DIVING BELL. 129 



by the wreck induced the Lords of the Admiralty to employ Colonel 

 Pasley, R. E., to destroy the remains of the sunken vessel by the same 

 process which he had successfully employed upon two steamers, which 

 were sunk in the Thames, by coming in collision with each other. The 

 following is a description of the means employed by Colonel Pasley: " At 

 two o'clock on Monday afternoon, September 23, 1839, a cylinder, contain- 

 ing 2,3201b. of powder, was carefully lowered to the bottom, where it was 

 placed alongside the most compact portion of the wreck which has yet 

 been discovered by the divers. This operation was effected by means of 

 hauling lines rove through blocks attached to the bottom of the ship by 

 the divers. When every thing was ready, the vessel in which the voltaic 

 battery was placed, was drawn off to the distance of 500 feet, which is 

 the length of the connecting wires, and instantaneously on the circuit 

 being completed the explosion took place, and the effects were very 

 remarkable. At first the surface of the sea, which had before been 

 perfectly smooth and calm, was violently agitated by a sort of tremulous 

 motion, which threw it into small irregular waves, a few inches only in 

 height. This lasted for three or four seconds, when a huge dome of 

 water made its appearance, of a conical, or rather bee-hive shape. At 

 first it appeared to rise slowly, but rapidly increased in height and size 

 till it reached the altitude of 28 or 30 feet, in a tolerably compact mass. 

 It then fell down and produced a series of rings, which spread in all 

 directions. The first, or outer one of these, having the aspect of a wave 

 several feet in height, curled and broke, as if it had been driven towards 

 the shore. Neither the shock nor the sound was so great as had been 

 expected by those who had witnessed the former explosions by Colonel 

 Pasley, where the quantity of powder was only 451b., but the effect 

 produced on the water at the surface, considering that the depth was 90 

 feet, was truly astonishing. What the effect has been upon the wreck 

 will not be fully ascertained by the divers till the present spring tides are 

 over, and the long periods of slack water at the neaps enable the divers to re- 

 main for upwards of half an hour under water. In the m'ean time it is 

 highly satisfactory to know that Colonel Pasley has completely established 

 his command over the application of the voltaic battery to submarine 

 purposes, and that he can now with certainty explode his charges at any 

 depth of water. This will give him the power of placing his cylinders 

 against the most refractory parts of the wreck, and, by blowing these to 

 pieces, and dislocating the knees, timbers, and beams, enable him to 

 draw the whole up, bit by bit, to the surface. Any person who has seen 

 the operation of breaking up a ship on land knows that this is the only way 



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