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July, 1919 can be hauled taut and as the tide rises the pontoons, floating above the wreck will, of course rise also, bring- ing the wreck with them. A factor that has caused consider- able delay in times past in attempting to raise sunken vessels is the fact that the wreck often lists as it is raised from its bed on the bottom. Some- times it turns turtle. With Captain Cunning's pontoons, this is held im- possible as the wreck is securely cradled in the chains running upward Captain Cunning points out that his plan is an adaptation of the float- ing drydock idea, only that instead of a shell bottom, such as drydocks have, 'the two sets of chains act as a cradle to support the submerged vessel. Wrecking operations on the Great Lakes have generally been carried out with cofferdams which are _ built around the submerged vessel and then 'pumped out. This work is slow and costly and involves risk because a gale | is liable to spring up which kicks up a nasty sea that often destroys the strongest cofferdams possible to con- struct. ° Again, 'the: pressure: on a cofferdam after it is freed of water is enormous, threatening collapse at any _moment. The depth from which a _ sunken vessel can be raised depends, of course, on the distance the divers can go under water to pass the chains under her. The greatest depth divers have descended to 300 feet in the case of the F-4 which sank in Honolulu harbor, March 25, 1915. This, however, was an unusual emergency operation. The greatest practicable depth to which divers can safely descend is approximately 115 feet tn salt water and 125 feet in fresh water. It is obvious that it is possible to remain submerged at a greater depth in fresh water due to | the fact that its' specific. gravity. is less than that of salt water. Has Had Broad Experience Capt. Alex Cunning, the inventor of the device described, has spent prac- tically all of his life on the water. He was born in Scotland and came to this country with his parents when "two years old. His father, Andrew Cunning, was .a' pioneer vesselman on the lakes and made his home in Bay City, Mich. As a boy, Captain Cun- "ning the younger knew a vessel from stem to stern and was an able sea- man before he was out of his 'teens. At the age of 20 he definitely decided to make the 'see his career and has followed it ever since. For 10 years before entering the employ of the Great Lakes Towing Co., he was a diver for the old Escanaba Towing & Wrecking Co. in salt water is « THE MARINE REVIEW For nearly 20 years, Captain Cun- ning has been connected with the Great Lakes Towing Co., for the greater part of the time in complete charge of wrecking operations on the lakes. During that time he has suc- cessfully handled some of the most difficult wrecking jobs on the lakes. He enjoys a nation-wide reputation for success and daring. He has to his credit over 120 suc- cessful wrecking operations. In one of his busiest years he handled 26 wrecks. One autumn, a few years ago, when the lakes were covered with a- blanket of smoke from forest fires that made successful navigation almost impossible, he succeeded in releasing 11 stranded vessels in a single week. Raising the Eastland _ One successful feat that brought him world-wide fame was the releasing of the Easttanp, which turned on her side in the Chicago river in 1915 with a loss of hundreds of lives. from the time Captain Cunning left St. Ignace, Mich., with the old wrecker FAvorITE, now in foreign waters and replaced by a new craft of like name, he had successfully raised the East- LAND and was back again at St. Ignace where the Favorire was stationed. In 1909, Captain Cunning was sum- moned to right the Ann Arbor car ferry No. 4 which turned over on her side in Manistique harbor, Mich., with 24 steel freight cars aboard, loaded with 50 tons of ore each. After removing plates from the side of the vessel, Cap- tain Cunning took out the cars and ore and then successfully raised the vessel, a feat which attracted much attention. Another difficult wrecking feat suc- cessfully accomplished by Captain Cun- ning consisted of righting the steamer Epwin L. FisHer, which turned over on her side in the Detroit river after beir'g rammed by another vessel. FisHer carried a full. cargo of coal in her hold in addition to a deck load of 65-pound steel rails. These were secure- ly lashed at each end and when the vessel turned over, the rails interlaced into a seemingly hopeless: tangle. In spite of this fact, the. steamer and her full cargo was saved. Captain Cunning believes in sticking to a job until it is done. When the WESTERN STAR went down in Georgian bay, in 1914, her stern lay in 100 feet of water while her bow was clear. Twice Captain Cunning had everything ready to raise the craft when contrary winds kicked up a heavy sea and sus- pended operations. On the third at- tempt, however, he was rewarded with success. At the present time, Captain Cunning informed a representative of THe Ma- Tust 12 edays: cargoes The: 337. RINE Review, there are a large number of vessels both in Great Lakes' waters and on the coasts of the northern At- lantic that can be successfully raised. He states emphatically that it is pos- sible to raise the bulk freighter CHARLES S. Price which turned turtle in Lake Huron in the great storm of Nov. 9-11, 1913. This vessel has created much comment, due to the fact that while loaded to the coamings with coal, she not only capsized but turned turtle com- pletely. She now lies bottom upward, a menace to navigation, on the bottom of Lake Huron. Regarding the numerous cargo ves- sels sunk by the depredations of the German U-boats, Captain Cunning draws attention to the fact that many of them lie in comparatively shallow water, loaded in many instances with cargoes of a nonperishable nature. Thus their salvage would accomplish the double purpose of reclaiming valuable merchan- dise as well as restoring the craft to usefulness. At the present day, ships sunk during the war and now lying on the ocean bed, total millions of deadweight tons. The majority of these vessels were sunk in foreign waters but many were sunk in waters adjacent to this country. | Captain Cunning points out that 'it should be a comparatively easy matter to raise the Empress or IRELAND which lies on the bottom of the St. Lawrence river near Father point. This vessel was rammed by a collier while outward bound. Another vessel that the British are anxious to bring to the surface is a liner that was sunk in the Mediter- ranean, in the hold of which is an im- mense amount of gold, destined for London. From these facts it is readily seen that salvaging operations on a gigantic scale are in prospect and be- fore long the recovery of vessels and that can be reached should be under way. ' + Late Marine Patents Copies of any of the following pat- ents can be obtained by sending 15 cents in stamps to Siggers & Siggers, National Union Insurance building, Washington, by mentioning THE Ma- RINE REVIEW. 1302570--Floating ship form, John A. Lynch, Phila- delphia. ; Toei et propelling means, Allen Nase, Jop- lin, Mo. 1302957--Marine propulsion mechanism, Richard B. Owen, Washington. 1303046--Seamless metallic boat construction, Jo- seph Dimes, Brooklyn, N. Y. 1303049--TLeak stopper, John Endreson, Brooklyn, Y. NEeYy; 1303266--Submarine artillery, Minneapolis. 1303369--Reinforced concrete ship, George C. New- ton and Ralph E. Newton, Milwaukee. Kennedy Dougan, 1303508--Multiple propeller boat, William M. Simpson, Portland, Oreg. 1303522--Tornedo guard or shield, Millard &. Theodore. New York. 1303550--Collapsible boat, Archibald E. Ford, Lon- don, England.