Raising the "Earl of Dalhousie" [pp. 232-237]

Raising tke "Earl of Daliousie."
lower hold was to pump the water out between
the decks and have the water in the lower
hold to right the ship. In the after half of
this hatch was placed a hinged door, so
arranged that when the air compressor was
in operation, should the quantity of air be
greater than the capacity of the pumps, no
pressure could come on hull; this worked
automatically.
52. The ventilator through forward house,
seven feet by three feet four inches, was covered with wood in two pieces, with canvas
pad fastened with hook bolts screwed up outside.
53. The forward hatch, six feet by six feet,
was covered with wood, with canvas pad
secured with hook bolts screwed up outside.
54 and 55. Two ventilators, twelve inches
diameter, reaching from the hold to the top
of the forecastle deck. These were closed
by wood with canvas pad inside of the main
deck, fastened by a long screw bolt passing
to the top of the forecastle and screwed up.
56 -59. The ventilator bitts were made
water tight by covers with rubber joint.
6o. The oval manhole, fourteen inches
by eleven inches, to the chain lockers was
closed with a wooden cover and canvas pad
secured by a toggle bolt.
6I and 62. Anchor chains passing through
deck. These were plugged and canvas coats
put around the chains.
63. The hatch to the fore peak, two feet
six inches by three feet six inches, was closed
with a wood cover and canvas pad secured
with hook bolts screwed up outside.
All these holes were closed and made absolutely water tight. Every hole was discovered except two. One of these two was a
one and one-half pipe scupper in the cabin,
and the other was one of the wedges in the
jigger mast. These were not found until after
the vessel was raised.
The holes thus closed, pump connections
were once more made, and the barge was then
moved over to the other side. It was
expected that as the vessel came up she would
gradually right herself. We did not know
how much mud was inside the vessel and
inside the bulwarks.
All was ready for a trial, early on the morn ing of the 4th of July. A fourth time the
"Earl of Dalhousie "came up in about the
usual time; and this time she kept coming
until the stern was about twenty feet above
the water, and the bow on the mud. At this
point the pump stopped working, through air
getting into the pipe and destroying the suc tion; and this attempt also had to be aban doned as a failure.
The next device was to put a pump on the
suction pipes so as to exhaust the air and
keep a vacuum of from fourteen to eighteen
inches; and in addition to the tank on the
bowsprit to bolt pig iron on the keel. (C, cut
No. 2.) This being ready, on the 12th the fifth
attempt was made. This time, in addition to
the iron on the keel, two pile pulling machines
were set to lifting on the masts, as it had
been noticed that the ship inclined to turn
bottom up as she rose because of the mud
on the inside of the guards, amounting to
about three hundred tons.
In about the usual time the stern came up
as before; and as the vessel rose, pig iron
was clamped on the keel until seventy-five
tons were there, which was all that we
could get on. The pumping was continued
until the stern post at the lower part of the
rudder was twenty-one feet above the water.
Now at last the bow began to lift, and it was
beginning to look like a success, - when one
of the tackles on the pile pullers gave way.
The time wasted in getting fast again strained
the pump suction until it too gave way, and
the pumps stopped.
A spare pump capable of throwing seven
hundred and fifty gallons per minute had
been provided, and this was put to work by
dropping the end of the hose into one of the
side lights, but this pump could not keep up
with the leaks. However, the ship was now
afloat for the first time; and tow boats were
brought and she was towed in towards the
shore into shallow water. It was very difficult to keep the suction of the pumps from
breaking while this was done, owing to the
distance the ship had to move; for she had
to rise forty feet perpendicularly, and to turn
over at the same time.
1888.]
235