our doing this, we
shot holes with our cannon into the upper part of the steamer, above
the hold, so that the air might conveniently escape and the water rush
in. We employed, with excellent results, this method in the sinking of
many steamers which otherwise would have settled too slowly.

It happens sometimes that a ship may carry a cargo that floats and
that is not porous, such as wood. It is impossible to sink a vessel
with such a cargo by admitting water into the hold. Shots therefore
must be fired at the engine and boiler rooms to force this kind of a
steamer to sink. In general this is a safe rule to follow, for these
are always the most vulnerable portions of every heavily laden vessel,
and this mode of attack is nearly invariably successful.

A warship is usually equipped with cross or lateral bulkheads, in
addition to the longitudinal bulkhead that runs from stem to stern
through the middle of the ship, dividing it into halves, and other
bulkheads separate these two longitudinal sections into further
subdivisions. With the exception of the great fast passenger steamers,
these divisions by means of longitudinal bulkheads seldom exist on
vessels of commerce, although exceptions are to be found.

The sinking of a steamer with a multitude of partitions is effected by
its gradually listing more and more on the side in which the water is
penetrating, until it capsizes completely and founders with the keel
uppermost. A ship can also roll over on its side as it plunges
downwards with stem or stern erect.

Theoretically a vessel might sink on a parallel keel, descending
horizontally deeper and deeper into the sea; but it never occurs in
reality. This hypothesis assumes that a ship has taken in at the bow
exactly the same amount of water as at the stern, at exactly the same
distance from the center of gravity; this, of course, is impossible;
besides the holes through which the water is pouring in must also be
at precisely the same level, or else the water pressure would be
greater at one end than at the other, and the slightest alteration of
level would occasion a greater intake of water and upset the
equilibrium of the boat.

There is one other point I will touch upon; it has often been
asserted, especially in romances of the ocean, that as a ship sinks
the suction creates a tremendous whirlpool which engulfs all things in
its vicinity. This statement is naturally very much exaggerated.
People swimming about may