Cofferdam and Wing Passage Aboard Cruiser
OLYMPIA
By Patrick McSherry
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An experimental scheme for additional protection at the waterline which
was used aboard U.S. war vessels including OLYMPIA
was the cellulose cofferdam. The cofferdam was located just above the
protective deck, at the water line. It consisted of a sealed compartment
along the hull and protruding inward several feet. The interior of the
cofferdam was packed with cellulose - basically shredded corn cobs, etc.
The theory on the cellulose was that, if penetrated by a projectile at
this location, the cellulose, when brought into contact with the inward
flow of water, would expand. The expanding cellulose would squeeze off
the water flow, and basically seal the hole. The idea sounded good in
theory, but did not work in practice. Even normal leakage caused the
cellulose to rot and smell. The material was soon removed.
The wing passage. To the right is the cofferdam.
To the left is the bulkhead separating the wing passage from a coal
bunker.
The cofferdam can most plainly be seen when traversing the wing
passage, which is a long passage that passes between the outer hull and
the coal bunkers, etc. just at the waterline.
The wing passage on OLYMPIA is somewhat
reminiscent of the wing passage on the USS MAINE.
On the MAINE the wing passage became well
known, since men moving along this space would have had to pass by and
touch the bulkhead enclosing the coal bunker, thought
by some to have been on fire. Crewmen who passed through this area
on the MAINE noticed no heat coming through the
bulkhead, one of the arguments against the coal bunker fire theory of
her loss.
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