# Steam Jets



## Zeb?edee2020 (Sep 7, 2018)

At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.












At my first viva-voce, commonly known as orals. It became apparent that I had never been inside a boiler. This was accepted without demur, as I had spent all my qualifying time on the same ship: arrangements were made for me to explore a boiler and have a second viva. I was admonished to be very quiet passing through the outer office as there would be an examination in progress. I joined the examiner in his glassed-off partition from which he could invigilate as well as deal with correspondence and suchlike. He soon took a call from a superintendent wanting to elevate his third engineer to a second engineer: after a few questionshe he commented he hasn't got nearly enough experience and your best plan is to wait outside my office door on Monday when there will be a whole batch of new second engineers! A few minutes later he took a second call and this time commenting this is going to be a long one drew a flat bottomed U on a sheet of paper presented to me and said that this is the cross-section of the of a merchant ship, fill in the *construction* details. So I have no idea what the second conversation was all about. When he finished his phone call he took the sheet and asked me to name the details; I started on this successfully then had a mental blank commenting that these are thegirders girders that give the ships sides their shapes they have a special name which escapes me at the moment: and I continued to name what I could: then I said Ah! Yes they are called frames the spacing is narrower at the bow and the stern of the ship than it is amidships damidships. I then had a 20 minute examination on boiler construction! At this second sitting I was asked what I would do if taking over the watch I found the water level gauge choked: taking the opportunity to demonstrate that a newly correct procedure for checking the water level whether Cage was mounted directly on the boiler shell or remotely on a standpipe and prove that it was indeed urthchoked I suggested using the test cokks, yes that is not the correct spelling but do the correct spelling sensible object! We don't think much of those was his comment so I proceeded to extinguish the fires and use the easing gear i.e. manually open the safety valves. One of my first jobs as fourth engineer the Trelyon was to fit the new gauge classes on the donkey boiler I was very surprised to find that the old tubes were compressed under the seals. After fitting the new tubes I knew where the water level was and I proceeded to operate the test cokks, yes I know that there is a correct spelling but if they use it this censor would intervene, help down to the vicinity of the tank tops for the sake of safety where it emerges as a cone of steam course but water being denser than steam it is less deflected by the atmosphere and produce a narrower cone than the pure steam one: the included angle of the water pipe was about 20° while the included anle of the steam steam : was about 35° to 50°. Don't quote me on these figures as *this* phenomenon I witnessed for a few seconds more than 60 years ago! And anyway logically the angles would be different with different steam pressures! Afterwards I was told of the devastation on board a ship in Australia before the 1939 to 1945.war. Steam was being raised when the second engineer who was having a cup of tea on deck heard a rumble in the engine room, when he investigated he was appalled to find that the engine had been moved stern- wards and that its front-end had been raised! Furthermore, the central Scotch boiler was missing and there was a large hole in the forward bulkhead going through into number three: cargo hold revealed a similar hole leading into number two cargo hold and then into number one hold where the boiler was charmed against the collision bulkhead. The ship was towed back to Britain and the court of enquiry concluded that a furnace had collapsed and the pressurised water converted it into a jet engine throwing the boiler violently back against the engine from which it bounced causing the damage quoted he added that needless to say the safety valves and the gauge glasses for that boiler were never found. If the ships name was mentioned it did not register with me.


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## John Jarman (Sep 17, 2009)

Say again?.......

JJ.


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## taffe65 (May 27, 2007)

John Jarman said:


> Say again?.......
> 
> JJ.


It's Friday night,I want some of what he's on.


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## Freo (Nov 4, 2005)

So do I !!


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## captainconfusion (Aug 13, 2020)

Zeberdee? What a post? To whom are you taking the wee wee out of, The fellow ship mate and engineer, the BOT Orals examininer, the set up of The Merchant shipping acts 1894???, or the piss heads in the local bar who may listen to your rantings.
ps what was your, or who was your apprenticeship with Singer sewing machines in Glasgow? Be careful how you answer many a good marine engineer came from SINGERS, and they could tell a story, and weave a yarn, But not as tall as yours, You kind sir ask and pose too many questions to be a concienious marine engineer, steam or motor, of integrity.


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## John Gowers (Jul 18, 2018)

Small correction Singer's was in Clydebank not Glasgow. The factory is long gone all that remains to this day is the Singer railway station. I have my mothers Singer sewing machine which she bought in 1936 and it still works perfectly. Bet the electric ones you buy today will not last 85 years.

The story of the Singer factory and how it made a mark on Clydebank

Glad I did a motor ticket


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## Zeb?edee2020 (Sep 7, 2018)

captainconfusion said:


> Zeberdee? What a post? To whom are you taking the wee wee out of, The fellow ship mate and engineer, the BOT Orals examininer, the set up of The Merchant shipping acts 1894???, or the piss heads in the local bar who may listen to your rantings.
> ps what was your, or wyho was your apprenticeship with Singer sewing machines in Glasgow? Be careful how you answer many a good marine engineer came from SINGERS, and they could tell a story, and weave a yarn, But not as tall as yours, You kind sir ask and pose too many questions to be a concienious marine engineer, steam or motor, of integrity.


I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the damage to the ship is quoted in the closing parts of my post. This is obviously hearsay, so not acceptable in a court of law. However the rest of the post detailing my experiences and then the actual recounting of the oral examination is 100% true. I do not understand what your comments are all about not any amusing remarks and don'ts to put on your ranting reply to my don't know why you mentioned the Merchant shipping act. Presumably this was what authorise the Board of trade to look after the safety aspects. I am not in the habit of trying to amuse idiots in my posts. Repeat that the description of activities and the oral examination is absolutely 100% correct in not saying to anybody certainly not the examiner for the Board of trade. I have posted several times over the years many recently admit none of them have been so rudely treated I cannot helpi t if you cannot spell but I do do not have to accept your verbal abuse.

yet.


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## barry john macauley (Sep 5, 2012)

Zebedee?. Have you heard of a bloke named Charlie?. He also Dances to a different drummer.


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

Zeb?edee2020 said:


> I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the damage to the ship is quoted in the closing parts of my post. This is obviously hearsay, so not acceptable in a court of law. However the rest of the post detailing my experiences and then the actual recounting of the oral examination is 100% true. I do not understand what your comments are all about not any amusing remarks and don'ts to put on your ranting reply to my don't know why you mentioned the Merchant shipping act. Presumably this was what authorise the Board of trade to look after the safety aspects. I am not in the habit of trying to amuse idiots in my posts. Repeat that the description of activities and the oral examination is absolutely 100% correct in not saying to anybody certainly not the examiner for the Board of trade. I have posted several times over the years many recently admit none of them have been so rudely treated I cannot helpi t if you cannot spell but I do do not have to accept your verbal abuse.
> 
> yet.


The vessel concerned was "Kingswood" photos of the damage in here untitled (melbournesteam.com.au)


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## sternchallis (Nov 15, 2015)

Duncan112 said:


> The vessel concerned was "Kingswood" photos of the damage in here untitled (melbournesteam.com.au)


Zebede, that rocket launched boiler is possible , not a tall story as some like to make out.
When I was on a Pre-Sea Marine Engineering course in Hull as an apprentice , the lecturer Dave Taylor ( some of you may have had the pleasure to be taught by at Hull) relayed that same story to us when he was talking about boilers. It kind of brings it home.
So Zeb's story is not a tale.

Much the same as the old chestnut. " What steps do you take if you see the furnace crowns bulging " .
'The Engine room steps, two at a time, Sir' or words to that effect. 'king big ones.

Whilst working as boiler surveyor ashore we got a HSE investigation report of an autoclave. Now this autoclave was used for curing Thermalite blocks used for the inner walls of houses. You could stand up right in it so say 2metres diameter. They could also load a shift load of blocks on bogeys into this, so say 23 metres long . Steam at say 14 bar was admitted after the door was closed. The door had interlocks so if there was pressure inside it couldn't be opened.
On pressurising the front door was blown off demolishing bricks and machinery came to rest 23 metres away.
The reaction force projected the autoclave with rear door and load of bricks ( estimated weight of 900 tons) 53 metres from its original position.

Another report was a 10 bar gas fired boiler where salt from the factory process entered the boiler unoticed, this encrusted 25 mm thick on the furnace. The furnace split and the boiler landed 40 metres away.
Just think of blowing a ballon up and letting it go but on steroids, with heat and steam expanding adding to the energy.


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## taffe65 (May 27, 2007)

sternchallis said:


> Zebede, that rocket launched boiler is possible , not a tall story as some like to make out.
> When I was on a Pre-Sea Marine Engineering course in Hull as an apprentice , the lecturer Dave Taylor ( some of you may have had the pleasure to be taught by at Hull) relayed that same story to us when he was talking about boilers. It kind of brings it home.
> So Zeb's story is not a tale.
> 
> ...


As carly simon sang " nobody does it better ", happy valentines day. Don't worry I,m straight and married.


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## k.atkinson (Jan 19, 2011)

My father joined the Kingswood and this is what he wrote
*S.S. Kingswood*​It had been my intention to try for my 2nd class Steam Engineer’s certificate but the Board of Trade decreed that I did not have sufficient watch keeping time at sea. I did not grumble about this as I had such a pleasant time on station in Malta and around the Med. To qualify with sufficient sea time, I did not want to go back with the R.F.A. where I might be away for much longer time than I needed so I wrote to other Shipping Companies who had shorter voyages. After a short interval I signed on as 4th Engineer on _S.S. Kingswood_ of the Constantine Shipping Company of Middlesbrough. I joined her in August 1938. She was loading coal at Port Talbot and she was in a filthy state. After the comparative cleanliness of tankers, I was aghast at the apparent chaos of a cargo ship loading coal. The dust penetrated to all parts of the accommodation and got into clothes in the wardrobes no matter how much they were sealed and locked.
The Kingswood had a rather remarkable history. A little while before I joined her, she was lying at anchor at Melbourne in South Australia when her Donkey Boiler exploded. It travelled 163 feet forward mowing down bulkheads and knocked a hole in the bow plates just nine inches above the water line after knocking down partitions of steel and wood and a collision bulkhead. In the other direction the reaction forced back the main Boilers into the engine room to smash the fan engine, the main cast iron column feet and the condenser. The exhaust steam turbine was demolished and several pumps were wrecked. Some hatch covers were blown skywards to carry away the wireless aerial, and they had to wait until a boat came off from the shore before they could inform the authorities.
After the investigation the ship was brought back to U.K. to make the longest tow on record, taking about four months on the journey. She was then reconditioned and put back into service. I was very interested in the different type of engine as it had single guides, poppet valves and an exhaust steam turbine coupled to the shaft through a fluid flywheel which gave us an extra six hundred horse power. The ship had more accommodation than the Officers required, and we carried twelve passengers across the Western Ocean, and up the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Montreal. The coal cargo was beans, peas and washed cobbles - and of course dust of un-scheduled weight.


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## k.atkinson (Jan 19, 2011)

*KINGSWOOD 1914*
Built 1914 by J. Readhead & Co., South Shields as the ONWEN for W & C. T. Jones, Cardiff, she was sold to Woolston SS Co., Cardiff in 1918 and in 1920 was sold to Rumney SS Co., Cardiff and renamed RUMNEY. 1924 purchased by J. Constantine SS Line and renamed KINGSWOOD. 1928 sold to Finland renamed HOGLAND. 1942 Torpedoed and sunk by French submarine RUBIS on voyage Norway to a German Baltic port with iron ore. [The Constantine Group by H. S. Appleyard]
A significant marine incident occurred in 1937 on the Constantine vessel, _Kingswood_. The ship was anchored near Port Pirie, close to Adelaide in South Australia waiting to load zinc concentrates, when, for reasons which are unclear, the donkey boiler spontaneously exploded in the engine room with a force that ripped it from its housing and sent it hurtling 164 feet through four bulkheads, half the length of the ship with a huge hole blown in the starboard plating of the forepeak, and the tramp was then towed all the way home to the Tyne at great expense by a Dutch tug.

If not immediately rescued, the surviving crews of sunken Constantine ships endured many dangers, such as those that befell the men of the _Kingswood_, who were adrift in shark infested waters off West Africa for days before being picked up by local fishermen in canoes.
17/12/1943 Torpedoed and sunk in Gulf of Guinea while on a voyage from Forcados and Lagos to Takoradi and U.K. with groundnuts and cotton.


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## Peter Hewson (Mar 12, 2019)

On a MUCH smaller scale. a 20" dia Air compressor, vessel was over pressurised and blew one end off. The resulting "projectile", took out a row a workshop steel and wooden benches and buried itself in the workshop wall (4 brick thick) some 100 feet away, at A BR workshop.

I too had the delight of being "educated" in the functions of the Marine Engineering world, by Mr D Taylor. Many years later we exchanged remanisance, at the I-MarE dinner in Hull. A gentleman, who`s knowledge was immense.

I had the unfortunate "job" of following up on the explosion of a Boiler in Basingstoke, as an exercise when under supervision in my first post as Surveyor, Gladly, for me, a "paper" exercise. But not much fun for the lady that found the body parts on her driveway. 2 guys died on that one.


Pete


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