People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1896 — SUBMARINE WRECKING. [ARTICLE]

SUBMARINE WRECKING.

A Craft to Explore For Sunken Vessels to * Be Built In Baltimore. The Columbian Iron works of Baltimore have oontraoted to build a submarine wrecking boat, the first ever built for praotioal submarine engineering work. Simon Lake of Baltimore is the inventor of the craft, whioh, It is claimed, will always be under perfect oontrol, rjsing to the surfaoe and submerging at will, and capable of being propelled in any desired direction when on tbe bottom of the waterway. It will be used principally for searching tbe bed of the ooean adjacent to coastlines and in finding and recovering sunken vessels and their oargoes. According to the specifications, the new boat will be about 64 tons displacement and will have a crew of six men. Bhe will, Mr. Lake claims, be a]j]e tg cruise around fin the bottom for a day at a time before it-wiil be necessary to ascend to the surfaoe to renew the air supply and eleotrioal knergv. On the boat thete will be a powerful searoblight to light up a pathway in front of and on either side of the vessel as she moves along over the bottom. The hull is to be of steel and strongly ribbed and guaranteed by tbe contractors to resist the pressure of the water at required depths. The contract calls for tbe completion of the boat by March I,' 1897.