Until Monday, when the papers published an interesting account of
the work of the Salvage Section of the Admiralty, its operations had been obscured by the fog of war. The work has expanded enormously during recent months. Between October, 1915, and December, 1917, two hundred and sixty merchant ships, mostly of large tonnage, were recovered ; but since then, within five months, one hundred and forty-seven ships have been salved and restored to usefulness, at a time when they are urgently needed. New require- ments have produced new machinery—as in anti-submarine warfare. In peace time a sunken ship whose lifting weight exceeded sixteen hundred tons was regarded as a total loss ; now ships of at least twice that weight can be handled. Much of the work is very dangerous. One of the many risks of the salvage man is the accu- mulation of gas from decomposing cargoes. But chemistry has provided a remedy, and comparatively few lives have been lost in retrieving for the mercantile marine a total of four hundred and seven ships within two and a half years.
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