Contents liii 



PAGE 



No. 28. HER MAJESTY'S SHIP " SULTAN." [From The Times, 



March 30, 1889] ........ 399 



My name having been borne on the books of a man- 

 of-war for nearly four years, everything connected with 

 the British navy continued to interest me keenly. 



This paper and the next one were suggested by the 

 frequent occurrence of accidents to our ships. 



One of these, which particularly attracted the notice 

 of our friends and enemies, was the stranding of H.M.S. 

 " Sultan " on the well known shoals between the islands 

 of Malta and Gozo, and the ineffectual attempts made to 

 refloat her, although in the end this was effected by a 

 foreign salvage company. 



That the matter caused grave concern at the time is 

 shown by the liberal space afforded to my communica- 

 tion on the subject to The Times. 



Summary of news regarding the stranding of the 



iltan." Bad weather makes her situation worse . 399 



The object of salvage operations is to get rid of the 



< r which had forced itself into the ship. 



This can be done either by pumping out the water or 



by pumping in air. The latter or the pneumatic method 



the easier; and the main purpose of this paper is to 



recommend ships being so built as to fit them for its 



application in the case of accident .... 403 



A ship should be so fitted that the power of her 

 engines shall be available to lift her vertically when 

 they are unable to drive her horizontally. 



The only suitable "mechanical power" for this 

 purpose is the pneumatic lever acting on an airtight 

 deck as fulcrum ........ 404 



29 AIK-TKIHT Sfi'.Dix SHIPS. [From \atnre, 



April 25, 1889, Vol. \\.\i.\ , 609] . . . 405 



In this paper the piu'iimatic method <>f salving 

 i<led ships is further dealt \\ith 



me is working at the rate of one horse po\ 

 when it litl- .1 uri-ht >I i, Mr ton against gravity at a 



velocity feet per minute ..... 406 



T!MT !"!. Li a ship hi :ng one horse 



pov >t <lispla- 



,,j m an . \ fi th ally at 



