THE RAISING OF THE DRY-DOCK DEWEY. 147 
and almost inaccessible places. They had to go below on the machinery deck 
to find and close numerous small openings where they had to pick their way 
among all sorts of machinery, stanchions, pipes and other obstructions where 
the work was of a dangerous nature. ‘They renewed or removed about 1,100 
feet of 3 and 4-inch vent piping under water. They had to dig out about 
14 feet of mud and hard sand to clear the sea valves at a depth of 85 feet 
below the surface. In no case did any of them wear a diver’s suit. The 
helmet alone was used. ‘This seems to be somewhat unusual, in this part 
of the world at least where the water is usually too cold and makes the 
entire suit necessary. But without the suit the diver has more freedom of 
action and can do better work; only he must always keep his head upright. 
In this work on the “Dewey” there would probably have been loss of life 
had divers’ suits been worn in some instances. Occasionally when intro- 
ducing compressed air a pipe would give way and in several instances divers 
were working on pipes that gave way under the compressed air. This 
released a large volume of air, upset the diver, and almost upset the boat 
containing the diver’s tenders and apparatus, thereby shutting off the supply 
of air. With the helmet alone, the diver could easily get out of it and come 
to the surface. The work of these men fully deserves special commendation 
and thanks. 
DISCUSSION. 
VICE-PRESIDENT McFARLAND:—The paper by Naval Constructor Adams on 
“The Raising of the Dry-Dock Dewey” is now before you for discussion. 
SECRETARY DANIEL H. Cox:—It has occurred to me that it might be inter- 
esting to have some comments on the state of affairs disclosed in Naval Constructor 
Adams’ paper from Mr. Donnelly, who has had considerable experience with 
dry-docks. It is a remarkable thing that a dock; subject to the rigid investigation 
that this one was, should be allowed to get into the state of affairs that must have 
existed for it to have sunk as it did. 
Mr. WiLiismM T. DoNNELLY, Member:—I should like to say that I regret very 
much that Constructor Adams is not here to give us a fuller knowledge of some of 
the details of the |raising of this dock. I regard this as especially a praiseworthy 
piece of work, and my remarks will have some bearing on that subject. 
