SAFETY DEVICES
A ship is usually divided into compartments by cross bulkheads of steel. In event of a collision or damage by torpedoes or shell, the water rushing through the break can be prevented from swamping the ship by closing the bulkhead doors.
Messrs. J. Stone and Company, of Deptford, have patented a system of hydraulically operated bulkhead doors, which is finding great favour among shipbuilders on account of its versatility. Each door is closed by an hydraulic cylinder placed above it. The valves of the cylinder are opened automatically by a float when the water rises in the compartment, and every cylinder is also controllable independently from the bridge and other stations in the ship, and by separate hand levers alongside the bulkhead.
The doors can therefore be closed collectively or individually. Should it happen that, when a door has been closed, someone is imprisoned, the prisoner can open the door by depressing a lever inside the compartment, and make his escape. But the door is closed behind him by the action of the float.