RAISING A SHIP

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 71, 24 March 1934, Page 23

RAISING A SHIP

THE TARANAKI VENTURE

A 400-TON LIFT

(By "Martingale.")

A general review of the apparatus used-in lifting the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company's steamer Taranaki, after she had sunk in Tory Channel sixty-six years ago, was given in these columns last Saturday, and this second notice deals with the successful accomplishment of the task.

As th» Taranaki lay in Bowden 's Bay in 1869, when salvage operations commenced, she was renting on a steep bank, her bow pointing upwards. To correct this it was necessary to lift the stern more than her bows arid haul it round at the same time up the slope flf the bank. As the ship was lifted %he was hauled ahead by being made fast by a chain cable from her bow to the Ladybird, which steamer was hauled ahead from time' to time' as required to moorings placed in-shore. On the morning of June 23 a start was made' by the adventurers from Wellington, sailing by the Ladybird, which had been hired as a tender. They reached Pictori the. sanieafteTrn'oon and next day launched two of the pontoons and took in the cross-logs and moorings. On June 26 they left Picton with' the two pontoons in tow for Bowden's Bay. From that time until July 10 they were occupied in'lifting chains and anchors' from the Taranaki' and mooring the pontoons and the Ladybird—a! work of great difficulty. ALL READY. By August 6 everything was ready for the first lift, and1 the" log of August 7 ran as follows:—"Weather fine all day, commenced .at 12.30 p.m., sunk pontoons byj letting .in; water connected on at 1.30 p.m. 'and-'screwed all the bars tights and.began .to- pump out at

2.45 p.m., assisted by the whalers from the Sound. Vessel began to lift at 3.30 p.m.; all the -water pumped; out at 4, p.m.., ;The: pontoons rose,-, considerably, two of the after logs of the fore pontoons sprung, being under-sized; hove in by the Ladybird's windlass as the tide flowed, got ahead 50ft, and ceased at 8 p.m. During the succeeding days the advance made was slow, but definite. On August 17 they sounded and found the Ship to be 26Jft higher at the bows than at the stern. Four days later they found that, as tho ship was settling down aftj-she was "sliding down the bank. To correct the fault more men were placed to work on the, screws of the after pontoons, so as to lift the stern a little niore than the bows, and so gradually an even keel was reached. From this time on the operations went well. . MAST-HEAD CLEAE. By September ,2 the fore lower-mast-head was about 3ft out of water. . . . Two days later the ioretop was clear, and' by the 6th the main mast-head was showing a foot above water. On. September '11. the log reads as follows:— '' Lifted today 3ft ,9in at foremast, and 4ft 3in at main-mast; forecastle deck 10ft under water, quarter-deck 25ft under water.'' On September 15 the divers began to take off the last lengths of long bars. The forecastle deck showed above water for the first time, aud it was found that the pine deck had become greatly worm eaten. On September 21 saw the worst of the task completed and on that day the pontoons and the Taranaki were floated over the bank on which the ship had rested and run ahead with a strong wind towards the beach for about 300 ft. Divers were then sent below to examine cracket^plates and to patch up holes, and on September 23 the pump-ing-out of the fore-part of the vessel was commenced. The next few days were similarly occupied, leaks being stopped and ports being covered over "by means of putting a sheepskin and a board over the hole and screwing it tight up to a crossbar. placed inside. By September 29 all was ready to move the Taranaki alongside the Ladybird, and.on the following day coals were transferred from the former ship to the Ladybird, covering the wormeaten decks with planks to walk upon, and mooring the pontoons. ACROS3 TO WELLINGTON. On October 1 the steamer Wanganui arrived from Wellington with tow ropes and- left Tory Channel at 10 o 'clock that morning with the Taranaki in tow. The Ladybird also assisted in this work. Wellington was reached safely at 4.30 p.m. after a fine passage across the Strait,, the ship being very tight and making no water. The total lift made was 92ft, the weight of the wreck being about 400 tons. When the ship went down she buried her stern in the mud, scooping up twenty or thirty tons of soil on to the poop, knocking away the poop rail and stanchions round the stern, leaving.the,steering gear uninjured but twisting Tound and breaking the rudder. The boiler was damaged when she sank, having collapsed from the outside pressure of the watSr as the vessel suddenly dropped to the depth of 17J fathoms. In the fore-deck, over the forward, compartment, ten deck beams were bent down 'Bin'by the pressure of the water from outside, bending the 3in iron stanchions supporting them from the lower deck, and the hatches were found forced inwards. When the ship was lifted it was found that her hull had been completely coated with shelly incrustation, except the bottom which the marine paint had kept tolerably clean. Her small spars were completely worm-eaten and gonej any

teakwood was found sound; the cabin fittings, where painted, were in generally good order. •■■ . ;•'. :

The/engines were discovered to be in working condition, all the journals and bearings being bright and clean.' The wrought-iron starting, gear was tarnished,, but not damaged, and the castiron work was uninjured. • - ■ : , . ..Thus.-was brought to a conclusion that first' real',salvaging work in the Dominion—indeed a great accomplishment.