Ryan, I love the picture of you in Texas's engine room. With that goofy smile, you can tell how happy you are. Like the proverbial kid in a candy store.
PS Waverley is a triple expansion sea going ship too, and what a gem she is. Never sailed in a professional capacity on a steam ship, let alone a triple expansion reciprocating powered one. However I did get to accompany my late great uncle on his home built steam launch. She was built entirely out of scrap, the hull starting life as a German navy pinnace dating from around WWI, the boiler being built out of offcuts of pipe from the Flotta oil terminal when it was being built (and what a magnificent piece of engineering it was!), the condenser was made from salvaged parts of HMS Vanguard's (the one that blew up and sank at anchor in Scapa Flow in WWI) and the engine, a 2 cylinder compound, started life in a White steam car in about 1910. I attained the rank of 2nd engineer and helmsman! =D Thankfully his beloved boat has been preserved in safe hands on his passing. Excellent video as ever, very informative. Keep up the good work. :)
Awesome sounding boat! having built a few odd "acquired" hulls into seaworthy boats, I can appreciate the joy of getting her dialed in and up on a plane. I think I enjoy the process a bit to much, cos as soon as ive finished one, im onto another. with one on the trailer, you know, for the actual boating part. Thats important. Havnt gone all the way on a steam motor yet, but im very tempted. Half the challange in building my vessels is waiting to find that right part that will fit. on good terms with the local scrappers n tip shop folk (well, my old boy is, he gets the iron, I get the widgets. It blows his mind that we can be sitting by the fire drinking port spitballing about some gizmo, last was a GPS speedo, and I can buy and pay in a few seconds from our campsite). its not what you design, its what you can find.
steam powered sloops and a bit larger than that is nice: think about going at 6 knots and being able to easily speak with the passengers (friends.) They are almost completely silent, and the only fuel it needs is that can harvested in the woods nearby !
I had the privilege of visiting the O'Brien's engine room while underway on the Columbia River. Absolutely fascinating to watch the machinery in action, but sure was hot down there!
Welcome to the world of the Snipes! Now just imagine operating in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden where the air coming in through the ventilation is starting out at 100+ F.
I got to visit the Jeremiah O'Brian when she passed thhrough the NYC area (visiting the USMMA ) on her way around to the west coast in the early - mid 90's. Really interesting vessel Side note, boiler feed water is not just fresh water, if at all possible, they always use distilled water (usually made aboard) to minimize the amount of mineral scaling they have to deal with in the stystem.
I'm blessed to live an hour from O'Brien and have seen that engine run many times. I love that you can see so many moving parts in motion. And the smell, oh man, so good!
I always say that no matter what part of the country you're from, every American needs to go to New York City at least once. You might not ever go back again, but its a trip you won't forget either.
@@Odin029 it's a great way to see the culmination of all the lies we've been told about ourselves in one short trip! "Greatest in the world"😭 Almost still believable until you travel off the continent.
@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE I've traveled off of North America a few times to a few different places and I have no idea what you're talking about. I also don't know what's meant by 'greatest' in this context.
I have sailed on the John W. Brown. FYI, when last I checked, they were teaching a course on how to operate her steam engines that the public can pay to attend.
I think it is brilliant that you’re providing context to the design of BSNJ by visiting so many other ships and explaining other technologies and their evolution. Thank you!
My brother and I went for a super cruise of the John W Brown a few years ago. A great time and they allowed us to go into the engine room!! Watching the engine is like watching an intricate ballet. It was so mesmerizing that crew member had to ask us to leave so that others could enter the engine room. A trip on the Brown is absolutely worth every penny!!! I hope that I can go on another cruise at some point in the future. We also cruised on the Victory ship running out of Tampa. That is also a great cruise and one that we hope to go again.
I got to go aboard USS Texas right after Desert Storm; back then one of the engine rooms was on the tour. The massive size of her engines was something to behold. Years later, in the famous engine room scene in "Titanic" you got to see the CGI version of how those giant triple-expansion steam engines looked in service. Oh, it'll never happen, but it'd be wonderful to see even just one of Texas's engines turning over, even if it was just a large hidden electric motor making it move, no boilers lit or actual steam flowing, no propellers turning, just to see the mechanical symphony in operation. Some day I do hope to get to sail aboard the O'Brien on one of their excursions.
It should be possible to run and steam at reduced pressure - so getting the money and getting the navy to agree to the plan. Though i think it would be impossible to with US rules and laws allow visitors in the steam areas while at pressure - even less with the engine working. Witness the rules which i believe runs their steam engine at - NO visitors on the engine.
2:06 Actually, early direct drive turbines were LESS efficient than triple expansion steam engines, which is why the US continued to use them until reduction geared turbines were developed and then used in the Nevada class. With the development of double reduction geared turbines, turbines finally pulled far ahead of triple expansion. Direct drive turbines were less efficient, but allowed higher speed. The vast British refueling network around the world made the reduced range a non-issue. For the US, with obligations and potential enemies in the Pacific, that reduction in range was considered unacceptable. Direct drive steam turbines were sometimes used in conjunction with triple expansion steam engines, like on the Titanic. The low pressure turbine, that drove the middle propeller, used leftover steam pressure from the triple expansion engines.
@@TheStefanskoglund1 Read what I said, "...leftover steam PRESSURE". Pressure = Energy, in this case. "The low pressure turbine, that drove the middle propeller, used leftover steam pressure from the triple expansion engines." "The low pressure turbine, that drove the middle propeller, used leftover steam energy from the triple expansion engines." Either choice of word would work in this context, but most people would chose to use the former.
The complexity is the turbines where not actually less efficient, they just didn't throttle down well. This is part the turbines themselves, but mostly that the direct drive system meant propellers designed for very fast rotation, while the turbines would be forced to rotate far too slowly when not at flank type speeds. Alongside boiler choices it resulted in massive amounts of coal consumption per distance traveled in normal convoy or peacetime (hence the range issue you mention), but shouldn't be confused for low efficency, as the same ships at war speeds used less than their reciprocating cousins, and could maintain high speeds a lot longer as you didn't shake/wear the engines badly, and demands on stokers was less severe (although would still be the limiting factor eventually). Likewise you absolutely could build direct drive steam ships that couldn't go fast, but saved the weight/volume over a multiple expansion for very simlar or even fractionally better efficiency.... there are actually factories, mine water pumps and other continuous demand, critical and high value ground installations set up this way from the era, but generally slower steaming ships went with the cheaper (in no small part due to parsons licensing fees) and more widely in production for that purpose triple expansions motors. A few military tenders ect actually did use turbines though (keep in mind this cutter is 1930's, dreadnought herself was two decades in, and already looking long in the tooth).
@@SheepInACart "The complexity is the turbines where not actually less efficient, they just didn't throttle down well." This is a distinction without a difference. In the real world usage, direct drive turbines were overall less efficient and came with a range penalty that was unacceptable for many users. Which is why many waited until the development of geared turbines to adopt them.
Lovely video! The oldest regularly still operating triple expansion powered steamship in North America is the R.M.S. (Royal Mail Ship), Segwun, operating out of the town of Gravenhurst in the Muskoka area of northern Ontario, Canada. She was built in Scotland in 1887 as a sidewheeler, shipped to Canada in parts and assembled in Gravenhurst. She operated as a passenger, freight and mail ship on the Muskoka lakes. After WW I she was refitted as a twin screw ship. She now operates in the summer season as a tourist venue doing lake cruises. The great thing about her is that you can go into her engine room once she is underway and watch the machinery operating up close! On our last rip on her, we spent the whole trip below the waterline in the engine room rather than watching the scenery topside. It was a great day. Well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
Way back in the mid 1990s our family at the time were in Halifax, nova Scotia and we went on this old cargo ship, damn if I can remember it's name but it was smaller, probably around 3000 tons, anyway it had a triple expansion engine in it and I can remember asking where my dad was and a crew member said, he might be in the engine room! The engine room?! I said, lol 😁 why in the world would he be in there for? So i ended up going down there , found him and that's when I learned about steam engines in general , summer 1994
Your question really has my brain going WAY back in time, to the very early sixties. Being from So. California, I said a couple of time on the "Great White Steamship", the S.S. Catalina, from Los Angeles Harbor to Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. Took two and a half hours to make that 21 mile journey. Had one triple expansion driving it's single shaft. While PAX were not permitted in the engine room, the access to the space was off the main deck where there was a port hole in the doorway, where you could look into the engine room. Here's a bit of WW-II (specifically Pearl Harbor) trivia for you. The Nevada Class of Battleships, (Nevada, BB-36 and Oklahoma, BB-37) was built with both types of engines. The Nevada received turbine engines, while the Oklahoma received VTE engines. I have read (years ago, so I can't quote the source) that the Oklahoma's engines was a major factor in the Navy's decision not to rebuild the ship.
The Sabino at Mystic Seaport, which is still seaworthy and sails during warmer months, is a compound steam engine. I can't remember if it has two or three cylinders though. The neat part is that the engine room is open to one of the decks so while going for a cruise you can see all of the workings of the engine and even talk to the engineer and fireman while they are running/stoking the boiler.
Bob-Lo boats SS Ste. Claire and SS Columbia, in the late 1970's. Each had a single large VTE engine in a well. The main deck had a big opening with the cylinders sticking up through. I leaned on the main deck engine room railing the whole trip, then when we got to Bob-Lo (Bois Blanc) Island, I and my very young daughter were invited down to the engine room. I asked my daughter about it recently, she still remembered details about the engine. Amazing to watch them dock and undock the tall boat at several stops, with a single engine, rudder, and a springline, no tug. Much later, my son and I got aboard Medusa Challenger at the dock. Full tour, in the engine room, along the deck to the tiny wheelhouse. You were very aware that steam lines ran the length of the vessel, not just the engine room. Engine was a Skinner high pressure compound, like the 2 Skinner engines on Badger. Sadly, "no pictures please". Their cook was legendary, we got some samples.
very very cool....the only steam powered ship I have seen in action had reciprocating engines... the S.S. Badger Two Skinner Unaflow 4 cylinders these are really cool two pistons on one rod with camshafts and poppet valves!!!! also as far as I know the nations only moving historic landmark!!!! it is also part of an Interstate!!!!
Thank you ! My father served as a fireman aboard her in Philadelphia during 2ww for a short time,I remember him talking about the “the buoy tender lilac”
I was able to get a quick tour of a currently commissioned coast guard ship (the USCGC Barracuda, out of Eureka, CA), when I was a docent for a certain closed federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. The modern diesel power is something else. I also was able to check out some of the 20 foot patrol boats at Station Golden Gate in Sausalito, right under the Golden Gate Bridge. Also some great boats.
I once got to start up the boiler and engine of the SS Jeremiah Obrien, the liberty ship in San Francisco. It was an awe-inspiring experience, every bit as amazing as the nuclear submarine engines I work on nowadays. Reciprocating steam engines are significantly simpler - to build - than steam turbines. The metallurgy is less complex, the speeds involved are lower, and you don't need forced lubrication or high-strength reduction gears. That's why they kept getting built even throughout WWII, because of how much simpler they are to build. However, they are -operationally - more complex than steam turbines. A steam turbine is literally just a giant steam-spun fan. It rotates continuously with no changes in direction, making it mechanically very simple. When operating, you only need two valves, one throttle for the ahead turbine and one throttle for the astern turbine. Reciprocating steam engines use mechanical linkages to change the valve timing to control their direction, and if that timing is off by a little bit then they lose a lot of power. Every revolution of the engine involves multiple direction changes for every piston and rod. The bigger the engine, the more stress they're under. That's why the triple-expansion steam engine died out in the end. It was complex to operate and maintain, and could only be scaled up so much.
Brian, there is another USCG and Lighhouse Service vessel. She is the Light vessel #83 , now displayed at northwest Seaport at Seattle. She mainly served as a Relief Light Vessel; and that is likely why the USCG never converted her to Diesel power, such as her near sister LV-87 Ambrose displayed at the South Street Seaport Museum at New York.
I was a volunteer stoker on The tug lyttelton est 1907 in Christchurch nz. She has a two compound reciprocating engine. 20in on the high pressure and 40in on the low with a 27in stroke. She is able to have passengers taken round lyttelton harbor
The Jeremiah O'brien in San Francisco! My kids and I went on a cruise for memorial day, saw the engine running. Was shocked at how quiet it was down there.
For many years I was a chief engineer on a direct drive diesel Army Reserve tugboat. Constant watch on the engine order telegraph to respond to throttle adjustments, and direction changes. You have to learn to mentally clock the timing requirements to stop the engine, then start in the opposite rotation when maneuvering or handling a barge.
I read that the early steam turbines had quite poor fuel efficiency, particularly at cruising power, compared to triple expansion engines. For the same fuel capacity on a ship, triple expansion engines gave much longer range. The US Navy, with an eye to the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean, stayed with triple expansion longer in order to get the range advantage.
But at the same time turbines needed less maintenance and where much less prone to strong vibrations. Tripple expansion engines where basically shaking themselves and even some other connected parts of the ships appart. You could not stay longer than a few hours at flank speed because the stress on the engine would make pipes burst, fittings break and rangefinders shake. But yes, turbines are only efficient if they run at or near their ideal turning speed. Thats why they invented geared turbines and added more efficient cruising turbines with less power on bigger ships. The "main" turbines could then be turned off for cruising and only spooled up when the power was needed and fuelconsumption not an issue.
The rule of thumb in more recent years of steam propulsion.was reciprocating engines were the best for working vessels like this and bouy tenders. They are good for keeping a ship on station when servicing a bouy or driving pilings, etc. Turbines we're better for cruising and speed.
Another advantage of reciprocating steam engines is their responsiveness. You can be moving half ahead and then go to half astern in a few seconds. Not that you can't reverse a turbine but a recip is just that much more quicker!!
@@albertoswald8461 Yes, that is something early turbines could not dream to achieve but it also was putting a lot of stress on the engine to break and accelerate those massive pistons.
@@tobichallanger,maybe but I think it stresses the turbine more. Also I think that a Skinner Uniflow handles it better than a triple expansion since with a Skinner you don't have the way different expansion rates like you do going from an HP to IP to LP cylinder. When I was engineer on the Badger I could be going half ahead and when the Master rang the telegraph for half astern I could have it reversed and responding in about 4 seconds.
I was an engineer on Charles N Curtis as a seascout. We has engine order telegraph. She was a coast guard cutter for chasing down rum runners during prohibition. Only ten of these ships were built.
I've drove on several great lakes freighters with triple expansion engines, they are huge! I've seen them at depth 200+ feet on mixed gas. Not a dive for the sport diver. I had not idea any were still floating as museums. Thank you.
In Britain's St Katherine Dock in London there is a steam powered tug that does day trips; very friendly volunteer crew that took great care to see that I understood the triple Expansion principle.
Great video, love seeing this channel continue to develop in quality and content. Would love to see a video of Ryan and Drachinifel discussing these topics!
Can still see one running if you take a cruise on the John. W. Brown Liberty Ship in Baltimore. I worked in the engine room as a volunteer at that was a great experience. But having two going at once must have been awesome.
Thanks again for your great videos on historic ships. A small correction, though. Steam turbines are still used on the navy's most advanced ships. I once worked at one steam boat company, General Dynamics Electric Boat Division.
Waverley on the River Clyde does the odd distant visit. They allow engine room tours, engines and crew on the left, glass window and splashing feathering paddle wheels on the right. Nice ship, has got a bar 😀 Tons of furious steam valve push rods.
never sailed on a ship with steam engines (being ex Navy but with an Naval Air Wing)- but at least seen one belching smoke and puffing about. in Kiel harbour, they maintain a steam driven museum ship which is still used to give kind of harbour tours to tourists, the "Tonnenleger Bussard". thats, if I get it right, some kind of auxiliary vessel used to service harbout buoys.
Ryan my Dad who is sitting right next to me, was the last Engineering Officer on Lilac. He just said it was in service till 1972 PS he made Chief on the Ingham
I had the opportunity to travel the Nile on the side-paddle steamer SS Sudan, one of the greatest experiences of my life. She was built in Scotland and launched in 1921, one of Thomas Cook’s “Nile Fleet” of steamships. Currently she is operated by a French company and provides one of the most charming, back-in-time ways to experience the Nile and Egypt’s ancient sites, traveling between Aswan and Luxor and powered by, of course, triple-expansion steam.
The SS Badger regularly sails across Lake Michigan during the summer months, she has a pair of coal fired Skinner Uniflo engines, the same used on the Casablanca class carriers.
The SS Badger still makes regular trips across Lake Michigan and it has reciprocating steam engines. (and coal fired boilers, even though it was built in 1953🤔).
You've heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald? It was a reciprocating coal burner built in 1958. I was in the US Navy with a guy from Alpena, Michigan who worked for a time in the boiler room of a lake boat. He shoveled coal for 6 hours straight. He said he thought he was going to die. This was in about 1970 as he told me. He'd shovel coal, build up the main steam pressure and then sit on a coal pile with an old guy who'd been doing it all his life and drink bourbon until the pressure dropped and then it was back to shoveling. He said that the boat was built in 1910.
The Badger has 4 Foster Wheeler watertube boilers with 2 Firrite stokers per boiler. The boiler normally runs at about 410-420 psi. They provide steam for 2 3500 horsepower Skinner Uniflow steam engines. They're direct drive as in no reduction gear/transmission. They give the Badger a speed of about 14 mph. Steam also operates 2 500 kw turbogenerators for electric power.
@@lawrencelewis2592, the Fitz had a steam turbine for main propulsion and while she may have started out with coal fired boilers I'm pretty sure that they converted her boilers to oil before she sank.
@@busterbeagle2167 ,not anymore. They have an ash handling system and they take it off inport now. Definitely in Ludington and possibly in Manitowoc too.
Never served on a ship that had one, never saw the controls before, but I think you may be confused. What you called the reversing lever has incremental latch points on the gate, while the other has two extremes and a center latch. I suspect the left lever is for reversing and the right is throttle.
I've been on O'Brien during steaming weekends a number of times. Before the changed the policy I was saving my waste oil and that from all my friends for their boiler. Amazing engine. Someday I hope I'll be able to be aboard the steam tug Hercules from 1907 who also has a triple expansion engine. A friend of mine is the main steam guy for the park service (she's part of SFMNHP also in San Francisco.).
Triple expansion kits are pretty common in model engineering. Stuart Models in the UK produce a large number of kits (including just single expansion kits). I'm working on a 10H which is a single expansion but double acting (steam pushes on the top of the piston then a valve slides over and steam pushes on the bottom so you get power on both directions) engine. It's really small by comparison, 3/4 inch bore. Some people use radio control as their telegraph and put them on model boats.
When you think about it, on a buoy tender, manoeuvrability is a bigger priority than outright speed, so that ability of a reciprocating engine to go quickly from ahead to astern and vice versa gives the reciprocating engine an advantage over a turbine in this particular application.
I once was on a german tugboat from 1939. Everything and every part of the engine was hot. I nearly burned my arm on a lever and got oil on my white shirt. :D
I've been out on the Jeremiah O'Brien several times. Being in the engine room and watching the triple expansion engine is most impressive. They used videos of the engine in the making of the movie Titanic.
Problem with steam turbines of the previous ships is they were very poor at fuel efficiency when cruising. Hence why the back track to tripe expansion on the new yorks (remember originally coal fired.) The Nevada was oil fired from the beginning which helped with range and efficiency. But then after the USN always sought to remedy the range issue of turbines. With geared cruise turbines, turbo-electrics, and finally double reduction.
I was on a short cruise on the John Brown when she came to Toronto about 15 years ago. I wanted to get to the lower level of the engine room while underway but it wasn't allowed.
The San Diego Maritime Museum owns and periodically sails the Steam Yacht MEDUSA, powered by reciprocating steam engines. I believe there are also some steam tugs serving as operating museum vessels.
Richard McKenna was a navy engineer, and in his book "The Sand Pebbles", he details correcting a fault in the alignment of the bedplate (what holds the crankshaft) of a triple expansion engine. The man knew of what he wrote... :-) He also wrote a short story entitled "King's Horsemen" that describes an emergency repair on a running triple expansion engine that is a real nail biter.
What an awesome tour. I don’t believe we have any of these types of ships here in Canada. The closest I can tour is HMCS Haida the last Tribal class Destroyer, permanently moored in Hamilton Ontario
I think the USS San Pablo from the movie The Sand Pebbles was a triple expansion steam engine. Have a feeling though that the engine Room scenes was purely a set - not on any ship. See Steve McQueen as Machinist's Mate 1st Class Jake Holman.
As a docent on the SS Jeremiah O'Brien I found your video wonderful (thanks for the plug) but is the Lilac still capable of cruising? I was once asked by a young 'millennial' who was overwhelmed by our engine room and asked 'How do you know how to operate this thing without a computer?' Real men operate real steam engines!
Once this whole virus thing is over, you really should visit Maritiman in Gothenburg, Sweden. They have 19 floating museum vessels, including the destroyer HSwMS Småland, a submarine, The monitor Sölve from 1875, the worlds oldest preserved welded ship ESAB IV and many more. I think you could find lots of interesting things to talk about there.
The simplicity, especially for WW2, was in no need for the reduction gears. There was only machine shop in Salem, MA that could make the gears just before the war. I've seen the Brown and O'Brien running their engines in port idling.
Ryan. Gotta know because I know you have a quick answer. What is your favorite ocean liner from the golden era of ocean travel? Mine is RMS Olympic so this video is perfect for me as she had a similar power plant. Cheers! Great vid!
I keep getting a video about the Edmund Fitzgerald in my recommendeds. It's time for a Iowa class vs. lake freighter video. I figure New Jersey can ambush the Fitz when she comes out of the Soo locks😉
You’ve mentioned in several videos how you work closely with other museum ships in the US. How much interaction do you have with museum ships around the rest of the world? Is there an international organisation dedicated to museum ships?
Is Lilacs steam equipment being restored to working order or "just" a visual restoration? Seeing the machinery is very interesting in it's own right but seeing and hearing steam powered equipment like that run is such an experience. (I've never been on a ship that size under steam power, but I have been on smaller vessels like tugs and on rail and road locomotives and steam just has a "feeling" of it's own. Like there's something more to the equipment than just steel mechanics.)
did ship engines act the same as locos where in once moving you backed off the "throttle" and used expansive working rather than direct stream pressure?
intresting fact about the SS Jeremiah O'Brien's Tripple Expansion Engines were actually used for James Cameron's Titanic as miniture walkways were built on the engines to match the scale of the titanics 30 feet engines!
The reason that the Royal Navy used turbines much earlier that the USN did was a direct result of a stunt in 1897 where the new ship Turbinia ran circles around everything in the British navy at the Diamond Jubilee...including the picket boats that were there for security. After that unorthodox demonstration there was no further question at the Admiralty that turbines were superior to expansion engines in many important ways.
Where did you get that coat? I really like it. I'd love to have one like that. I have a few in like 1970's cold war camo, but like that that WW2 or Korean war OD. You don't see that very often. Also you should get video of the triple expansion engines on USS Olympia. They posted an engine room video but it's really poorly done. I've been on board Olympia and New Jersey each a few times, but I really want to see the guys of Olympia and they won't let people down into the the engineering spaces. You can look down from the catwalks, but I really want to see how it works. Like in detail. Not just "hey it's a triple expansion engine" I know what that is, I want to see the parts and really see what state of the art Navy engines looked like in 1896 or whenever exactly they were built. Love th channel. Watch every day.
I meant to say I really want to see the guts of Olympia, not "the guys". How she really worked. Olympia, and Texas, and maybe Mikasa in Japan are really the only pre dreadnought/dreadnaught warships really left in existence. I find that really interesting. That transitional period, from mixed gun battleships to the big guns and piston steam to turbines.
Ryan, I love the picture of you in Texas's engine room. With that goofy smile, you can tell how happy you are. Like the proverbial kid in a candy store.
PS Waverley is a triple expansion sea going ship too, and what a gem she is.
Never sailed in a professional capacity on a steam ship, let alone a triple expansion reciprocating powered one. However I did get to accompany my late great uncle on his home built steam launch. She was built entirely out of scrap, the hull starting life as a German navy pinnace dating from around WWI, the boiler being built out of offcuts of pipe from the Flotta oil terminal when it was being built (and what a magnificent piece of engineering it was!), the condenser was made from salvaged parts of HMS Vanguard's (the one that blew up and sank at anchor in Scapa Flow in WWI) and the engine, a 2 cylinder compound, started life in a White steam car in about 1910. I attained the rank of 2nd engineer and helmsman! =D Thankfully his beloved boat has been preserved in safe hands on his passing.
Excellent video as ever, very informative. Keep up the good work. :)
Awesome sounding boat! having built a few odd "acquired" hulls into seaworthy boats, I can appreciate the joy of getting her dialed in and up on a plane. I think I enjoy the process a bit to much, cos as soon as ive finished one, im onto another. with one on the trailer, you know, for the actual boating part. Thats important.
Havnt gone all the way on a steam motor yet, but im very tempted. Half the challange in building my vessels is waiting to find that right part that will fit. on good terms with the local scrappers n tip shop folk (well, my old boy is, he gets the iron, I get the widgets. It blows his mind that we can be sitting by the fire drinking port spitballing about some gizmo, last was a GPS speedo, and I can buy and pay in a few seconds from our campsite). its not what you design, its what you can find.
steam powered sloops and a bit larger than that is nice: think about going at 6 knots and being able to easily speak with the passengers (friends.)
They are almost completely silent, and the only fuel it needs is that can harvested in the woods nearby !
Not only is PS Waverley a triple expansion sea going ship, it’s a PADDLE STEAMER triple expansion sea going ship from 1947!
What are the odds.
Wow..That sounds worthy of about an hour long video just on the engine and running gear...
I had the privilege of visiting the O'Brien's engine room while underway on the Columbia River. Absolutely fascinating to watch the machinery in action, but sure was hot down there!
I agree, I have been on the Brown. Its amazing how good the air coming down those vent funnels feels there!
Welcome to the world of the Snipes! Now just imagine operating in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden where the air coming in through the ventilation is starting out at 100+ F.
I got to visit the Jeremiah O'Brian when she passed thhrough the NYC area (visiting the USMMA ) on her way around to the west coast in the early - mid 90's. Really interesting vessel
Side note, boiler feed water is not just fresh water, if at all possible, they always use distilled water (usually made aboard) to minimize the amount of mineral scaling they have to deal with in the stystem.
I'm blessed to live an hour from O'Brien and have seen that engine run many times. I love that you can see so many moving parts in motion. And the smell, oh man, so good!
As a former USCG MK1, I think I just found one of the few reasons I'd want to visit New York
I always say that no matter what part of the country you're from, every American needs to go to New York City at least once. You might not ever go back again, but its a trip you won't forget either.
@@Odin029 it's a great way to see the culmination of all the lies we've been told about ourselves in one short trip! "Greatest in the world"😭
Almost still believable until you travel off the continent.
@@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE I've traveled off of North America a few times to a few different places and I have no idea what you're talking about. I also don't know what's meant by 'greatest' in this context.
You look REALLY excited to be there looking at those engines!! I would be, too. Pretty big connecting rods!
I have sailed on the John W. Brown.
FYI, when last I checked, they were teaching a course on how to operate her steam engines that the public can pay to attend.
Me too, several times. She's amazing! Yes, they still do steam school
@@garywayne6083 Excellent. It is going on my 'To Do' list. Then I will have to fit some vacation time into my schedule to actually go do it.
I think it is brilliant that you’re providing context to the design of BSNJ by visiting so many other ships and explaining other technologies and their evolution. Thank you!
Thx Ryan for constantly posting. As a history nut i absolutely love it. Appreciate the time you put in. Thx.
😢😢😢😢😢😮
My brother and I went for a super cruise of the John W Brown a few years ago. A great time and they allowed us to go into the engine room!! Watching the engine is like watching an intricate ballet. It was so mesmerizing that crew member had to ask us to leave so that others could enter the engine room. A trip on the Brown is absolutely worth every penny!!! I hope that I can go on another cruise at some point in the future. We also cruised on the Victory ship running out of Tampa. That is also a great cruise and one that we hope to go again.
I got to go aboard USS Texas right after Desert Storm; back then one of the engine rooms was on the tour. The massive size of her engines was something to behold. Years later, in the famous engine room scene in "Titanic" you got to see the CGI version of how those giant triple-expansion steam engines looked in service. Oh, it'll never happen, but it'd be wonderful to see even just one of Texas's engines turning over, even if it was just a large hidden electric motor making it move, no boilers lit or actual steam flowing, no propellers turning, just to see the mechanical symphony in operation. Some day I do hope to get to sail aboard the O'Brien on one of their excursions.
It should be possible to run and steam at reduced pressure - so getting the money and getting the navy to agree to the plan.
Though i think it would be impossible to with US rules and laws allow visitors in the steam areas while at pressure - even less with the engine working.
Witness the rules which i believe runs their steam engine at - NO visitors on the engine.
2:06 Actually, early direct drive turbines were LESS efficient than triple expansion steam engines, which is why the US continued to use them until reduction geared turbines were developed and then used in the Nevada class. With the development of double reduction geared turbines, turbines finally pulled far ahead of triple expansion.
Direct drive turbines were less efficient, but allowed higher speed. The vast British refueling network around the world made the reduced range a non-issue. For the US, with obligations and potential enemies in the Pacific, that reduction in range was considered unacceptable.
Direct drive steam turbines were sometimes used in conjunction with triple expansion steam engines, like on the Titanic. The low pressure turbine, that drove the middle propeller, used leftover steam pressure from the triple expansion engines.
It wasn't leftover steam - it used energy which otherwise would have been cooled of in the water in the condenser.
@@TheStefanskoglund1 Read what I said, "...leftover steam PRESSURE". Pressure = Energy, in this case.
"The low pressure turbine, that drove the middle propeller, used leftover steam pressure from the triple expansion engines."
"The low pressure turbine, that drove the middle propeller, used leftover steam energy from the triple expansion engines."
Either choice of word would work in this context, but most people would chose to use the former.
The complexity is the turbines where not actually less efficient, they just didn't throttle down well. This is part the turbines themselves, but mostly that the direct drive system meant propellers designed for very fast rotation, while the turbines would be forced to rotate far too slowly when not at flank type speeds. Alongside boiler choices it resulted in massive amounts of coal consumption per distance traveled in normal convoy or peacetime (hence the range issue you mention), but shouldn't be confused for low efficency, as the same ships at war speeds used less than their reciprocating cousins, and could maintain high speeds a lot longer as you didn't shake/wear the engines badly, and demands on stokers was less severe (although would still be the limiting factor eventually). Likewise you absolutely could build direct drive steam ships that couldn't go fast, but saved the weight/volume over a multiple expansion for very simlar or even fractionally better efficiency.... there are actually factories, mine water pumps and other continuous demand, critical and high value ground installations set up this way from the era, but generally slower steaming ships went with the cheaper (in no small part due to parsons licensing fees) and more widely in production for that purpose triple expansions motors. A few military tenders ect actually did use turbines though (keep in mind this cutter is 1930's, dreadnought herself was two decades in, and already looking long in the tooth).
@@SheepInACart "The complexity is the turbines where not actually less efficient, they just didn't throttle down well."
This is a distinction without a difference. In the real world usage, direct drive turbines were overall less efficient and came with a range penalty that was unacceptable for many users. Which is why many waited until the development of geared turbines to adopt them.
Lovely video!
The oldest regularly still operating triple expansion powered steamship in North America is the R.M.S. (Royal Mail Ship), Segwun, operating out of the town of Gravenhurst in the Muskoka area of northern Ontario, Canada. She was built in Scotland in 1887 as a sidewheeler, shipped to Canada in parts and assembled in Gravenhurst. She operated as a passenger, freight and mail ship on the Muskoka lakes. After WW I she was refitted as a twin screw ship. She now operates in the summer season as a tourist venue doing lake cruises. The great thing about her is that you can go into her engine room once she is underway and watch the machinery operating up close! On our last rip on her, we spent the whole trip below the waterline in the engine room rather than watching the scenery topside. It was a great day. Well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
Way back in the mid 1990s our family at the time were in Halifax, nova Scotia and we went on this old cargo ship, damn if I can remember it's name but it was smaller, probably around 3000 tons, anyway it had a triple expansion engine in it and I can remember asking where my dad was and a crew member said, he might be in the engine room! The engine room?! I said, lol 😁 why in the world would he be in there for? So i ended up going down there , found him and that's when I learned about steam engines in general , summer 1994
Your question really has my brain going WAY back in time, to the very early sixties. Being from So. California, I said a couple of time on the "Great White Steamship", the S.S. Catalina, from Los Angeles Harbor to Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. Took two and a half hours to make that 21 mile journey. Had one triple expansion driving it's single shaft. While PAX were not permitted in the engine room, the access to the space was off the main deck where there was a port hole in the doorway, where you could look into the engine room.
Here's a bit of WW-II (specifically Pearl Harbor) trivia for you. The Nevada Class of Battleships, (Nevada, BB-36 and Oklahoma, BB-37) was built with both types of engines. The Nevada received turbine engines, while the Oklahoma received VTE engines. I have read (years ago, so I can't quote the source) that the Oklahoma's engines was a major factor in the Navy's decision not to rebuild the ship.
TSS Earnslaw from New Zealand is still operational with triple expansion engine.
The Sabino at Mystic Seaport, which is still seaworthy and sails during warmer months, is a compound steam engine. I can't remember if it has two or three cylinders though. The neat part is that the engine room is open to one of the decks so while going for a cruise you can see all of the workings of the engine and even talk to the engineer and fireman while they are running/stoking the boiler.
Bob-Lo boats SS Ste. Claire and SS Columbia, in the late 1970's. Each had a single large VTE engine in a well. The main deck had a big opening with the cylinders sticking up through. I leaned on the main deck engine room railing the whole trip, then when we got to Bob-Lo (Bois Blanc) Island, I and my very young daughter were invited down to the engine room. I asked my daughter about it recently, she still remembered details about the engine. Amazing to watch them dock and undock the tall boat at several stops, with a single engine, rudder, and a springline, no tug.
Much later, my son and I got aboard Medusa Challenger at the dock. Full tour, in the engine room, along the deck to the tiny wheelhouse. You were very aware that steam lines ran the length of the vessel, not just the engine room. Engine was a Skinner high pressure compound, like the 2 Skinner engines on Badger. Sadly, "no pictures please". Their cook was legendary, we got some samples.
very very cool....the only steam powered ship I have seen in action had reciprocating engines... the S.S. Badger Two Skinner Unaflow 4 cylinders these are really cool two pistons on one rod with camshafts and poppet valves!!!! also as far as I know the nations only moving historic landmark!!!! it is also part of an Interstate!!!!
Great video as always.
I really dig that jacket!
1951 Field Jacket, Gunny. Not USMC, UDT, or Seabee, though.
Thank you ! My father served as a fireman aboard her in Philadelphia during 2ww for a short time,I remember him talking about the “the buoy tender lilac”
Yes, I have been under steam aboard the John W. Brown and under way aboard the Jerimiah O'Brian on San Francisco Bay, CA. Great stuff!!
I was able to get a quick tour of a currently commissioned coast guard ship (the USCGC Barracuda, out of Eureka, CA), when I was a docent for a certain closed federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. The modern diesel power is something else. I also was able to check out some of the 20 foot patrol boats at Station Golden Gate in Sausalito, right under the Golden Gate Bridge. Also some great boats.
I once got to start up the boiler and engine of the SS Jeremiah Obrien, the liberty ship in San Francisco. It was an awe-inspiring experience, every bit as amazing as the nuclear submarine engines I work on nowadays.
Reciprocating steam engines are significantly simpler - to build - than steam turbines. The metallurgy is less complex, the speeds involved are lower, and you don't need forced lubrication or high-strength reduction gears. That's why they kept getting built even throughout WWII, because of how much simpler they are to build. However, they are -operationally - more complex than steam turbines. A steam turbine is literally just a giant steam-spun fan. It rotates continuously with no changes in direction, making it mechanically very simple. When operating, you only need two valves, one throttle for the ahead turbine and one throttle for the astern turbine. Reciprocating steam engines use mechanical linkages to change the valve timing to control their direction, and if that timing is off by a little bit then they lose a lot of power. Every revolution of the engine involves multiple direction changes for every piston and rod. The bigger the engine, the more stress they're under. That's why the triple-expansion steam engine died out in the end. It was complex to operate and maintain, and could only be scaled up so much.
Saw the O’Brien when it was docked at Portland years back.
The best part, of course, *was the Engine Room.*
Ive been on the John W Brown several times and the engine is so cool to see in action
I served on the Cast guard Cutter Bibb in 1978
Quite a ship!
Brian, there is another USCG and Lighhouse Service vessel. She is the Light vessel #83 , now displayed at northwest Seaport at Seattle. She mainly served as a Relief Light Vessel; and that is likely why the USCG never converted her to Diesel power, such as her near sister LV-87 Ambrose displayed at the South Street Seaport Museum at New York.
I was a volunteer stoker on The tug lyttelton est 1907 in Christchurch nz. She has a two compound reciprocating engine. 20in on the high pressure and 40in on the low with a 27in stroke. She is able to have passengers taken round lyttelton harbor
The Jeremiah O'brien in San Francisco! My kids and I went on a cruise for memorial day, saw the engine running. Was shocked at how quiet it was down there.
For many years I was a chief engineer on a direct drive diesel Army Reserve tugboat. Constant watch on the engine order telegraph to respond to throttle adjustments, and direction changes. You have to learn to mentally clock the timing requirements to stop the engine, then start in the opposite rotation when maneuvering or handling a barge.
I read that the early steam turbines had quite poor fuel efficiency, particularly at cruising power, compared to triple expansion engines. For the same fuel capacity on a ship, triple expansion engines gave much longer range. The US Navy, with an eye to the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean, stayed with triple expansion longer in order to get the range advantage.
But at the same time turbines needed less maintenance and where much less prone to strong vibrations. Tripple expansion engines where basically shaking themselves and even some other connected parts of the ships appart. You could not stay longer than a few hours at flank speed because the stress on the engine would make pipes burst, fittings break and rangefinders shake. But yes, turbines are only efficient if they run at or near their ideal turning speed. Thats why they invented geared turbines and added more efficient cruising turbines with less power on bigger ships. The "main" turbines could then be turned off for cruising and only spooled up when the power was needed and fuelconsumption not an issue.
The rule of thumb in more recent years of steam propulsion.was reciprocating engines were the best for working vessels like this and bouy tenders. They are good for keeping a ship on station when servicing a bouy or driving pilings, etc. Turbines we're better for cruising and speed.
Another advantage of reciprocating steam engines is their responsiveness. You can be moving half ahead and then go to half astern in a few seconds. Not that you can't reverse a turbine but a recip is just that much more quicker!!
@@albertoswald8461 Yes, that is something early turbines could not dream to achieve but it also was putting a lot of stress on the engine to break and accelerate those massive pistons.
@@tobichallanger,maybe but I think it stresses the turbine more. Also I think that a Skinner Uniflow handles it better than a triple expansion since with a Skinner you don't have the way different expansion rates like you do going from an HP to IP to LP cylinder. When I was engineer on the Badger I could be going half ahead and when the Master rang the telegraph for half astern I could have it reversed and responding in about 4 seconds.
I was an engineer on Charles N Curtis as a seascout. We has engine order telegraph. She was a coast guard cutter for chasing down rum runners during prohibition. Only ten of these ships were built.
I've drove on several great lakes freighters with triple expansion engines, they are huge! I've seen them at depth 200+ feet on mixed gas. Not a dive for the sport diver. I had not idea any were still floating as museums. Thank you.
In Britain's St Katherine Dock in London there is a steam powered tug that does day trips; very friendly volunteer crew that took great care to see that I understood the triple Expansion principle.
Great video, love seeing this channel continue to develop in quality and content. Would love to see a video of Ryan and Drachinifel discussing these topics!
Haven’t sailed on a triple expansion powered ship but I operate a steam turbine powered ship the wine of a turbine is quite soothing
I think this is one of the best videos you have done yet, rivaling anything you’d see on the History Channel.
Right? I was think to myself “wow the production quality on this video is really good. Especially the microphone!”
Can still see one running if you take a cruise on the John. W. Brown Liberty Ship in Baltimore. I worked in the engine room as a volunteer at that was a great experience. But having two going at once must have been awesome.
I was an engine room volunteer on the SS JOHN W BROWN from about 1995 to 2000, and while underway served as an apprentice fireman/water-tender.
Thanks again for your great videos on historic ships. A small correction, though. Steam turbines are still used on the navy's most advanced ships. I once worked at one steam boat company, General Dynamics Electric Boat Division.
There are great descriptions of such engines in _The Sand Pebbles,_ which takes place on a gunboat in the Yangtze in the 1920s.
Waverley on the River Clyde does the odd distant visit. They allow engine room tours, engines and crew on the left, glass window and splashing feathering paddle wheels on the right. Nice ship, has got a bar 😀 Tons of furious steam valve push rods.
Turbinia at the Spithead Naval Review certainly caused quite-a-stir!
I've actually been on her, she's a neat *little* boat.
@@tisFrancesfault I am jealous- what an awesome invention!
never sailed on a ship with steam engines (being ex Navy but with an Naval Air Wing)- but at least seen one belching smoke and puffing about. in Kiel harbour, they maintain a steam driven museum ship which is still used to give kind of harbour tours to tourists, the "Tonnenleger Bussard". thats, if I get it right, some kind of auxiliary vessel used to service harbout buoys.
Ryan my Dad who is sitting right next to me, was the last Engineering Officer on Lilac. He just said it was in service till 1972
PS he made Chief on the Ingham
Also I have sailed on Lilac and Ingham when I was a kid, and have been in the engine room underway
Saw something on my news feed the other day. Looks like the Showboat's forward mast is in the process of being taken down and restored
I had the opportunity to travel the Nile on the side-paddle steamer SS Sudan, one of the greatest experiences of my life. She was built in Scotland and launched in 1921, one of Thomas Cook’s “Nile Fleet” of steamships. Currently she is operated by a French company and provides one of the most charming, back-in-time ways to experience the Nile and Egypt’s ancient sites, traveling between Aswan and Luxor and powered by, of course, triple-expansion steam.
The SS Badger regularly sails across Lake Michigan during the summer months, she has a pair of coal fired Skinner Uniflo engines, the same used on the Casablanca class carriers.
The Virginia V, in Seattle, is a Triple Expansion circa 1902 that is still sailing.
The SS Badger still makes regular trips across Lake Michigan and it has reciprocating steam engines. (and coal fired boilers, even though it was built in 1953🤔).
You've heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald? It was a reciprocating coal burner built in 1958. I was in the US Navy with a guy from Alpena, Michigan who worked for a time in the boiler room of a lake boat. He shoveled coal for 6 hours straight. He said he thought he was going to die. This was in about 1970 as he told me. He'd shovel coal, build up the main steam pressure and then sit on a coal pile with an old guy who'd been doing it all his life and drink bourbon until the pressure dropped and then it was back to shoveling. He said that the boat was built in 1910.
The Badger has 4 Foster Wheeler watertube boilers with 2 Firrite stokers per boiler. The boiler normally runs at about 410-420 psi. They provide steam for 2 3500 horsepower Skinner Uniflow steam engines. They're direct drive as in no reduction gear/transmission. They give the Badger a speed of about 14 mph. Steam also operates 2 500 kw turbogenerators for electric power.
Yup about 25 miles from my house.
Dumps a lot of coal ash in the lake 🤦🏻♂️👎
@@lawrencelewis2592, the Fitz had a steam turbine for main propulsion and while she may have started out with coal fired boilers I'm pretty sure that they converted her boilers to oil before she sank.
@@busterbeagle2167 ,not anymore. They have an ash handling system and they take it off inport now. Definitely in Ludington and possibly in Manitowoc too.
Never served on a ship that had one, never saw the controls before, but I think you may be confused. What you called the reversing lever has incremental latch points on the gate, while the other has two extremes and a center latch. I suspect the left lever is for reversing and the right is throttle.
Also SS Shieldhall in Southampton, England, built 1954-1955 but to 1920's design with everything powered by steam. Still sailing.
Most of my Navy career was on Gas-Turbines - FFGs. Though I DID a WestPac deployment on USS Kitty Hawk with her steam turbines
Excellent content and presentation. Thank you.
Great video from the battleship.
I’m ready to see the Texas engine room once they get the time to restore it
I've been on O'Brien during steaming weekends a number of times. Before the changed the policy I was saving my waste oil and that from all my friends for their boiler. Amazing engine. Someday I hope I'll be able to be aboard the steam tug Hercules from 1907 who also has a triple expansion engine. A friend of mine is the main steam guy for the park service (she's part of SFMNHP also in San Francisco.).
I saw the O'Brien sailing on SF Bay several years ago.
Another operating vessel which has a triple expansion steam engine is the "Virginia V" which steams on the Puget Sound out of the Seattle area.
The SS Badger, a passenger ferry that crosses Lake Michigan, has a triple expansion steam engine, but it’s the Skinner Unaflow design.
The next time you go to Boston, you should check out the Lightship Nantucket LV-112.
There is also a steam.powered light ship in preservation in Seattle. She's the LV 83.
Triple expansion kits are pretty common in model engineering. Stuart Models in the UK produce a large number of kits (including just single expansion kits). I'm working on a 10H which is a single expansion but double acting (steam pushes on the top of the piston then a valve slides over and steam pushes on the bottom so you get power on both directions) engine. It's really small by comparison, 3/4 inch bore.
Some people use radio control as their telegraph and put them on model boats.
When you think about it, on a buoy tender, manoeuvrability is a bigger priority than outright speed, so that ability of a reciprocating engine to go quickly from ahead to astern and vice versa gives the reciprocating engine an advantage over a turbine in this particular application.
I once was on a german tugboat from 1939. Everything and every part of the engine was hot. I nearly burned my arm on a lever and got oil on my white shirt. :D
Thanks for sharing…!
Ss badger is still in operation on lake Michigan. Has a triple expansion engine and is coal fired.
I've been out on the Jeremiah O'Brien several times. Being in the engine room and watching the triple expansion engine is most impressive. They used videos of the engine in the making of the movie Titanic.
The Texas, New York and Okkahoma were throwbacks. The previous classes after the two South Carolina's were steam turbine engined.
Problem with steam turbines of the previous ships is they were very poor at fuel efficiency when cruising. Hence why the back track to tripe expansion on the new yorks (remember originally coal fired.) The Nevada was oil fired from the beginning which helped with range and efficiency. But then after the USN always sought to remedy the range issue of turbines. With geared cruise turbines, turbo-electrics, and finally double reduction.
Loving the helmet...green isint everyone color but you pull it off
I was on a short cruise on the John Brown when she came to Toronto about 15 years ago. I wanted to get to the lower level of the engine room while underway but it wasn't allowed.
I've sailed on her a number of times out of Manhattan and Baltimore - we were allowed to visit the engine room underway - its amazing!
@@garywayne6083 I could only get to the upper level- I sure wanted to watch the rods and crank from close up.
The San Diego Maritime Museum owns and periodically sails the Steam Yacht MEDUSA, powered by reciprocating steam engines. I believe there are also some steam tugs serving as operating museum vessels.
Oh boy - love piston steam engines ❤️
Richard McKenna was a navy engineer, and in his book "The Sand Pebbles", he details correcting a fault in the alignment of the bedplate (what holds the crankshaft) of a triple expansion engine. The man knew of what he wrote... :-) He also wrote a short story entitled "King's Horsemen" that describes an emergency repair on a running triple expansion engine that is a real nail biter.
I remember well this ship sitting in the mouth of Falling Creek in Virginia for years.
What an awesome tour. I don’t believe we have any of these types of ships here in Canada. The closest I can tour is HMCS Haida the last Tribal class Destroyer, permanently moored in Hamilton Ontario
I think the USS San Pablo from the movie The Sand Pebbles was a triple expansion steam engine. Have a feeling though that the engine Room scenes was purely a set - not on any ship. See Steve McQueen as Machinist's Mate 1st Class Jake Holman.
Just watched that last night.
It was a set, in a museum in British Columbia. The engine was run on compressed air.
Good engine room scenes
As a docent on the SS Jeremiah O'Brien I found your video wonderful (thanks for the plug) but is the Lilac still capable of cruising? I was once asked by a young 'millennial' who was overwhelmed by our engine room and asked 'How do you know how to operate this thing without a computer?' Real men operate real steam engines!
Lilac is not capable of steaming, yet. They hope to do so though!
I apologize for my fellow generation idiots who seem to forget that operation manuals and ojt is a thing
USCGC = Unused Steam Classic Geared Contraption
I love how Ryan manages to look like a kid in a candy store in all the photo inserts.
Once this whole virus thing is over, you really should visit Maritiman in Gothenburg, Sweden. They have 19 floating museum vessels, including the destroyer HSwMS Småland, a submarine, The monitor Sölve from 1875, the worlds oldest preserved welded ship ESAB IV and many more. I think you could find lots of interesting things to talk about there.
Really cool video, thanks!
The simplicity, especially for WW2, was in no need for the reduction gears. There was only machine shop in Salem, MA that could make the gears just before the war.
I've seen the Brown and O'Brien running their engines in port idling.
Ryan. Gotta know because I know you have a quick answer. What is your favorite ocean liner from the golden era of ocean travel? Mine is RMS Olympic so this video is perfect for me as she had a similar power plant. Cheers! Great vid!
I keep getting a video about the Edmund Fitzgerald in my recommendeds.
It's time for a Iowa class vs. lake freighter video.
I figure New Jersey can ambush the Fitz when she comes out of the Soo locks😉
I believe the red oak victory is also operational.
I've ridden the SS Badger in the '80's and the Great White Steamship to Catalina in the 70's.
Skinner Uniflows she was still sailing in 2019.
Nice 👍 thank you
I got in on the tail end of the steam era in the Coast Guard.
You’ve mentioned in several videos how you work closely with other museum ships in the US. How much interaction do you have with museum ships around the rest of the world? Is there an international organisation dedicated to museum ships?
Will battleship New Jersey be open throughout February?
Have you heard of the Red Oak Victory?
Is Lilacs steam equipment being restored to working order or "just" a visual restoration? Seeing the machinery is very interesting in it's own right but seeing and hearing steam powered equipment like that run is such an experience. (I've never been on a ship that size under steam power, but I have been on smaller vessels like tugs and on rail and road locomotives and steam just has a "feeling" of it's own. Like there's something more to the equipment than just steel mechanics.)
did ship engines act the same as locos where in once moving you backed off the "throttle" and used expansive working rather than direct stream pressure?
intresting fact about the SS Jeremiah O'Brien's Tripple Expansion Engines were actually used for James Cameron's Titanic as miniture walkways were built on the engines to match the scale of the titanics 30 feet engines!
SS St Clair an excursion boat in operation on the Detroit River into 1970s
I took a day cruise on the John W Brown out of Baltimore
The reason that the Royal Navy used turbines much earlier that the USN did was a direct result of a stunt in 1897 where the new ship Turbinia ran circles around everything in the British navy at the Diamond Jubilee...including the picket boats that were there for security. After that unorthodox demonstration there was no further question at the Admiralty that turbines were superior to expansion engines in many important ways.
We have a steam tugboat as master in Vancouver bc she is a steam tugboat still steaming as a museum ship
What type of engine did they have on the river patrol boat in "the sand pebbles"?
Where did you get that coat? I really like it. I'd love to have one like that. I have a few in like 1970's cold war camo, but like that that WW2 or Korean war OD. You don't see that very often.
Also you should get video of the triple expansion engines on USS Olympia. They posted an engine room video but it's really poorly done. I've been on board Olympia and New Jersey each a few times, but I really want to see the guys of Olympia and they won't let people down into the the engineering spaces. You can look down from the catwalks, but I really want to see how it works. Like in detail. Not just "hey it's a triple expansion engine" I know what that is, I want to see the parts and really see what state of the art Navy engines looked like in 1896 or whenever exactly they were built.
Love th channel. Watch every day.
I meant to say I really want to see the guts of Olympia, not "the guys". How she really worked. Olympia, and Texas, and maybe Mikasa in Japan are really the only pre dreadnought/dreadnaught warships really left in existence. I find that really interesting. That transitional period, from mixed gun battleships to the big guns and piston steam to turbines.