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Slings Were Placed Und by Heavy Purchase Tackle FTER the bottom of lying on Mud lake for nine years, in 54 feet of water, with her hull buried in 17 feet of mud, the wooden tugboat GENERAL has been raised. The work was accomplished by T. L. Durocher, a contractor of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. who specializes in tow- ing, lightering and wrecking. The GENERAL, which was owned by _ the Great Lakes Towing Co., was sunk in a collision with the Canadian Pacific steamer ATHABASCA on Nov. 30, 1910, and for many years has been regarded as a total loss. The GENERAL is 97% feet long, 24 feet beam and 10 feet deep. She was built at Bay City, Mich. in 1900. She is powered with a high-pressure, double upright engine with cylinders 22-inch bore x 24-inch stroke. She carries one double firebox boiler, 11x14 feet. Her gross tonnage is 132. Unusual interest. is attached to the raising of the GENERAL, due to the fact that she had settled so deeply in the mud, which always makes a_ difficult bottom for divers to work upon. In the opinion of several wreckers, accord- ing to Mr. Durocher, it was impossible to raise her. : The vessel had gradually settled in the soft bottom of Mud lake, resting on her starboard side until: the top of her rail was just level with the bottom of the lake. The wreck was located last winter - by sounding through the ice, after which the preliminary operations to raise her were begun. Following a carefully worked out plan, all connec- tions were removed from the boiler by divers and braces were placed across the hull and also along the break. The work was then discontinued until spring. The vessel was raised by the lighter Sainte Marie which is 302 feet long with 53-foot beam and equipped with derricks at each end. These derricks are 60 feet high and are. equipped with 91 and 99-foot steel booms respectively. Cradled in Mud THOSE directly engaged m wrecking operations find much of the fascination of their work comes from the unusual conditions surrounding each job. Generally, each salvaging operation develops conditions peculiar to itself. The work described in this article is un- usual because the vessel lay on her side, deeply sunk in. the mud. 55 feet below the surface. The plan for raising her was devised. and carried out by T. L. Durocher, Sault Ste: Marie, Mich. Passing slings . under the vessel was a difficult job as the mud interfered greatly with this operation. The work of 'rais- ing the vessel was begun on the ice last winter and then discontinued until this spring. The craft will be repaired and again placed in com- mission. k Nine Years A; er the Hull and the Vessel Raised s--Hull Lay Deep in Mud They have a lifting capacity of 60 tons each. After the Sarnte Marie was in posi- tion over the: wreck, the boiler was removed first. Divers descended and passed slings, made of steel cable, under the boiler. The slings were connected to a 7-purchase tackle on one of the derrick booms and the boiler brought to the surface and slung aboard the lighter. During this operation, the lighter was counterweighted with rock deck ballast' to keep her on an even keel. As the boiler came up, part of the house and the funnel came with it. The next operation was to dig six deep holes, three on each side of the wreck. . These were carried from 15 to 20 feet below. the boat. Then by employing jets of water at high pressure, the holes were connected by tunnels, Next three heavy slings were placed under the vessel. One was located just forward of the wheel house, another just forward of the engine, but aft of the break in the hull, and one under the propeller shaft at the stern. Then the forward and aft slings were connected to the lighter's derricks. The center sling was connected to a set of 7-sheave blocks rove with 15 parts of 1-inch steel wire cable. The lighter . was counterweighted with the GENerAL's 'boiler and 500 tons of rock deck ballast. Hoisting was begun at 7:30 a. m. and an hour later the hull was clear of the bottom and within 12 feet of the surface of the lake. At this juncture, the tackles were block and block. Then the wreck was towed five miles below Mud lake to clear water. The muddy water had hindered the work materially as it made it almost impossible for the divers to see to. work below the surface. The hull was allowed to rest in 30 feet of water while the slings were shortened and the patch for the hull prepared. Then the hull was brought to the surface, the patch placed in posi- tion and the pumping operation begun. HULL OF THE TUG GENERAL AFTER RAISING IS SHOWN AT THE LEFT-- THE LIFT WITH 500 TONS OF ROCK AND THE TUG'S BOILER-- TRATION' AT THE RIGHT SHOWS THE GENERAL THE LIGHTER SAINTE 330 é MARIE IS SHOWN COUNTERBALANCED RAISING PURCHASE WAS THROUGH 7-SHEAVE BLOCKS--THE ILLUS- AFTER RAISING, PATCHING AND PUMPING OUT AGAINST