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APPENDIX VI.

THE DIFFICULty of Clearing Sunken Vessels from a Fairway.

Note by the Chairman of the Home Ports Defence Committee. DURING a recent visit to Barrow, Liverpool, and Glasgow on behalf of a Sub- Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence some information bearing on the blocking" question was obtained, which it is thought may be useful to the Home Ports Defence Committee.

2. At the present time (March 1913) there is off Greenock, sunk in the Clyde, a steamship named the "St. Bees," of 1,098 tons net. She has been there since September 1912, when she collided with another ship and.sank, and she has resisted all efforts to remove her.

3. When she sank, the "St. Bees

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was loaded with coal and bricks. As she is

a serious danger to navigation, efforts were at once made to remove her.

4. At first an attempt was made to patch the hole in her side. Owing to the rapidity of the tide, and to the muddiness of the water (due to the river being speight), the divers' work was difficult and slow; just as the patch was completed a heavy storm washed it away. A second attempt led to a precisely similar result.

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5. An attempt was then made to remove the cargo, and steam brought for the purpose. The "

grabs" were grabs," however, proved ineffective. Divers were then sent down with spades, but this was not found any more effective, and many spades floated away.

6. Now it is proposed to cut the vessel in two, with the object of removing the half of the ship which forms the worse danger to navigation.

7. It was considered dangerous to use explosives, as it was feared that the coal and bricks would not unlikely spread out and block the whole of the chaunel.

8. Thus an obstruction has remained in place in the approaches to one of the largest ports in the kingdom, notwithstanding that all the resources of this great port and shipbuilding centre were applied to remove it, that the services of a large salvage company have been retained, that 5,000l. has been spent on salvage work alone, and that the best expert advice has been obtained.

9. The above facts were supplied personally, on the 7th March, by Mr. W. Raeburn, Vice-Chairman of the Clyde Navigation Trust, who is chairman of the Committee appointed to get the "St. Bees" removed.

10. It is necessary to point out, however, that salvage operations are more difficult in the Clyde than they would be at Barrow owing to the greater depth in the former river. The St. Bees is totally submerged at all times of tide, which would not be the case at Barrow.

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11. Advantage was taken of a visit to Barrow to consult the Harbour Master (a retired naval officer) on the subject of the removal or circumventing of an obstruction. He was of opinion that it would be very difficult to remove an obstruction. It might be possible to dredge an alternative channel in the sand with the aid of the immensely powerful sand dredgers at Liverpool (one of which can remove 11,000 tons of sand per hour). The difficulty is, though, that in many places there is stiff blue clay a short distance below the sand. Near the dock entrance the channel lies between walls, built to secure a scour, and a ship sunk here would be particularly difficult to deal with,

12. A factor in the question is the character of the trade of Barrow, which is very much in favour of blocking operations. The principal article of import is iron ore, and the imports include sand, stone, gravel, clay, and pig iron. The principal article of export is steel rails, and the exports include iron ore, pig iron, and tin plates—all suitable cargo for a blocker.

M. P. A. HANKEY.

March 18, 1913.

(Signed)

CID BA

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