Page 36 - Loss of the VOC Retourschip Batavia, Western Australia, 1629
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Figure 23. Breaking open 8. cannon ball concretion at lhe base camp.
The air supply was also used to power a pneumatic chain-saw. This was used 10 cut the long stralces of the ship's timbers into manageable lengths. This system was the only practical way of cutting the very hard timbers. It proved to be quick and highly efficient.
A pneumatic jack-hammer was used on a few occa- sions to try and break up concretion, but it proved to be very difficult 10 operate and caused too much damage to be practicable.
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