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Buoys Mark OPEN HATCHES Fon REMOVAL OF ORE. i TE Underwriters of the insurance companies surrendered their claims to the HUMPHREY after leading marine salvage experts declined to try and recover the carrier. The carrier was loaded with 14,000 tons of ore. A few feet of her bow and stern masts marked her position in the busy Straits. The Federal government sought bids to cut down her superstructure to clear the Straits for navigation. Only Captain Roen would undertake this job. His offer was a bold one. If he could raise the HUMPHREY, she became his; if he couldn't, he would cut down her superstructure and take the loss of trying to recover her. The HUMPHREY was sold to Captain Roen for one dollar by the insurance underwriters. The carrier, then a menace to navigation, became the responsibility of Captain Roen, its new owner. In October 1943, Captain Roen tackled the first problem, that of removing the iron ore. Before this could be done the huge steel hatches had to be removed. This work demanded that divers struggle against currents up to seven miles an hour. Buoys were placed to mark the hold openings making it simple for the crane operator to drop his bucket and extract the ore (see diagram at top of page). Before winter and its high seas, 8,000 tons of ore were salvaged. The winter months were spent in planning at the Roen yard at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The captain's idea, before untried, was to raise the HUMPHREY by a series of picka- back lifts and tows. Blueprints of the proposed operation were prepared, special tools were built and a model representing 140 feet of the HUMPHREY's midship section was built for tests. In May 1944, Roen's wrecking barge the INDUSTRY and a larger barge, the MAITLAND, returned to the wreck. Two thousand more tons of ore were salvaged. Most of the remainder was dumped into the water as unreclaimable. With the ore removed, many hours of underwater work began for the four divers. The air pressure as the HUMPHREY went down had crushed bulkheads and split seams of the ballast tanks. Quick sealing cement was applied to make the tank's seams airtight. Then tanks were partly filled with water to maintain stability. By blowing air into the HUMPHREY's tanks, the boat might have risen but this probably would have resulted in her turning over. About the hardest job of the operation was attaching sheaves (grooved wheels) to the gunwales of the HUMPHREY. To put 50 sheaves on each side 300 one and one-half inch rivets had to be cut. This was done with a steam hammer mounted on a powerful chisel. Fifty sheaves were then bolted to each side of the 350 foot long MAITLAND. Then 15,000 feet of 7/8 inch cable was used to lace the two ships together. The center of gravity of each ship had been predetermined, so as not to pull down the bow or stern of the MAITLAND. The ballast tanks of the MAITLAND were then filled to sink her about eight feet. Meanwhile air was pumped into the carrier's tanks, thus slowly hoisting the HUMPHREY. © =