Submarine Appliances And Their Uses
Deep Sea Diving, &c., &c.

Repairing Copper on a Ship's Bottom. First rig and place a stage in the most suitable position. The time occupied in this is well spent if the stage is placed conveniently for working. Remove all jagged copper, nails, wood, etc., about the damaged part, and smooth off the bottom; if the place to be repaired is small, and does not require much copper, patches may be put on over all. If the damage is of any extent, after clearing away the rough portions, com- mence the coppering by placing the first sheet on the after end of the place damaged and on the upper part, taking care that the after end of the new sheet overlaps the undamaged sheet abaft it, and that their upper edges are in the same line ; fix the sheet temporarily by a couple of nails in the centre, and then commence to secure it by nail- ing it along the top, down the after end, and all the centre holes, in each case commen- cing from the centre of the sheet and working towards the ends. The next sheet will go on before this one, care being taken to keep the alignment, with its after edge overlapping the foremost edge of the first sheet, making one row of nails secure the two sheets at that end. Continue to put the sheets on in a similar manner to the first and second, until the fore end of the damaged part is reached ; then commence aft again and below the first row, taking care that the foremost end of the new sheet for the second row only comes half way along the sheet above it or the first sheet, so pre- venting any butts coming together ; proceed with the second row in a similar manner to the first, and so on for the remaining rows until the damaged part is covered. A short-handled, heavy hammer is the most useful for this work. The copper should not be struck with the hammer to take out wrinkles, but should be tapped close up to the side by means of a wooden wedge, the hammer and wedge being each fitted with a lanyard. Each sheet should have its centre holes punched before sending down to the diver for placing. The edges of the sheets are to he punched by the diver to ensure both parts of the overlapping sheets lying close to the ship’s side, and thus making a good joint. A canvas bag hung round the diver’s neck is very convenient for nails, punches, etc. Should the heads of any nails break off, the holes should be rcpunched, and fresh nails put in. The canvas overall dress should be worn when coppering or cleaning ship’s bot- tom, to protect the diving dress. Recovering an Anchor. If going down to recover an anchor, the buoy of which is still watching, the buoy rope should be hauled up and down and the shot rope dropped close alongside it. The diver can then go down his shot rope, keeping the buoy rope in hand as he descends ; this will prevent him from taking turns round the buoy rope. 59