by those on board, otherwise the vessel may go down. _ And our Jack Tars have several methods of stopping the incoming water: if, for_ instance, a small hole has been made in the vessel’s side, an apparatus like an umbrella is used. This is thrust through the hole, point first, and then drawn back so that it will open like an umbrella—leaving the canvas outside. Of course, the pressure of the water effectually presses the canvas against the ship’s side, thus stopping the leak: but to make it more secure, the handle of the umbrella, which is formed like a screw, is fastened by a nut inside. In the case of a bigger leak—when the ship has been stored in below the water line —a large mat made of canvas and oakum is used. Tins has to be fixed into positions by means of ropes. But the fixing is not a very easy matter, as one rope has to be got right under the keel, to the other side of the ship, in order to drag the mat down to the hole. Two or three other ropes are also reouired at different angles to guide the mat to its right position. When this is done, the engines are started, and the damaged ship makes for port.