Among the many marvels of art in the present day is the art of lifting
sunk vessels from the bottom of the sea, or of rescuing them in a
sadly injured condition from dangerous ledges of rock, where in former
times they must have inevitably been lost. Of course, this marvel is
primarily due to the agency of steam acting on pumps, diving-bells,
huge chains, and other apparatus; but it is clear that without the
audacity of resource possessed by men skilled in maritime affairs, all
mechanical agency whatsoever would be valueless.
It is pleasant to know that while science has been doing so much for
people who live on dry land, seamen who peril their lives on the great
ocean that wraps round the world have not been neglected; and to
maritime invention are added civil laws and arrangements distinctly
intended to preserve life and property at sea. In touching on this
interesting subject, we may first speak of Salvage as a means for
stimulating the efforts of humanity. Salvage is the payment due to
persons who save a vessel that has been abandoned by its crew, or which
is placed in some peculiar jeopardy. On the owners of ships so rescued,
rests the obligation of paying a reasonable sum as salvage; and in
the case of any dispute regarding the amount, the matter is settled
by a decision of the Court of Admiralty. When the vessel has been
insured against sea-risks by the underwriters at Lloyd’s, or others,
these, for their own interests, make compensation for the recovery of
the jeopardised property. Seafaring populations on the English coast
are ordinarily prompt in helping to save the lives of shipwrecked
mariners, as well as in recovering and taking charge of goods washed
ashore. At one time the wreckage of vessels driven ashore became a prey
to depredators, known as wreckers; but scandals of this kind do not
now occur, partly owing to the vigilance of magistrates, police, and
coastguard, and partly to that of the numerous agents of Lloyd’s, whose
duty it is to take charge of any species of property driven ashore.
Like an invisible army, these agents of Lloyd’s are established all
round the coasts of the British Islands, ready to pounce upon and
secure every article which the waves bring to land. The plundering of
wreckage, such as Sir Walter Scott picturesquely describes in _The
Pirate_, could not now therefore take place. As far as the law can do
it, the property imperilled on the deep is protected from depredation.
Latterly, the succouring of vessels in a distressed condition at sea
has not been altogether left to chance or to private adventure, under
the prospect of salvage. There has sprung up a system of recovery
on a great scale. Salvage Companies possessing a large capital have
been established in London, Liverpool, and elsewhere. By means of
powerful and skilfully managed steam-tugs, they undertake to rescue,
if possible, ships that have been thought to be almost beyond human
aid. There is something heart-stirring in the idea of a few heroic men
sallying forth in the forlorn hope of lifting a ship sunk to the bottom
of the sea, floating it safely into harbour, and restoring to the owner
that which had been given up as lost. Proceedings of this kind take
their place alongside of the feats performed by means of Life-boats,
renowned among the maritime glories of England.
In the wonderful art of lifting and floating sunk vessels, no one has
so greatly distinguished himself as Captain William Coppin, who is said
to have recovered a hundred and forty ships that would otherwise in
all probability have never more been heard of. Perhaps we may some day
have a record of the more interesting cases in which the captain was
concerned. In the meanwhile, trusting to newspaper accounts, we draw
attention to the proceedings that lately took place in endeavouring to
rescue a vessel stranded on a dangerous ledge of rocks at Bembridge,
Isle of Wight. The vessel is described as the clipper bark _Alphita_,
with ballast, bound from Amsterdam to Cardiff. Its length was a
hundred and ninety-six and a half feet, with eighteen feet depth of
hold. It was a handsomely-built, smart-sailing vessel, which cost
thirteen thousand pounds—most likely sent on a mission to take a cargo
of coal from Wales to Holland. It was fully insured at Lloyd’s.
This fine vessel encountered a tremendous gale in December 1877, and
notwithstanding the efforts of Mr G. E. Stone, master, was driven with
violence on the above-mentioned ledge of rocks. The unfortunate vessel
was thrown to a considerable distance among the rocks, and there she
stuck, with underplating damaged, her sides bulged in, water getting
freely into the hold, and with mainmast fractured. To all appearance
the ship was finished. By no ordinary process could she be got off.
What was to be done? Sad to leave a thing of beauty and considerable
cost to be dashed to pieces by recurring storms in the Channel!
There were grave consultations on the matter by the owners and
underwriters. The vessel was too valuable even with all her injuries to
be abandoned outright. It was resolved to employ a Salvage Company to
endeavour to get the vessel floated into port. A vigorous attempt of
this kind was made, and it failed. The _Alphita_ still stuck. As if all
hope of recovery was gone, and not wishing to be plagued any more about
it, the underwriters sold the vessel where she lay for two hundred
pounds. There was a bargain. A thirteen thousand pound vessel disposed
of for the paltry sum of two hundred pounds. The purchase, however, was
a pure hazard. If the vessel could not be got off, it was not worth
anything. Already, an immense deal of trouble had been taken to float
the _Alphita_, and it was of no use. Two hundred pounds was accordingly
not a bad offer. The purchasers were the Salvage Steam-ship Company of
London, of which Captain Coppin is the managing director.
The case is crucial. A vessel is stuck upon a reef of rocks from which
no earthly power appears to be able to dislodge it. Captain Coppin
yokes to this seeming impossibility. Let us mark the resources of
genius.
At the spot where the _Alphita_ was fixed with a leaning to one side,
the tide rises about twelve feet. There, in the first place, is an
agency of nature, which it would be clearly important to utilise. That
is to say, make use of the rise of the tide. Very good; but there were
holes in the vessel that would require to be plugged before she would
budge. All this was done. The damaged parts of the vessel were cut off
by water-tight bulkheads, and the rents in the exterior sheathing were
repaired. There was also a good deal of calking of open seams. Until
these various arrangements were effected, the vessel was strapped down,
to prevent bumping or further damage. Wedges were also employed to make
the vessel stand upright. When these and other means had been adopted,
it was thought that the vessel was ready to be pumped dry and floated
off. Now were set agoing powerful steam-pumps, capable of throwing out
six thousand tuns of water an hour. The vessel began to be buoyant.
There were some protuberances of rock in the way which would prevent
her slipping into deep water. To make a proper channel, three hundred
tons of rock were cut away, and now, as every one believed, there was
nothing to prevent the vessel being tugged into the open sea.
It was a great day, when all things being in readiness, the Salvage
Company’s steamer _Sherbro_, and the dockyard tug _Camel_, made their
appearance on the scene, and set to work on the hitherto disabled
vessel. What a shout from the sailors when taken in hand by the tugs,
the _Alphita_ quietly glided into deep water, and was towed along
a distance of ten or twelve miles to Portsmouth. We say this was a
triumph of art. It is what could not have been done half a century ago.
On reaching Portsmouth, the vessel underwent a regular inspection, and
was found to have sustained very material damages, which, however,
were not irreparable, and are in the course of being repaired. We
conclude the accounts given of this remarkable exploit, by stating that
Captain Coppin intends to commence operations on the _Vanguard_, one
of Her Majesty’s ironclads, accidentally sunk on the southern coast
of Ireland. He has already, it is said, managed to introduce a couple
of hawsers under the hull; and with some interest we shall await the
result. To lift an ironclad war-vessel from the bottom of the sea,
and float her to the nearest port, would surely be the perfection
of maritime engineering. Possibly it may be done. We are no longer
astonished at anything.