# Warming Through



## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

This is a re post of a thread 12 years ago which i thought might invite or incite stories of similar experiences


Warming through,	

I dream a lot these days nothing exciting, nothing grim, all rather tedious at times. 
Many of the dreams seem to be flashbacks to earlier days, even some involving my father at the age that I remember him although I am now older than him in these meetings.
Funnily enough Ship’s Nostalgia seldom features, perhaps because I do a lot of the dreaming while reading or posting on the website but the other night my dream was that I was out mowing the lawns when my partner came out to say “Ring Mr. Douglas, he wants you to join a ship as soon as possible”
Now Mr. Douglas was the Assistant superintending Engineer of the Union Co in Auckland who used to call from time to time so I replied “Rubbish, I stopped working for him over 50 years ago, I’m too old for that caper.” 
She shrugged her shoulders and walked away and the next moment I awoke struggling with the blankets and in lather about the seeming reality of it all.
After lying there and thinking about it for a moment I asked myself, are you really past it? Could you really go back on board an old ship and know what to do to ready the engine room for sea? 
So to sort it out and now fully awake I set myself the mind task of doing the job.

I chose the little banana boat Navua, my favourite ship, with her 5 cylinder 1500 hp trunk piston Sulzer engine and on arrival at the dockside in the early hours of the imaginary morning she was like the Marie Celeste, abandoned by all living souls, but with shore power connected there were at lest a few glimmering lights, enough for me to find my way down on to the engine room plates to start the job of enlivening the ship’s propulsion ready for sea.
I walked around in the dim light of the essential shore power illumination, every thing was as I remembered it, ship shape and Bristol fashion as they say so first step, start a generator but this move was stymied by almost empty air receivers.
OK, start the sanitary pump on shore power to get some water up top and some coolant for the emergency single cylinder diesel driven air compressor. A few turns on the crank handle with the valve lifter up then drop it to be rewarded with the clonking sound of the engine bursting into life and to plug away at slowly topping up an air start receiver.
What next? A wander around the engine room to refresh my memory after 50 odd years, turning gear in, check, TG notice hung over the telegraph face, oil in the sight glass lubricators, generator sump levels OK, close up lube oil and fuel oil purifiers ready to run, wander down the tunnel to check the stern tube gland, a few drips, mental note to nip up later, check all skin fitting suction and over board discharge valves for correct settings. Check, check, check and more checks
We now have enough air pressure so off with the single lung banger and connect air to No 2 generator, use the semi-rotary oil pump to pressurize the bearings and chuff we are away as the gene surges into life.
Connect the generator cooling to the main engine jacket for warming through then up to the switch board to pull down the breaker to connect the ship’s power and trip the shore power supply.
The Ammeter barely lifts off its zero stop, I must get some load from somewhere so on with the main air compressor motor, the fuel oil purifier to top up the port and starboard daily use tanks, the lube oil purifier drawing oil from the header tank with its outflow heater .
A big improvement in load but still not enough, what I need is for the AB’s on deck to start topping the ship’s gear, to start using those Clark Chapman winches, for some one to ask for water on deck via the pump but there is no one there.
Feel the main engine jacket, it’s warmer than a cold bum but not much , the compressor has finished its job so blow down the receivers for another re-fill, first time I have ever had start air to waste.
Time to start a main lube oil circulating pump and to start the turning gear for a rev or two, give a few cranks on the lubricator cam shaft to dribble a bit of oil to the liners, walk along the tops with the indicator cocks open and feel the waft of air being discharged with the palm of the hand, is it dry, is there no sign of moisture? All OK so out with the turning gear, remove the sign off the telegraph, and replace it with “Gen. Heat on Main Engine” sign
While every thing is going nicely put the power on to the steering gear then go down the tunnel with a big ring spanner to nip up that stern gland stuffing box, for me this takes a bit of courage as I tend to be claustrophobic and although I have related this story before, I think back to another time on this same ship.

Quote

We were set down to sail from Adelaide at 4 pm and the engine room watch started at noon.
Cargo was still being worked using the ship’s gear so I directed the generators cooling water to circulate through the main engine to warm through ready for sea and then set about all the other tasks to get ready to sail.
My motorman arrived late on watch and rather drunk so I gave him the option of going up stairs to find a shipmate willing to take his place otherwise he was on report. He disappeared and I went down the propeller shaft tunnel to make the usual checks and on attempting to go back to the engine room found the water tight door shut. It turned out that the wayward motorman had few friends as none of the other watch keepers were prepared to take his place so he returned to the plates and on finding me down the tunnel made the spur of the moment decision to lock me in. He then sat down in a corner and went to sleep.
Now I am claustrophobic mainly in tight places but I widened my horizons in this direction when I realized that the second and fourth engineers were still ashore and although the chief was in his cabin he had no reason to enter the engine room. My first effort to get out via the tunnel escape ladder was thwarted by the door being locked while in port to deter stowaways etc and the keys were in the engine room desk.
OK I decided to use a handy hammer to bang on the door, but no response. Next I tried banging out a deliberate SOS code with the hammer on both tunnel access doors, the ship’s hull, the bulkhead, the deck head above which was the no 4 hold floor and any surface that may transmit a sound but no, nobody heard it. About 3 pm the generators had heated the main engine jacket to the limit temperature and the audible alarms started to sound, not that I could hear them but the now back on board second engineer did and after getting tired of waiting for me to rectify the problem came down, realized the position and release me.
Scary indeed being locked in a big steel box and fearing what the drunk outside might be up to.

Unquote.

In this imaginary preparation now going on in my mind I recall this incident and although I seem to be the only man on board I take the precaution of removing the door closing handle off the rack pinion and taking it with me.
I manage to get about three quarters of a turn on the gland nuts, the drips slow down by half. Nip up the tunnel escape to after deck ladder to look in at the steering gear pumps and motors humming away all OK and it’s back to the engine room at a pace.
The main engine is now warming through at a better rate, the lube oil is warmer, the daily use fuel tanks are full, tank bottom moisture drained, all the ballast, fresh water and fuel and lube tanks have been sounded via that pneumatic pump sounding device that I cannot remember the name of and logged, the log book filled in as necessary for departure.

What else do I need to do?
Start a stand-by generator, all necessary circulating pumps, be ready to take the generator heat off the main engine, put the start air on the main engine and wait for the rest of the engine room standby team to arrive and for the telegraph to jangle

There is a jangle but it is my alarm clock telling me that it is 6 am and time to get up for this weeks golf day
I snap out of it but as I shave and shower I wonder what I had forgotten, what cardinal sin had I committed as a marine engineer, even 50 years away from the job is not really an excuse after taking the job on

Tell me, where have I might have stuffed up?


Bob,


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## YM-Mundrabilla (Mar 29, 2008)

I enjoyed that Bob as an example of long lost 'blow by blow' communication.

From time to time I sometimes dream what it would be like to return to working the way we did 50 odd years ago but then come down to reality with a thud. 

Sadly perhaps, my 'shrink tests' from the early days of such things say that 'I do not suffer fools gladly' and having returned to reality with a thud see myself surrounded with such people. Qualifications from here to the Equator but unable to tie their shoelaces and unable to even recognise the need to even buy shoes that fit ................(Cloud)

What happened to the drunk motorman? In my day I often covered for an ex PoW who was sometimes a little under the weather. He had spent the War on the Burma Railway and I was honoured to cover for him although it was in a non-safety critical area..


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## ART6 (Sep 14, 2010)

Remarkable post Bob. I just wish I could remember all of the steps necessary to get the ship ready for sea! I only ever sailed on one motor ship but after that it was steam all the way, and I do sometimes lie awake in bed testing my memory on all the things that needed to be done -- often encountering suspected steps that I can no longer remember or confusing steam turbine practises with those for VTEs. I have no doubt that if I nowadays took over the standby watch in the engine room I would still know exactly what to do, such confidence that would ensure that we never left port! (Jester)


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## skilly57 (Mar 11, 2008)

Bob, did you remember to draw up the columns in the next page of the movement book?
Then make a cuppa?

Bloody good effort all round!


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

Thanks for your comments everyone. 
It has occurred to me that the current postings on SN while still packing in the Nostalgia of bygone ships and shipmates , it is tending to draw more comment relative to the rotten old world around us. 
I quote the Donald Trump, Boris J , Corona virus, Brexit etc, all good grist for the mill but devoid of matters of our past hearts and in posting the above experience I hope to have brought a few memorable moments about on the plates, in the stokehold , on the Bridge, at the wheel , on the morse key , and in the galley to the fore. 
There must be tons of personal stories needing the air so I might take the liberty of digging out a few more old posts that might excite your personal thoughts about those now precious experiences of so long ago.

Bob


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

spongebob said:


> this is a re post of a thread 12 years ago which i thought might invite or incite stories of similar experiences
> 
> 
> warming through,
> ...


"chief! Wake up! We don't sail until next saturday!


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## Mad Landsman (Dec 1, 2005)

spongebob said:


> Thanks for your comments everyone.
> It has occurred to me that the current postings on SN while still packing in the Nostalgia of bygone ships and shipmates , it is tending to draw more comment relative to the rotten old world around us.
> I quote the Donald Trump, Boris J , Corona virus, Brexit etc, all good grist for the mill but devoid of matters of our past hearts and in posting the above experience I hope to have brought a few memorable moments about on the plates, in the stokehold , on the Bridge, at the wheel , on the morse key , and in the galley to the fore.
> There must be tons of personal stories needing the air so I might take the liberty of digging out a few more old posts that might excite your personal thoughts about those now precious experiences of so long ago.
> ...


I'll go with that, bring it on. Love to read it all.
As someone on here says: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Mad Landsman said:


> I'll go with that, bring it on. Love to read it all.
> As someone on here says: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.




What will happen when there is no one there to even think about ships? For a lot the term 'cruise ship' will be no more than a 'bad dream'. Sad.

Stephen


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

All the retired Bowmen in the Duke of Wellington's Army must have had the same problem .
Like the song - "Where have all the flowers gone"
It will be where have all our mariners gone one day 

Bob


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## dannic (Mar 10, 2013)

Only comment is slacken sterngland, nip it up after full away! Not while at standstill.
Dannic.


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## henry1 (Mar 25, 2015)

*In 1970*

In 1970 after 15 months sea time on steamer s and passing part A seconds I was promoted to 4/E on a motor ship, when I queried this the personnel guy said “you’l soon get the hang of it”. Lucky that after five years in a dry dock I had worked on a lot of motor ships but not operated any
It was a twin screw 36000 tonne tanker, story was it was going to be single screw Goterverken but the yard had a cancelled order for six cargo ships and offered the company three twin screw tankers cheap.
Also I was told the company super fiddled with the spec, in the end there were two DC shaft generators that went to a DC sub switchboard driving two DC motors in tandem driving an A/C alternator. One Laval T/A and one diesel on the bottom plates between the shafts, believe it was a national gas eight cyl.
The Stb’d engine had had a small crankcase explosion in the past and the Goterverken explosion doors vented up and had killed a previous 4/E and oiler (or so I was told). There were metal screens around the middles and you had to open a door to go there. No oil mist detectors but detectors on each cylinder consisting of a long rod extending into the crankcase almost touching the crosshead, the other end terminated in an alarm microswitch, if the crosshead touched the rod it would move the switch and sound the alarm.
Three scotch boilers, two economisers and almost no alarms so extra engineers as follows, C/E 2/E, 3/E, electrician and four 4/E’s and three juniors, a 4/E and J/E on each watch and the others on daywork except standbys.
At sea we ran on the T/A and shafts, the Diesel was only used on standby and in port.
My first junior was a nice guy but I was surprised to hear he had been four years in the company but it turned out he had another job ashore and only did one trip per year. After a two month round trip to the gulf we returned to Fawley where we had a crew change and my junior was promoted to 4/E, bit surprised as he was a little lacking in basic knowledge of engines. He was on the 8/12 and I was on the 12/4. After about ten days at sea I came to the E/R at midnight and saw the micro switch on No.6 unit Stb’d engine was clicking and moving, I asked the 4/E how long it had been like that and who had he called, he answered about an hour but it was ok as no alarm. I urgently told him to go and get the 2/E and I phoned the bridge and began slowing down the Stb’d engine, the 2/E turned up after about five minutes, took one look and jut stopped the engine.
Called the day workers down and after one hour opened the crankcase door to see the white metal ousing out from the crosshead bearing. I stayed down until 8:00 when the other 4/E came down as if everything was ok
On the way back from the gulf second time and quite a few problems the T/A became unreliable so we ran the Diesel with the shafts, then noticed the governor was sluggish, you had to bring the cycles up to 63 before starting a compressor and drop them to 57 before stopping it.
Getting close to the cape I was coming down at midnight I asked the 4/E (same guy) I was relieving who was welding down aft and he said no one it’s the D/G, I ran down to look and there were arcs jumping on the slip rings, I asked who had he told and he said no one. Only phone went to the bridge or the C/E so I told the 4/E to run up and call the lecky and the 2/E.
The lecky came down first, took one look and said stop it, I said we will black out so I ran to the T/A and tried to start it, pumping up the oil pressure first but when you reached for the steam valve the pressure dropped so the interlock stopped it opening, finally the 3/E turned up and we got it on.
The lecky then filed the slip rings and the arcing stopped and the lecky found he had spare slip rings but the T/A decided to stop behaving so a decision was made (well above my pay grade) that the next time the Diesel acted up we would black out and fit the spare slip rings.
With the D/G running all the time the oil pressure was dropping due to diesel dilution, I think that with only the one D/G staff had been afraid to do the services required, I was given the job of dumping the sump to the bilge until low level then topping up with new oil and the pressure recovered, this was every 24 hours.
As luck would have it a couple of days later on the 12/04 watch early morning the lights almost went out so I phoned the bridge and the C/E, after about 20 minutes blackout.
All the engineering staff were walking down the E/R, I started singing “hello darkness my old friend” which did not go down well, the repairs were slow but finally the new slip rings were fitted and the 3/E went to start the D/G but low air pressure, the emergency compressor was in the workshop waiting for spares, The C/E said open half the indicator cocks and it just started, the open cock were closed and staff go to put D/G on the board which it does ok but the D/G has a separate S/W cooling pump and when it is started from the switchboard the starter box in the switchboard catches fire, put out with Co2 then lecky in rubber gloves moves the cables to a spare box and cooling working.
Main engine started just in time as bridge were calling that we were drifting on shore.
We continued to Las Palmas where we got a man from Laval who started by reading our instruction book and getting the dayworkers to do all the checks they had already done again when he finally said he did not know what was wrong.
The C/E told the captain he could not be sure of the ship passing the channel so we entered Falmouth bay and a riding squad from the dry dock came out, also the super and another C/E who was on his way to be a super. The riding squad found the problem was in the T/A rotor, they also found that the rotor in the shaft gen was identical so they were swapped and the old T/A one sent ashore.
As this was going on they fitted a new governor to the D/G, I was given a job of fitting a new gauge glass to the aux condenser so i entered the store to get parts, our C/E and the super were standing in the other aisle talking, as I got my parts I heard the super say “when I sailed as C/E on here we had a spare governor” he was standing with one foot on a wood box, he looked down and asked “what’s in this box* it was the spare governor!
We sailed with the T/A and D/G working and no more problems, I got off at the discharge port in Sweden feeling happy to get off.
True story as I remember it but not going to mention the ships name


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## gordonarfur (May 27, 2018)

Hi Bob that recalcitrant motorman (greaser) you mentioned was probably the same guy that had the row with the 2/E on the Wainui and held her up in Auckland for 84 days thus losing even more jobs for his union as USS canned that run shortly thereafter..


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## RobHillier (Jan 24, 2007)

*More on the Navua*

I remember the Navua well, I was a Radio Officer seconded ashore in Wellington and was sent down to Evans Bay to calibrate the DF and hand the ship over to her new owners , I think it was Guan Guan of Singapore, they renamed her "King Horse". I got in trouble with your Mr Douglas as I had let them load the spare prop. I think a certain super had his eye on it for other reasons. She was sold in 1971 and she wasn't broken up until 85 (lasted 30 years). Rumor has it that the eastern owners liked buying USSCO tonnage as they were always in good nick down below.


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## mrcruisine (Oct 10, 2010)

spongebob said:


> This is a re post of a thread 12 years ago which i thought might invite or incite stories of similar experiences
> 
> 
> Warming through,
> ...


You might also need to a few other things from memory, drilled into me by the 4th when I was a junior in Bankline and not forgotten after 45 years
Check air start reservoirs full and drain off any water in them
Bleed through the injectors, as engines normally on MDO during manuevering. 
Do a steering gear check with one of the mates
Using turning gear and turn over the engine and then disengage (usually had a Turn Gear Engaged Sign on the start lever as a warning
Do a telegraph check with the mate
Put another generator or 2 on the board if only on one, depending on when cargo work stopped
Check engine warming through is correct temperature, usually manually doing this on cooler bypass valve
Open engine indicator cocks and when standby is rung turn over engine on air and then close cocks
Purge DO day tank and HO day tanks, make sure up to temp ready for changeover at full away
We also had a movement book in Bankline, record exact time when each movement is telegraphed down so get that ready with a sharp pencil
Send the oiler or donkeyman to get a brew on while we wait


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## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

No Gordon, not him, this bloke was a young Irishman who couldn't hold his booze and as we did not have a dayworker motorman to take his place and neither of the other two watch keepers were willing to help him he had to carry the can .
It was the second that found him asleep while I was locked in the tunnel.
With short crews it was important to stay on-side with your mates for occasions like this!

Bob


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## Scotch Boiler (Sep 18, 2011)

Good story, Bob, I sailed on a few "slow greens" after I left the Wahine.
The name of the bicycle pump gadget for sounding the fuel tanks was The Pneumercator.


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