SHIPS ON STILTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 75, 20 January 1947, Page 4

SHIPS ON STILTS

A ship on stilts was seen in the Clyde not long ago. It was a model, 35 feet long,, of a new type of vessel which is to be used for prospecting for mineral wealth which lies hidden beneath sea shallows on marshy land. The model sailed upstream, halted in shallow water, and climbed up three mastlike structures fitted around its hull. ' When the tide receded, the little ship remained perched high in mid-air; then, when the tide returned, it shined down the masts and in a few minutes floated away. After experiments with the model have been successfully completed, several full-size ships, 300 feet long, are to be constructed. To save weight, light metal alloys are to be used, and the hulls will be electrically welded. They will carry sounding gear and prospecting instruments, and will be used as mobile prospecting stations. In marshy land they will be able to move from place to place making tests, thus eliminating the enormous cost of reclaiming land and erecting fixed stations. *

A ship will be floated as far as possible into marshy country, or into sea shallows, then the lower parts of the three hoisting masts will be let down' to get a footing on the bed. When this is established, the ship will~be hoisted up the three masts by powerful electric winches. Resting on its tripod clear - of the water, the ship becomes, a prospecting station independent of the rise and fall of tides, and the drilling for traces of mineral ores or oil can go on day after day without interruption.