Working as a diver at those depths was tricky in 1895. Decompression sickness was known, but there was little understanding of how to counteract it or “cure” it. In the end, the engineer Per Aron Waller solved the problem and enabled the ship to be salvaged. But Waller’s idea of building a telescopic pipe that could be lowered down to the wreck was not only met with enthusiasm. He struggled to find financers to back his idea. 

A new salvaging technology 

Finally, financing was secured and the Waller tube was built. The 60-metre-long tube had a diameter of 65 centimetres and a 2-metre-high chamber at its lower end. The person who was going to work in the chamber was lowered down the tube straddling a boatswain’s chair. There were three windows in the chamber, plus two mechanical arms that were used to perform the work. 

The plan was to attach hooks to the ship’s valves. The hooks were attached to wires connected to pontoons on the surface. After that, the entire ship would be lifted up and moved to a shallower location where the final launch would take place. 

Sweet success in the end 

When salvaging operations began in late August of 1896, the project immediately suffered setbacks that caused the efforts to drag on, severely straining the budget. On 3 May 1897 the ship’s smokestack appeared again above the surface, and barely a month later the salvage was over and the ship once again floated on its own keel.  

Södra Sverige was towed to Stockholm, where it was for a time put on display for the public at the Stockholm World’s Fair on Djurgården. The ship was then repaired and put back into service. It was scrapped in 1949 in Haifa, Israel.