Popular Science Monthly 



Vol. 9^2 

 No. 6 



225 West Thirty-ninth Street, New York City 



June, 1918 



Si .50 



Aniiuallv 



Raising a Sunken Ship witii Corlc 



A way of salving valuable ships 

 which have been torpedoed 



Bv Simon Lake 



SINCE the outbreak of the war several 

 thousand ships, ranging in displace- 

 ment from a few tons to thousands 

 of tons, have been sunk by submarines, 

 mines or shell fire. The loss of the ships 

 and of their valuable cargoes is so great 

 that it is keenly felt by the nations princi- 

 pally concerned. Long 

 before the German sub- 

 marine adopted the 

 present policy of sink- 

 ing all ships found 

 within prescribed zones 

 and thereby involving 

 the United States in 

 the war, I invented a 

 method of salving ves- 

 sels which may be ap- 

 plied after the treaty 

 of peace is signed. 

 Many of the ships 

 sent to the bottom by 

 the Germans are lost 

 beyond all hope of re- 

 covery. They have 

 been either too severely 

 damaged by the explo- 

 sions of mines or torpe- 

 does, or they lie at 

 depths too great to be 

 reached by divers. 



But enough have 

 found a resting 

 place in water shal- 

 low enough to justify 

 the use of the inven- 

 tion I am about to 

 describe. 



I do not believe strongly in pumping 

 water out of a sunken ship, because it is 

 nearly impossible to close all openings and 

 prevent other water from running in to 



Mr. Simon Lake, the author of this 

 article, is one of the pioneers in the 

 development of the submarine. His 

 reputation as an inventor and build- 

 er of submarines and his vast expe- 

 rience as an adviser on submarine 

 questions to the United States Gov- 

 ernment as well as to the leading 

 European Powers entitle the inge- 

 nious suggestions contained in this 

 article to most careful consideration 



take its place. Then if they are at any 

 considerable depth the water pressure 

 will crush in their decks. To place chains 

 under the ship and attach them to pon- 

 toons, from which the water is thereafter 

 pumped out, is a ticklish job unless the 

 waters are quiet and the sea bottom 

 sandy. The use of 

 many small air bags 

 or casks placed under 

 the decks by div-ers is 

 costly and suitable only 

 for small wooden ves- 

 sels. 



I suggest that the 

 water be driven from 

 the interior of the ship 

 by forcing buoyant ma- 

 terial in, which may be 

 accomplished by cen- 

 trifugal pumps pumping 

 into the sunken vessel 

 water mixed with 

 cork or heated paraffin 

 or both. The buoyan- 

 cy of these materials 

 eventually lifts the ves- 

 sel, and the materials 

 are gathered and used 

 over again. As paraf- 

 fin hardens when 

 cooled, it does not 

 escape through small 

 rents or fissures in the 

 decks; on the contrary, 

 it tends to close them. 

 Holes in the bottom 

 of the ship do not 

 interfere with this process. The buoyant 

 materials, after being forced in, tend to 

 spread in a gradually hardening and ex- 

 panding layer under the decks, strengthen- 



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