For details of wreck of Byron by collison with paddle steamer Duchess
of Kent see here
Also mention of salvage diving on a large
flat, Sisters, wrecked near Hoylake, carrying 100 tons of bricks,
presumably wrecked during the hurricane of January 1839.
[from Liverpool Albion - Tuesday 15 January 1839]: In Hoylake,
several small craft were thrown up, and others wrecked, including
amongst the latter, a schooner and two flats, one of which is bottom up.
Henry Abbinett, a mariner based at Gosport, met John Deane, inventor
of the diving helmet, through providing boat services while Deane was
diving at Gosport from 1835-45. Abbinett was the first purchaser of a
Deane helmet and started to dive independently. He was actually the
first person to dive on the Mary Rose. Image of
helmet here .
Lloyd's Register 1839: Cutter, Ondine, 58 tons, owned
Abbinett, reg Portsmouth, built 1828 Southampton.
[from Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser - Friday
20 September 1839]:
BLOWING-UP OF THE SHIP BYRON, IN THE CHANNEL OF THE MERSEY.
RAISING OF SUNKEN VESSELS.
We furnished a hasty account, in our last publication; of the first
explosion of the Byron, by gunpowder, deposited in the hull of the
vessel, by Mr. Abbinet[sic], of Portsmouth, and his assistants, who have
been for some time engaged in the raising of sunken vessels that have
formed obstructions to the navigation of the port. As the experiment of
Monday was attended with success, we now furnish some additional
particulars of Mr. Abbinet's plan of operation, for the information of
those who may not have had an opportunity of witnessing it. Mr.
Abbinet, who, with his crew and his son, all of whom, with the air
helmet of his invention, alternately pursue their submarine vocation,
brought with him from Portsmouth a fine cutter, called the Ordine[sic], of a
sufficiently light draft of water to be available in approaching the
hulls of sunken vessels. He is the individual who made the first
attempt, about six years ago, to blow up vessels by combustion that could
not otherwise be removed; and he was entirely successful with the hull
of H. M. ship Boyne; of 98 guns, sunk at Spithead, which, by
successive explosions, he blew to pieces. Colonel Pasley
has since, we learn, laid claim to be the originator of the plan, but
with injustice to Mr. Abbinet, and, it may be added, without achieving
the fame which he anticipated, his own experiments on the Royal George
having hitherto failed.
As before noticed, the party who goes under water has his head and
neck encased in a copper helmet, into which the air is thrown down an
India-rubber pipe by means of an air-pump. We shall now describe this
apparatus more fully. The copper helmet is considerably larger than the
head, so as to give ease to the motions of the operator; and the copper
is continued down from the head part, so as to fit as closely as
possible round the upper part of the breast and shoulders. A cushion,
or roll of woollen stuffed with hair, is fixed all round the inner edge
of the copper; and this is rendered air and water tight, by two large
flat leaden weights appended from the helmet, weighing about 96lbs, and
hanging one in front and the other behind, - and also by the action of
the air thrown into the helmet for the purpose of respiration. The
weights are also required to enable the diver, whose body would
otherwise be too buoyant, to attain the required depth. In front of the
helmet are three oval windows, or eyes, about five inches long and three
in width, of plate glass, each protected exteriorly by a wire guard or
grating, sufficiently open not to intercept the view. Through these the
operator obtains a distinct view of the "wonders of the deep." It should
be added, that the air tube is screwed into a tap at the back of the
helmet; but as the rush of the air would be disagreeable against any
single part of the diver's head, it is exteriorly branched off into
three embouchures, under thin pieces of metal, and these, - being flat
at the extremities; diffuse the air evenly and steadily round the
operator's face. The air-engine is contained in a box or chest, and has
three cylinders worked by a cranked spindle and fly-wheel, turned by two
men without intermission, while the diver remains below. The pipe is
three inches in diameter, and so ductile that the operator finds no
difficulty in walking at will with it at the bottom, and turning or
exploring the holds or cabins of vessels. The mode of descending is by
a rope ladder. To the end of this a heavy weight is attached, and when
lowered from the side of the vessel employed, to the bottom, it forms a
steady means of going down or coming up. A rope is also tied round the
diver, which is paid out as he descends, and forms a means of
communication and safety. A slight pull of the rope upwards is answered
by a similar pull downwards, indicating that all is well. Two or three
successive tugs from below communicates that something is wrong, and the
operator is assisted in rising to the surface by the rope being pulled
up, before any serious consequence can ensue. The diver, besides his
usual clothes, wears an India-rubber dress, formed of a thin sheet of
that substance, between two thickness of cloth, similar to what is
called the Macintosh fabric. The dress is made wide and entire, and
when in good order, being secured by bands at the wrists, ankles, and
neck, is perfectly water tight, so that the warmth of the body is
maintained for a long time even under water. A young man named Stephen
Richards, who went down on Monday, and again on Wednesday, with the
helmet and dress, and remained below on the last occasion for twelve
minutes, had not a hair of his head wet; and his under-clothes were
comparatively dry.
The principal desideratum in the blowing up of sunken vessels
presenting dangerous obstructions, is the placing of powder in a dry
state, in the best possible position for a powerful explosion, and so
priming the match as to render the ignition a matter certain. This last
object, it is obvious, is not always attainable, as it may be defeated
by the strength of the tidal water, or the too great rising of waves
from the action of the wind. The powder (as on the experiment on
Monday) is lowered in a cask-covered with pitch, in which a leaden pipe
is inserted of a sufficient length to reach the sunken vessel to a
convenient height above the surface. The pipe contains a long fuse or
match, down which the ignition will pass with great rapidity. A port or
slow match is placed at the top, about a yard above the water, and the
pipe is attached perpendicularly to a buoy which bears it up. It is
plain, that in a sea-way, or strong tide-way, the operation may be
prevented by the unsteady motion of the buoy, or the wetting of the
match so that it cannot be fired, and this was the case on Wednesday,
when a second explosion was contemplated. On Monday, although the depth
of the sunken vessel is only twenty-four feet, the length of pipe
required was forty-five feet, to reach under the deck of the vessel, and
allow sufficient play above. The cask was deposited about an hour
before the explosion in the after hold of the Byron, which vessel had
been run down in May last, while riding at anchor, by the Duchess of
Kent steam-vessel. The Byron belonged to Dundee; she was about 200 tons
burden, and, as before noticed, had a cargo of 150 tons of iron, brought
from Bristol, and destined for this port. She sunk almost immediately,
and one boy who was on board was unfortunately drowned. The hull lying
in the channel, a little to S.W. of Spencer's Spit buoy, became
dangerous to the navigation, and hence the present attempt to remove it.
The fuse used on Monday, was made by our townsman, Mr. James,
pyrotecnic professor, and answered the purpose admirably. It was cased
in blue paper, and protected by the lead pipe from the water. The
explosion (as before noticed,) was highly gratifying. The water rose in
a convex form, which was seconded by foam; and large portions of the
wreck torn from its strong iron fastening was thrown to the surface; and
picked up. A conger eel, 5 feet 2 inches in length, and 16 inches
circumference, was killed by the explosion, a splinter having apparently
entered its back, and perforated it entirely, through it was immediately
picked up, and carried onboard the cutter, where it took hold of a young
man's toe, and left the distinct marks of its teeth in the upper
leather of his toe. It was afterwards pierced in the head, with a view
to kill it; but such was its tenacity of life, that it showed vitality,
even, after it was brought to Liverpool. Some pieces of the wreck were
shown at the Underwriters' Room, and also the eel. Of the former, a
quantity may be seen at Mr. Bryden's, St. George's tavern,
Pitt-street, and the enormous snake may be viewed at Mr. Frodsham's,
Fish-dealer, Berry-street.
On Wednesday a second explosion having been advertised; to
witness which, the "Liverpool" Seacombe steamer, was again placed at
the service of the public, the concourse of the curious and scientific
on board was greater than on the former occasion, there being about
sixty gentlemen and a dozen ladies present. A band of music played at
intervals, and refreshments were served on board. After a pleasant
sail, during which a small cannon was repeatedly fired from the
forecastle, the vessel reached the spot where the cutter rode at
anchor. It turned out, however, that the wind which had in the morning
been from the south and the sea-smooth, had hauled round to the
westward, and blew pretty freshly; so that it was considered by Mr.
Abbinet that there was no chance of a successful explosion, and he had
not, therefore, placed the powder in readiness in the vessel's hold.
Considerable disappointment was felt by the company at this result;
but this was to a great degree dissipated by the explanation given by
Mr. Abbinet. Those of the Company who had not seen the diving
apparatus, were, however gratified by an inspection of it; and Stephen
Richard again went down, cased in his extraordinary looking armour and
habiliments; and remained under water for about 12.5 minutes. He brought
up a portion of an earthenware crate, that had been blown out of the
vessel by the explosion. He also reported that he had previously
examined the state of the wreck, and found that the whole of the hull
from the stern to the fore chains was broken up. An explosion of the
bow, which yet forms an obstruction, will, we understand, take place
on the first favourable day.
RAISING OF SUNKEN VESSELS.
Mr. Abbinet has been, for
some years past, very successful in raising vessels sunk or stranded,
by means of "lumps" or lighters, and chains. The latter are fixed
under the sunken vessel's bottom, and brought to the lighters at low
water, so that when the tide rises, they are lifted bodily up, and
their cargo afterwards discharged. In this manner be recently raised a
large flat, called the Sisters, - that was sunk at Hoylake, and was an
obstruction. The vessel had 100 tons of bricks and sand in her at the
time.
There is, however, some difficulty in procuring flats or
lighters suitable for the purposes at this port; and Mr. Abbinet
suggests that if the corporation or the dock committee should build
two proper lighters, with sufficient purchases, when vessels at any
time sunk in the channels, or on the coast, causing obstructions,
might be raised. The helmet is of course employed in the fixing of the
chains. The iron in the Byron may, we understand, be got up by Mr.
Abbinet's men in single bars or pieces.