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394 The RANGER is, of course, by no means the only salvage vessel in British waters. Some years before the war, the man- agers of the Liverpool Salvage associa- tion, recognizing that the salvage facili- ties of the south coast of England were inadequate, acquired the salvage steamer Linnet,. which was stationed at South- ampton. This vessel is of 426 gross tons and strange enough was also built in the year 1880. She is 165 feet long, with a beam-of 29 feet and a depth of 13 feet. She is also kept ready to pro- ceed immediately to any vessel requiring assistance at sea. She carries a crew equal to that maintained on the RANGER and is fitted with powerful salvage equip- ment. Her total pumping capacity is 2340 tons of water per hour. Both the RANGER and the LINNET represent splen- didly equipped floating workshops de- signed for salvage operations. At pres- ent the chief surveyor of the Liverpool Salvage association is Commodore F. W. Young, with Frederick H. Lowe acting as secretary and general manager. Before the war when vessels were wrecked and either the RANGER or the LINNETT were available, British under- writers were glad to enlist their aid. There were also one or two other British salvage companies available at that time, such as Thomas Ensor & Sons, Queens- town, Ireland, who. owned two steamers, and the Cornish Salvage Co., Cardiff, Wales. In the days before the war, however, the British ships could by no means deal with all of the losses which came within view of the British underwriters. Consequently it frequently happened that underwriters were glad to employ the salvage ships of the Svitzer company of Copenhagen, Denmark. This company owned a fleet of salvage steamers, the most famous of which are probably the Protector and the VALKyYRIEN. These ships used to be stationed in important posi- tions in trade routes and when casualties occurred were often quickly on the spot. German salvage boats were also some- times employed; in fact foreign vessels were frequently used in salvage work in connection with British' ships. Great Britain, it will be gathered, was not adequately provided with a powerful salvage plant. In the same way, some of the most powerful tugs in Europe were owned on the continent. - When heavy tows, such as floating drydocks, had to be transferred long distances, Dutch tugs were frequently summoned. Submarines vs. Salvage On the outbreak of the war, salvage work leaped into prominence. Toward the end of 1914, the British admiralty took over from the Liverpool Salvage association practically all of its salvage plant and personnel, including the steam- THE MARINE REVIEW ers RANGER and Linnet. An admiralty salvage section was formed with Com- modore Young of the Liverpool Salvage association in charge. It was at first the intention of the navy that this sal- vage section should work mainly on the recovery of wrecked warships. But the development of the submarine war- fare soon made it apparent that the sal- vage section would have to deal with a very large number of sunken merchant ships. The organization accordingly was greatly extended. It is known to have done good work during the war and is credited with having salved some 460 vessels representing a value of approxi- mately $250,000,000. An account of the work done by the admiralty salvage sec- tion during the war would easily fill a large volume. Private Firms Now Active After the armistice this salvage sec- tion was transferred with other depart- ments from the admiralty to the ministry of shipping. In reply to a question in the house of commons on April 13, Colonel Wilson, parliamentary secretary to the ministry of shipping, stated that since the armistice 34 ships had been salved, representing 125,226 gross tons. The organization, however, has now been dispersed and most of the salvage plant which was requisitioned has been re- turned to its owners. Recently a number of new salvage companies have been formed in Eng- land. Perhaps some of tHeir activities are due to the prominence which has been given to the fact that 2479 British merchant vessels representing 7,759,000 tons were sunk during the war, coupled with the additional consideration that about 15,000,000 tons of merchant ves- sels of all nationalities were lost during the same period from war or marine causes. It has been argued from facts such as these that a satisfactory revenue should be derived from salving some of these wrecks. Some of.the stronger of the companies so formed have un- doubtedly an opportunity to realize the hopes of their promoters. One of the chief of these concerns now operating under the British flag is the Salvage & Towage Co., Ltd., which was organized in November, 1919. It has a capital of £1,250,000 in £1 shares, of which 640,000 shares were sold to the public in November. To commence its operations, this company acquired the whole of the share capital of the Ocean Salvage Co., Ltd., which had been incorporated in May, 1917, This latter enterprise had an authorized capital: of £100,000, and its assets included three salvage steamers, two strong tugs fitted with pumps and salvage gear and a quantity of salvage plant acquired from the British admiralty. The ships July, 1929 of the Ocean Salvage Co., were under government control for two years unti the spring of 1919. These ships have salved or taken part in salving 25 vessels including the armored cruiser King Arrep in Belfast Lough, and the famous steamship River CtLypg, which was beached for the immortal landing a} Gallipoli. In addition, the Salvage & Towage Co., Ltd. has acquired control of Vickers Pontoons, Ltd., the equipment of which is understood to have been suc- cessful in salvage work. J. Wilson Potter, a prominent British ship owner, who is interested specially in the Aus. tralian trade, is chairman of the Sal- vage & Towage Co. Among the direc. tors on a rather distinguished board are Sir Thomas George Owen-Thurston, K.B.E., a director of Vickers, Ltd., and Nice Admiral . Sir. Charles Lionel Vaughan-Leigh, K.B.E., C. B., who dis- tinguished himself in dockyard manage- ment during the war. After the armistice this company acquired the services of Commander Borisso as general manager and agent. He was chief salvage officer for the British admiralty for the Medi- terranean during the war. Up to date, the Salvage & Towage Co., has concentrated on work in the Mediterranean and it forms an import- ant addition to the salvage institutions of the United Kingdom. It owns the salvage steamers La Nina, La Vatette, Kine Lear, Creopatra III, and Cazsar II, together with the tugs Foremost, FRANK Dixon and HeEtiespont. The value of the two salvage steamers LA Nina and LaVaetre was fixed by Lloyd's surveyor at Constantinople at $600,000. Since April, 1919, wrecked vessels which have received assistance from the Salvage & Towage Co., include the fol-, lowing: HospiraL Pappier V, Esgut- MAULT, TREVORIAN, River Cryo, H. M. S. TryYPHON, War Pixe, Lovutscu, JUPITER, GREGOR, ATENE, TiRI-MUJGHIAN, Fuxur Marv and the French gunboat Gres. Illustrations of the salvage opera- tions of the Russian steamer LoutscH are presented with this article. American Ships Purchased Another new salvage company recently formed in Great Britain is the Maritime Salvors Ltd. This company was or- ganized in March of this year with a capital of £500,000, in £1 shares, of which 400,000 have now been issued. It includes among its directors W. J. Noble, president of the Chamber of Shipping in the United Kingdom, and chairman of the north of England ship- ping firm of Cairns, Noble & Co., Ltd. Newcastle. The managing director of the Maritime Salvors, Ltd. is Capt. W. J. Richards, previously one of the