A SALVAGING FEAT

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2310, 2 August 1921, Page 1

A SALVAGING FEAT

An account is given in (lie Navy of the work of salving the Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci, which blew up in Taranto Harbour during the war, and sank keel uppermost. After being raised from the mud at the bottom, in which the gun turrets were embedded, the wreck lioat-

ed upside down for many months while repairs were made to enable it to be towed to a dry dock. This was done on September 17th, 1 DIO. The ship was floated into the dry dock till upside down, and there followed 32 months of repair work to make the hull watertight. Her gun turrets had to lie cut out as she lay in the harbour, and diving operations subsequently succeeded in recovering six of her 12in. guns from the sunken turrets. On January 22nd last the hull was floated "ill the dry dock and towed out into deep water in the inner roadstead at Taranto. About 2,900 lons of water were slowly pumped into the double bottom on the starboard side, and a further 2,800 lons were pumped into more compartments all along the side. This influx of Wilier gave flic hull a lisl which gradually became greater and greater. Then when she was just on Ihe verge of turning over, all (hose working on hoard left (lie ship. It was coinpiil - ed that a further 1,700 lons would roll her over on an even keel. Actually only 850 roil.- had I icon pumped in when she suddenly swung' round and plunged her keel once more in its rightful place, under

water. The whole operation was enormously expensive, and indeed it has been computed that the cost of salving tlie >10]) exceeded the original cost of building her. Tlu* expense, however, was considered to he justified by the knowledge gained in solving problems of -hip salvage in unusual conditions. The use fo which the salved hull will be pul is not yet known. It was a remarkable feat.of engineering, never bitheft o attempted by ouy navy in the world, and several ollicers of the Italian Naval Engineering Corps who bad worked on the problem for more than four years, were deservedly decorated by the Minister for Marine. The Italian Navy League, in celebration of the event, lias produced a medal, both as a memorial to those who perished in llie explosion and to those who laboured to salvo (lie ship.