Fupnlar Science Monthly 



881 



Captain Lester A. Blake did not lose 

 hope of her recovery, notwithstanding 

 the fact that- no vessel had e\er before 

 been salvaged while lyintc under ninety 

 feet of water fifteen miles out at sea. 

 Associated with Captain Blake in the 

 \enture are Theodore W'l'Us, a na- 

 \\\\ architect, and William Wallace 

 \\'otherspoon, who introduced the com- 

 pressed air method of floating sunken 

 ships. 



The Washingtonian is a steel ship ap- 

 proximateh- four hundred and twenty- 

 eight feet long, with a fifty-foot beam. 

 She is di\ided into eight watertight com- 

 partments between decks and has a 

 watertight double bottom, extending 

 practically tiie whole length of the ship. 

 That portion of the hull which lies abo^•e 

 the side of the hatch-openings nearest 

 the surface formed a pocket into which 

 compressed air was pumped. The double 

 bottom proved to be an independent 

 source of buoyancy. 



Fortunately, the Washhigtonian has 

 vents extending to her upper or shelter 

 deck. These vents lead to the several 



outlets already established on the floats, 

 and thence to the \arious parts of the 

 sunken ship. The wrecking tug could 

 thus leave the scene of the wreck when 

 weather conditions prohibited working, 

 simply by detaching the hose con- 

 nections. 



The accompanying illustrations show 

 the way in which the vessel is to be 

 raised. Air will first be blown into the 

 double bottom, giving sufficient buoy- 

 ancy to lift the ship off the seabed. To 

 prevent her from turning bottomside-up 

 a control tank with a lifting capacity of 

 many tons will be attached by an ad- 

 justable purchase to the foremast. This 

 will act as a lever to pre\-ent the shij) 

 from upsetting. Finalh-, air is forced 

 into the space between the decks and 

 the upturned side, to bring the port 

 side of the ship just le\el with the 

 surface. 



As soon as the Washingtonian is 

 brought to the surface she will be towed 

 inside the Delaware Capes where she 

 will be grounded. It will then be a com- 

 paratively easy matter to right her. 



POSITION OF WRECK 



LIFTING FROM THE 

 BOTTOM 



rLOATINS AWASH 



The salvors predicted that the ship would occupy three different positions as she rose to the 

 surface. A control tank attached to the foremast prevents her from turning bottomside up 



compartments, interdeck spaces, and 

 the various tanks. The first step in 

 salvaging the craft is the locating of the 

 two distributing bases, one forward and 

 one aft. To these bases flexible rubber 

 hose, strongly protected by wire netting, 

 was led to a surface float upon which 

 indi\idual connections were placed. The 

 float was pemianently anchored over the 

 wreck. The compressed air from the 

 pumps on the wrecking boat was sent 

 through flexible hose connected with the 



The water will be pumped out, her 

 wound repaired and she will be re- 

 floated. 



The scarcity of ships and the high 

 freight rates ha\-e Viecn two factors 

 inspiring the sa\ing of the ship. At the 

 time the ^■essel was sunk she was valued, 

 outside of her cargo, at a rough half 

 million dollars. Today, if she were re- 

 floated and able to carr\- large cargos of 

 munitions, she could bring a price as 

 high as two million dollars. 



