Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

SOME EXTRAORDINARY SHIPBUILDING FEATS. 125 vessels can be carried at the same time. In the event of a submarine being unable through any cause to regain the surface, or a torpedo boat sinking after collision or through sus- taining damage in any other way, the Vulkan in which she is employed or for some other reason, she has proved too small. One of the earliest cases of ship- lengthening—at least of which , Ship- Lengthening. any accurate account has been Fig. 4.—SALVED PORTION OF S.S. “ MILWAUKEE ” IN DRY DOCK. Plates twisted by the blasting with dynamite required to cut her in half. (Photo, Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson.) put on record—was that of the P. and 0. Company’s steamship Poonah, which in 1874 was lengthened 80 feet under the superintendence of Mr. E. W. De Rusett, M.Inst.C.E. Other notable vessels similarly treated were the P. and 0. liners Rome and Carthage, the Cape mail steamer Scot, the Carron Com- pany’s steamers Forth and Thames, and the Norddeutscher Lloyd’s liner Wittekind. In 1900 the last- named vessel was cut in two iiThe “ Wittekind.” in the dry dock of Messrs. Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson, pulled apart for 60 feet, and a new portion built in, the ship being increased from 386 feet to 446 feet long. Fig. 1 illustrates the vessel in dock, the two portions apart, and the new floors in position. After this alteration the Witte- kind was to all appearances a new and perfectly symmetrical ship, the work being regarded by experts as one of the most successful ship - lengthening feats ever undertaken. can proceed under her own power to the scene of the accident, raise the sunken craft, and bring it safely to port. The feat of lengthening an existing ship has several times been carried out when, owing to the altered conditions of the trade Many instances might be cited to show the intricate work which shipbuilders and re- pairers at times are called upon to accomplish after a Ship-repairing Extraordinary. severe casualty at sea; but probably no more interesting and noteworthy cases of repair could be quoted than the