# Federal line



## Les Gibson (Apr 24, 2004)

In the early 60s I was sailing on ore carriers into Newport and Cardiff. I visited a Federal line passenger ship in Newport which had 2 main engines but was only single screw. The engineers told me that when they were manoeuvring they ran one engine ahead and one astern, engaging the one to suit the movement through an electro-magnetic clutch. Can anyone tell me which ship this was, and was this a common system on other ships/companies?


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## Mike S (Dec 27, 2005)

She could be one of a number of vessels under the Federal/NZS flag. I served on Northumberland and she had two 8 cyl Sulzers which ran at quite high RPM (Around 280 rpm I think) and they were linked to a single shaft through magnetic couplings.
The stbd engine was stopped and run astern when manoeuvring which meant that there was a reduced amount of power astern but quick response. I seem to recall that there were about 8 ships in the fleets with this system. The idea was to get the efficiency of the single screw and the power of two engines. These ships had to run long distances at fairly high service speeds and it was an attempt to get the best of both worlds. It proved to be troublesome and by the end of the fifties the larger Sulzers then available allowed them to go back to a single large slow running engine and a single screw. Much more simple and reliable.
We are talking close on 50 to 60 years ago now and marine diesels today are a quantum leap from those days. By the way all of these ships were cargo only......the Rangi's were all based out of London and were twin screw.
Hope this helps.


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## BeerSailor (Oct 18, 2006)

Les,
Cornwall, Surrey, Middlesex, Essex, Northumberland & Otaki were the vessels fitted with this engine layout, none of them were passenger ships. You will find several discussions on this in postings under the various ships above.
regards
Brian


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## Les Gibson (Apr 24, 2004)

Beersailor, and Mike S,
Many thank's. Jogged the old memory a bit, I think it was the Middlesex.
Regards, Les


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