Читать книгу The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism (Vol. 1-4). The History of Sea Voyages, Discovery, Piracy and Maritime Warfare онлайн

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By this time, however, the water in the Narrows had become too low for the Warrior; the Bermuda had, therefore, to wait until high water next morning in order to complete the last, and, as it proved, the most perilous part of her journey. After the Warrior and the Terrible had towed the dock through the entrance of the inlet, the first-named ship cast off. The dock once more became unmanageable through a sudden gust of wind striking her on the quarter. Had the gust lasted for only a few seconds longer, the dock would have stranded—perhaps for ever. She righted, however, and the Terrible steaming hard ahead, she passed the most dangerous point of the inlet, and at last rode securely in smooth water, within a few cables’ length of her future berth, after a singularly successful voyage of thirty-six days.

It says much for the naval and engineering skill of all concerned in the transport of this unwieldy mass of iron, weighing 8,000 tons, over nearly 4,000 miles of ocean, without the loss of a single life, or, indeed, a solitary accident that can be called serious. The conception, execution, and success of the project are wholly unparalleled in the history of naval engineering.