The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

er ee ontoon for Double Pontoons Are Equipped With Chains for Rastehing the SSS SSS SSS SS Gunwales and for Passing Under the Bottom of Submerged Craft OQ make the sea give up its hoard | 8; treasure, both of sunken ships and of submerged - cargoes, is a problem that has lured' the; inventive genius. of engineers for centuries. . Ever since Spanish galleons, - freighted with gold and silver stolen by the buccaneers from the inhabitants of Central and. South. America, sank through inability to weather the _ fierce hurricanes that some times sweep across © the semitropical waters between the two American continents, means to improve salvaging' methods have been constantly sought. Efforts to provide means to salve the' "immense treasure thus _ lost centuries ago to attempts to raise sunken vessels. One of the first atternpts to 'locate sunken vessels was made. in 1538 when two .Greek investigators of an inventive turn of mind devised a crude _ diving bell in which they gave a~prac- _ tical Charles' V of. Spain. before Emperor Down through the intervening centuries, this dream of bygone days has been kept alive and millions of dollars have been sunk in demonstration ' fruitless schemes to make the sea part with this store of. treasure. The principal drawback against the majority of devices designed to raise sunken vessels is that they are origin- ated by those who have had no experi- ence in practical wrecking operations. While many of the plans offered look good on paper, they fail to function properly when put to actual use. Device is Said to be Practical Capt. Alex Cunning, wrecking master for the Great Lakes Towing Co., is the inventor of the pontoon for raising sunken vessels shown in the accompany- ing illustrations. The device is pat- ented and many engineers who have examined the device pronounce it thoroughly practical. In the design of this pontoon, Captain Cunning has taken his ideas from the wealth of experi- ence accumulated in the past 20 years during which time he has been engaged in actual wrecking operations. With reference to the _ illustrations, Fig. 1 is a section of the pontoon show- ing the diver's way. Fig. 2 is an end view of two pontoons in position for raising a vessel. -:-Fig. 3. is 'a (plan view of the deck while Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the pontoons. The pontoons are constructed of heavy material in order that they can withstand hard usage. Practically the led many same- methods are used in building the pontoons as are followed in ordinary steel" ship construction. The hull has a flat bottem, 2, parallel sides, 2, an arched upper deck, 3, intermediate decks,..4 and 5, and undercut ends, 6. The upper deck is equipped with several hatches, 7, which communi- cate with compartments, 9, between | the decks, to permit of the pontoon being ised asa lighter or for storage purposes at a dock. Along the sides of the hatchways are rails, ro, which form a track for a traveling crane, II. This crane is operated by steam sup- plied by the boiler, 12, which is lo- cated: in the boiler and pump room, I3, at one side of the pontoon. Coal bunkers are shown at 14. To Control Buoyancy Compartments, 25 and:16, between - the lower deck and the 'vessel's bottom | are for the purpose of increasing and decreasing the buoyancy of the pon- toon. When the compartments are airtight, they also serve to keep the craft from sinking in case of collision. By admitting water through sea valves, the pontoon can be lowered to any desired waterline. Pumps are provided for emptying these compart- ments. This feature is advantageous after pontoons have been attached to a sunken vessel as the relatively low position of the pontoon facilitates the divers' work. Again, water in these compartments. serves as ballast to steady the craft while working in a heavy seaway. One side. of each pontoon -- is equipped with a number of angulaily disposed chain or cable ways, r7 and 18.. These chainways are in the form of tubes the upper ends of which terminate in socket members, 19, in the. deck, 3, «and! adjacent to 'the hoists, steam winches or chain wind- ing devices, 20. This apparatus is of the design usually employed for han- dling anchor chains in ordinary prac- tice. The lower ends of the chainways, 18, terminate in sockets, 27, in the bottom of the pontoon while the lower ends of the chainways, 17, terminate in socket members, 22, which are carried by the inner walls, 23, of the diver ways, 24. These diver ways extend from the deck~to the bottom of the pontoon and are fitted with ladders or hand grips, 25. 335 It has been found necessary to have .the chainways, 17 and 18, ex- tend through some compartments of the pontoon. This necessitates the chainways, 17, being at a_ greater angle than those shown at 78 The object of this is to have certain chains, 26, extend to the bottom of the pontoon and under a sunken ves- sel, 27%. ;Other chains, 28, . extend from the confronting sides of a pair of pontoons and are attached to the sides or gunwales of the sunken vessel as shown in Fig. 2. To permit a pair of pontoons to be.used safely in raising a sunken vessel, the sides of the pontoons hav- ing the diver and chainways .a:e pro- vided with a number of extending © booms, 29, which may be operated by power or manually. These booms can be wsed to connect the pontoons and are equipped with ball and socket joints, 30. This arrangement allows the pontoons to float freely, parallel to each other, without danger of collision or separation. 'The inventor states that when the chainways and chains are properly distributed along the length of the pontoons and the hoisting engines properly controlled similar to towing engines, it is possible to raise the sunken craft on an even keel. It is also pointed out that the initial move- ment of the sunken vessel may be materially facilitated by removing a portion or all of its cargo or py making use. of the buoyancy of the pontoons before the hoisting engines are started. Both pontoons are provided with fore and aft anchors, 37, together with lowering and raising mechanism. Crew Space Provided As salvage operations usually con- sume some time, each pontoon is provided with quarters for officers and' crew, machine shop and all other necessary apparatus to facilitate wrecking operations. After the initial preparations for raising a vessel have been made, the compartments of the pontoons can be pumped out causing them to rise with the submerged vessel. Thus the initial raising operation can be car- ried out without the use of engines or other mechanism. Again, while working in salt water, the rise and fall of the tide will aid materially. At mean low water, the chains run- ning from the pontoons to the wreck