BLOWING UP WRECKS.

Shannon News, 18 March 1924, Page 2

BLOWING UP WRECKS.

A DANGEROUS OCCUPATION.

Among the many dangerous tasks which at times fall to the lot of the diver, there are few more "ticklish” than the blowing up of wrecks. Wrecks (says the Weekly Telegraph) are blown, up in one or t\vo ways, according ,to whether they are wooden or steel vessels. In the first case a concentrated charge is used, generally consisting of blasting gelatine tightly packed In waterproof bags surrounded with a sailcloth protection. The diver, having previously learned his way about the ship places the charge in the lowest part of the hold, and connects up the necesary detonators with electric cables to the ship 'above. When all is ready,, nearby shipping is warned, the diver's boat moves off some hundred yards ox so. and the charge is exploded by electricity. Immediately the wreck is burst asunder in all directions, the pressure of water inside the hulk tearing plank from plank, and beam from beam. The amount of disturbance oiv the surface varies with the depth at which the wreck lies,, but in any case masses of timber rise to the surface, constituting no little danger to the diver’s boat. On a recent during rough weather, the boat in which the diver was sitting was stove in by a great piece of timber which rose from the depths, and the diver, wearing his heavy dress, “nut without helmet, was very nearly drowned. Steel vessels always constitute a graver danger to divers. The is more likelihood of airpipes and lines becoming fouled in twisted beams or even severed altogether, and divers are liable to cut their hands on the jagged edges of steel plates. Such ships are blown up at a single shot. Explosives are packed into long bags resembling fire hose, and laid along the de<;ks.A good charge, well laid, will cut through the deck and break off the beams and stays throughout the vessel, and later charges, placed along the sides, will cause her to bulge out and -flatten down. Wrecks are not always blown up to remove them from the path of shipping; frequently, in the course of salvaging operations, valuable cargoes can be reached by blowing open steel decks. One of the* most difficult operations of this kind was carried out by the well-known diver, Erostarbe, on the "s.s. Skyro, sunk off Cape Finisterre, with £12,000 worth of silver bars aboard. After mastering many problems caused by the" depth of the water, the weather, and the strong tides, Erostarbe located the treasure. The decks of the Skyro had been so crushed that they were npt 18in. apart, and to get at the silver, Erostarbe had to blow them open. When he had finished, with the wreck, there was no part of her except the engines^. standing higher than himself; she was a heap of old iron. ErostarbQ, however, succeeded in raising £IO,OOO of the £12,000 which had gone to the bottom.