File:Raising HMS Eurydice in the Channel, off the Isle of Wight ILN0-1878-0727-0022.jpg

Date: Saturday, July 27, 1878. Publication: The Illustrated London News (London, England)' Volume: 73 , Issue: 2039, page 22-23

RAISING OF H.M.S. EURYDICE. After repeated failures in the attempts to raise the wreck of the Eurydice, which capsized and sank two miles and a half off Dunnose on the afternoon of Sunday, March 24, the public began to doubt the probability of a successful issue of further operations. The authorities at Portsmouth Dockyard, who have had the assistance of the Master Attendant and Mr. Saunders, the Chief Constructor at Chatham, have been engaged, meanwhile, in preparations for another effort, which achieved a satisfactory movement on Tuesday week. Admiral Superintendent the Hon. F. A. C. Foley was actively at work on the wreck during both the day and night previous, having willing and able coadjutors in Captains Polkinghorne, Dathan, Batt, and Moss, Mr. W. B. Robinson, chief constructor at Portsmouth, and Mr. J. Purkis, dockyard foreman. The alterations of the former plan were few and simple. Wire hawsers had been substituted for the chains previously tried. The sterns of the Wave and the Swan, two smaller vessels which lay with their beams across the Eurydice, pointed towards Culver Cliff; while the larger vessels, the Pearl and the Rinaldo, stood alongside of them on the outside, pointing in the opposite direction. The two smaller vessels were each attached to the wreck by means of two toggles, the Rinaldo by two toggles and two jewel-ropes, and the Pearl by four jewel-ropes, all crossed in such a manner as to give the utmost resisting power. The wire hawsers used upon the Wave and the Swan were of seven-inch diameter; those on the Rinaldo and the Pearl were two of seven-inch and two of eight-inch. The lifting vessels-the Pearl, Rinaldo, Wave, and Swan- with the Popoff air-bag, which was calculated to have a raising power of about fifty tons, were got into position near the wreck on the Monday, and at one o'clock next morning operations were resumed. Previous examination by the divers had shown that the hull of the Eurydice was embedded to the extent of about 111 ft., and when the work was resumed, with every prospect of a continuance of favourable weather, the chief officials were sanguine that, barring unforeseen accidents, the wreck would be removed from its cradle. At one o'clock in the morning, the tide being about flood, the work of letting water ballast into the craft, which had been pinned down in order to submerge them the registered depth, was commenced: 924 tons of water were pumped into the Pearl, until, with a depth in her hold of 10ft., she was sunk 5 It. 6 in. The Rinaldo was made to hold 600 tons, with an internal depth of 9 ft. and external 5 ft. ; while the Wave and the Swan were immersed 3 ft. 6 in. by means of 190 tons of water in each. By the time this was finished there was rather less than an hour to spare before it was dead low-water, and, everything being made secure, by half-past five all was waiting for an indication of the turn of the tide. When it had fairly turned, the steam fire-engines on board the Pearl and the Rinaldo were set vigorously to work, and with the aid of the double hose were pumping the water very fairly, so that a steam-tug was sent alongside each of these two vessels, each with double hose to assist. This had been going on for about half an hour, when a tug was sent in between the Wave and the Swan in order to pump them. The wreck lay in 60 ft. of water, and having by this time accumulated so much deadweight, to lift her at once to the surface would have been simply impracticable. The scheme of rescue was to raise her 10 ft. by means of a 10-ft. tide, plus whatever could be gained by the creation of buoyancy and bringing to bear additional lifting power. Therefore, supposing her to be lifted 10 ft. by the tide and 5 ft. by the buoyancy created by pumping the water out of the vessels, and so lifting her with them, there would be a lift of 15 ft.-only 3) ft. more than the depth of the hole in which she was imbedded. It was agreed that the only practicable method would be by a series of lifts, taking advantage of every tide; and by repeating the experiment it was thus hoped that in eight or nine days she would be brought into water sufficiently shallow to permit of her being towed into Portsmouth Harbour. Before the lifting operations fairly commenced the divers made another inspection with the special object of ascertaining whether the Popoff air-bag was in its place and secure. Having reported favourably, the pumping operations were watched with great interest, more especially as the wreck's mast came up at first, simultaneously with the lighters, and ultimately began to gain on them considerably. By eight o'clock the green seaweed on the wreck's mast had gradually become more conspicuous, and showed evident signs of her increasing buoyancy, and by half past nine the water had been pumped from all the lighters, and the Eurydice shook her mast occasionally. It was then determined to let well alone for the time, and wait for an improvement in the tide, seeing that the rising water was lifting the sunken craft so steadily and so well. The Thunderer was at hand waiting for her opportunity. Unfortunately she swept across the tide, and lost her cables and gear. This necessitated some delay, in as much as it took up valuable time in creeping for the hawsers. One was speedily recovered, but it required the work of a diver to find the other. The second, however, was to have been dispensed with, and a rope hawser substituted; but as the Thunderer was about steaming towards the scene of operations her capstan fell overboard, carrying the line. Meanwhile experiments had been going on to test the buoyancy of the wreck. The hawsers facing Culver Cliff were drawn up taut, and those at the stern were slackened. This operation was continued some time, under difficulties, it being almost impossible to draw in the bow ropes in consequence of what appeared to be the immovability of the wreck. But suddenly the capstans on all the vessels worked easily, the wreck was seen to move, and the tars cheered lustily. The Thunderer having now become useless for all practical purposes for the day, the experiment with the hawsers was continued until it was deemed advisable to send down divers to report the state of affairs. They reappeared with the report that the Eurydice had been shifted out of the hole and moved from 150 to 180 feet, and that she rested on a solid foundation. Admiral Fanshawe, C.B., Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, and Lord Elphinstone, representing the Lords of the Admiralty, with a number of naval officers, were spectators of the operation, upon the success of which Lord Elphinstone congratulated all concerned. The moving of the vessel has been continued daily, when the tide was favourable; she was brought 900 ft. nearer to the shore on the second day; and she lay, at the end of last week, in a depth of 49 ft. of water at low tide; the vertical depth of her own hull, from gunwale to keel, being 30ft. The most critical part of the operation, however, remained to be performed, if the weather and the state of the sea permitted, at the rise of yesterday's tide.