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Maneuvering impressions

9K views 41 replies 24 participants last post by  sidsal 
#1 ·
Would be interested to hear views of engineers as to their most pleasurable experience when maneuvering main engines. To me nothing ever beat the feeling of handling the movements of the big triple on SS Maihar, turbines were OK but only sign of movement was the rotation of a small indicator arrow denoting the shaft speed. never had the pleasure(?) of operating a crash wallop bang of a grease driven engine but am sure there was a thrill there also. Lets be hearing from you.
 
#2 ·
Like yourself a VTE does it for me, getting it rocking across the HP TDC anticipating the next movement order. The very fact that the ST and the Diesel Engine are enclosed did not give that same feeling even though you had more power under your control.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Mangla------

------was my most "satisfactory" re. manoeuvring.

Being "centre-stage" with those massive, vertical, chromed "wheels" and being master-of-all-you-surveyed was absolutely "it"!

MY main, particular, piece-de-resistance, was being able to go from "Full Ahead", "Stop", "Full Astern" whilst keeping the water-level in the two Foster-Wheeler ESD's hardly changing. (Quite some feat as anyone who has had to "control" water-levels in a water-tube boiler will agree, I'm sure!!).

By judicious "playing" with the wheels this "static" water-level was quite an achievement!

Keeping the bloke, on the air-vane controls "on-the-ball" too, so as to keep the amount of smoke coming from the funnel as little as possible was also a matter of pride.

I think my "finest-hour" came after a particularly "cramped" entry into Kidderpore.

"Pem", (One of Brock's finest, a gentlemen through and through!), was skipper and he sought me out after we'd shut-down and were having the usual post-shut-down severlteen Tennents.

"I believe you were manoeuvring, Phil", he said, "I'd just like to congratulate you on some fine work! Our berth had to be reached via a lot of other ships and barges. The engine movements were first class!".

Maybe not as dramatic as a massive "up-and-downer" but still a "joy" to control that engine and those boilers.

Without a doubt "Mangla" and "Mathura! were the absolute zenith in steam-ship construction! Salaams, Phil(Hippy)
 
#5 ·
Oddly enough the thing that I noted that seemed to give most trouble to some engineers was the knack of stopping the fast spinning reversing engine wheel on the correct spot to allow full opening of the traverse gear, or knowing when to let go the wheel if the reversing engine was on TDC and it had to manually coaxed a bit.
 
#6 ·
Standing on the top plates, first movement rang kick over air only indicator cocks screaming, all clear indicator cocks closed hammering on the plates to signal ready. Next movement two seven cylinder H&W-B&W opposed pistons start a dance like a graph of a sine wave never to be forgotten.
 
#8 · (Edited)
WHAT a cracking phrase!!!

"Like a graph of a sine wave".

Poetry, sheer poetry!

I DO hope the phrase is yours Bill----something to be proud of!!!

Incidentally I think you can see quite a selection of big diesels working on YouTube-----------just try entering, "Starting MAN B&W engine", in your search-engine. I think you should get some "memory-jerking" there!!!! Salaams, Phil(Hippy)
 
#7 ·
Something that used to puzzle me on the coast, was the engineroom calling the bridge during docking ,to inform them(the Bridge) that they only had enough air left for one more(or maybe it was two)moves,did they not have big enough compressors, for the reserve to stay ahead of the demand? this was with Polar Atlas engines
 
#11 ·
Was it in here I saw the term 'I could start that (motor) engine with a butterfly's fart' One of my favourites(Jester)

My moments on the plates, Brisbane on the Ixion, 1st trip junior, thought I was getting a real treat working the wheels, little did I know we were turning the ship before going alongside. I came out the engine room with knuckles dragging.

Texaco's two Doxford 6cyl 760LB were fun too. The T. Durham was well behaved, but not the Gloucester, fuel timing out so she could start ahead when you'd wanted astern!

One anecdote I like was of a chief who would appear on the bridge and inform the docking pilot that the compressors were ******, and he'd give him 14 starts then ring FWE!
 
#13 ·
My first voyage, a coastal trip on the SS Cotopaxi as second leckie meant I did the move book, hadn't a clue what was going on. the second Macateer used to wander off round the engine room during pauses in the action and I was scared stiff not knowing what to do if the telegraph rang. One gets usee to it after a while until I had to stand in for one of the junior engineers in the boiler room. That was fun! It was a case of beer if the low or high levels went off or the pressure dropped to low. At least you could stand under a blowwer while waiting and cool off a little.
Cheers,
Nick Jones
 
#17 ·
On voyage 69 of the MAIHAR to which Mr Pottinger refers, I was a deck apprentice on her and we sailed from Taranto in the heel of Italy ( after bringing coal form Lourenco Marques) and joined a cpnvoy in the Malta Channel bound for the USA. We were completely light ship snad it was intended to go to Casablanc for sand ballast. However this didn't happen and we carried on with the convoy. We were in the centre column. WQe encountered heavy weather and she rolled and pitched badly. When she pitched and the flopped down on the sea, the flat bottom caused us to think we were torpedoed and so we all slept in our clothes. She rolled her condenser intake on the turn of the bilge out of the water thus loosing the vacuum ( I'm told). The engine then had to be shut down.. This made us a menace for the other ships and we were put in the rear centre column - the last ship in the row.
During the night the stops were frequent and when the we started again the captain ordered full ahead as he feared being left behind.
I was on the 4 to 8 in the morning and when I went on the bridge I was told to keep a sharp lookout ahead for the convoy which wasn't in sight. As dawn broke a dark shape appeared close-to and I shouted tot the mate and he and the captain (Bill Jeans) came rushing to the side. It was an American destroyer - small thing with 4 funnels. There was an exchange of talk through the megaphones . The captain asked how far ahead to the convoy. TheYankee drawl came back and said - " You are five miles ahead of the convoy Captain. We are the forward outer escort"
We had sailed right through the convoy in the cark without seeing anything. As it got light we could see the ships astern and some smoke.
Philadelphia was a great reward for us lads - free beer etc at the MN club. The convoy back to the UK was one of the largest - over 100 ships and we arrived in the Mersey on D Day !
 
#18 ·
#17

Thank you, Sid. Having been in my pram at the time of the events which you describe I can only repeat my thanks for the things which you did; and which enabled me to enjoy life as I have done.

That enjoyment has included much experience of engine-movements (the subject of this thread); and my own observation in that regard is that, on the bridge, nothing concentrates the mind quite like a warning that "There are only two starts left"!

Repeated thanks & best wishes,

Barrie
 
#19 ·
Barrie
Thanks for nice words !
The sound of an up and down reciprocating engine is great. I used occasionally to go half way down the ladder to the engine room and watch fascinated as they lubricated the pistons with their long oil cans - matching the rise and fall.
I can also remember the shout down the engine room - "pina ca panni pump chelow" ( spelling) _ - put the freshwater pump on .
One Brock ship ( turbine) was subject of a tale when she was berting in a pier in NY. The US pilot seemed more brash and sped in when Brits would proceed slowly. It was said that the ship was going quite fast into the berth with the dock wall ahead. Pilot says - "Full astern captain - she is reciprocating engine isn't she" - "No - turbine pilot"
"O sh*t " says the pilot as she proceeded to bend her bow severely on the dock.
Don't know how true !!
 
#20 ·
Sounds entirely plausible.

I remember entering Gladsone Lock with a turbine steamer. Romney, I think, or certainly something in Lamport & Holt colours, with a huge funnel.

We are lined up, committed, and on the final approach.

"Stop her!" say I.

"Pilot", says the Master, " If you think that the next movement might be astern, it would be a good idea to order Dead Slow Astern, now, just to give the general idea................"

And so we do.
 
#23 ·
My first command and first departure from the port where I took over the ship.
Pilot kept asking, "Are you sure everything is ready Captain?"
I thought to myself that this is one nervous nellie!

First movement after letting go - Slow ahead.
I looked at the telegraph and there it was standing proudly at FWE!
I had forgotten to ring stand by!

A feeling of horror spread over me and with my stomach churning we rang Slow Ahead.
And then, the familiar and reassuring sound, Choof, thump, thump, thump as the doxford sprang into life.

Chief Engineer came to my cabin as soon as we rang full away and with a big grin on his face said, "You owe me a case of beer"
 
#26 ·
Having the bells so fast that only every third bell was answered. After giving going to Bridge Control on a steam ship maneuvering went back to Engine Room Control since it took longer to maneuver when the Bridge was in control. No matter how many times you would tell them Stop just closes the valves. You have to put the throttle on ZERO RPM to stop the shaft.

Joe
 
#27 ·
I am not an engineer but sympathise with those who had to keep some marine junk going. I spent a year on a tanker - the F J WOLFE which had rogue MAN (twin screw) engines. I joined her at Barrow in 1946 (or7) where German engineers from the MAN works in Germany were working on hydrogen peroxide propulsion for submarines - (superseded by atomic power of course). We sailed after 3 months and the engines were as bad as ever and broke down continuously. We had the 2 red lights and 2 black balls permanently rove ( signals for "not under command"). We would be 2 or 3 weeks in various ports whilst the engineers struggled to repair the engines. On one occasion we had to go to the assistance of a sister ship - the D J HARPER which wallowed in the Arabian Sea broken down . We rowed over some piston rings.
The WOLFE had a critical speed and in the Suez canal she was regarded with horror by the pilots. We once blocked the canal for several hours after the steering broke down and we ended up across the waterway.
She was built in Germany in he 1930s and was taken over as war reparations by the USA. It is the only ship I sailed on where the deck crew assisted in the engine room to draw pistons to fit new rings. The engineers kept watch in swimming trunks because of the oil spurting all over and biscuit tins were hung here and there.
 
#29 ·
My first trip as Chief was on one of the company’s coastal tankers. I hadn’t sailed on it before, it was also the first time I‘d sailed with a British Polar main engine and engine room control. On departure from a small port in Newfoundland I made sure all was properly prepared and the engine blown ahead and astern before going on Stand-By.
The first order came, I acknowledged the telegraph and the third started the engine ... ...................silence(EEK)........................nothing(EEK)..................!!
Keeping a cool head I phoned the bridge and explained the problem to the Old Man and suggested that he keep a line ashore while we attended to the problem. His reply that all the F***ing ropes were in and we were F***ing drifting wasn’t the considered response I’d been expecting!
Never in the history of Marine Engineering has a starting air distributor been stripped and cleaned so quickly.
In reply to Mr Pottingers question – my most pleasurable experience manoeuvring was the sound of that 9 cylinder British Polar turning over, firing and picking up revs!!!!
For the rest of my career as Chief I think I always had the cleanest and most highly polished starting air distributors in the fleet....possibly afloat!![=P]
John
 
#34 ·
I have posted on this subject a few years ago and now re issue as topical.

Compressed air engine starts


It’s a long haul from Third Mate to Ship’s Master and a wide range of learning to accomplish

but in my memory the skill of ship handling, i.e. maneuvering a ship to or from its berth in a

Harbour was an art form on its own and some masters had it, some slightly less talented.

All the Union steam ship Co’s masters held pilot exemptions for NZ ports and for many of the Australian and Pacific Islands ones also so ship handling by the master in the confinements of a port was a frequent happening. I am referring to the handling of relatively small ships here, say 2000 to 8000 tons gross. Of course, the Inter-Island ferry skippers were like poetry in motion, as are most ferrymen always on a familiar course.
I recall our ship MV NAVUA being berthed on the breastwork in Lyttelton in a tight space and at right angles to the main wharves. We were due to sail that afternoon and were all singled up ready to go when the skipper and the chief engineer arrived back from the company office. The skipper was a dab hand at berthing and sailing with a minimum of telegraph movements so the chief said, “I bet you ten pounds that you can’t get out of here in one engine command movement”
Soon after standby was rung on the engine room telegraph followed by a very long pause then “full ahead” and we were away. The cunning blighter had let go forward and with the advantage of a light off shore breeze and the tensioning of the out board stern mooring line with the winch had managed to screw the ship through 90 degrees by rotating on the stern rubbing strake against the piling until we were pointed to the seaward channel. The full ahead engine movement to get out of the harbour was not foolhardy as we engineers took some time to ease the engine up to full rpm plus time was needed to gain way all of which the skipper well knew.

I can well remember the chief’s sad look as we got the full away signal.

Another time, another ship, the Collier MV Kaitangata, another skipper who was a seasoned sea dog who had commanded the square rigger Pamir in his time. He was a very experienced master but when it came to berthing a motor ship he was a bundle of nerves. He was well known for his extravagant use of engine movements to the detriment of the compressed air supply for engine starts.
We were berthing a collier along side Auckland’s Western wharf against an outgoing tide and a slight head wind and our twin, well worn British Polar engines were repeatedly getting the telegraph message to go “dead slow ahead” –“stop” “dead slow ahead” – “ stop” as we crept and inched our way toward the berth.
We had four air receivers, two normally in service and two as standby but with the high number of engine movements we were well into the second two and the compressor was unable to keep up.
The chief said, “Ring the bridge and tell them we have only half a dozen engine starts left”
The third mate took the message to the skipper who promptly ordered the Mate on the bow to let go an anchor and that was the end of that for a few hours as we swung on the pick only 50 metres off the jetty. It was a Saturday afternoon, the only people on the quay were the Union Co shore staff waiting to take our lines, and on seeing the anchor drop, they packed up and went home. After a few ship to shore messages, a turn of the tide and full air receivers we finally got along side and home that evening.

Another incident aboard MV NAVUA involving maneuvering and engine starts comes to mind and in this instance we were due to sail from Wellington. The main engine had been warmed through and we were all ready to go. Stand by rang on the telegraph and we got ready to follow the practice of giving the engine a jag on air only with the indicator cocks open when the first movement was rung. It normally took the stand- by engineer about ten seconds total to witness a clean blow from the cocks and close them before signaling to the man on the throttle that all was well and bang we were away.
This time I was the man on the tops and as the first movement of “slow astern” clanged, the kick on air was carried and a spurt of water issued from one cock in a solid water-blasting stream that showered both me and those on the plates below. I yelled and waved that we had water in the cylinder and the second took the conservative course of ringing “Finished with engines”. The bridge’s reaction was swift as they rang down to say that they had already cast off and we had drifted into the middle of the basin. “What is wrong, do we drop the pick?” was the urgent question but we answered very quickly by slipping the turning gear into mesh and giving the engine a turn to prove that most of the water had gone and we were able to start on fuel in the nick of time and extricate the ship from an embarrassing moment. It was egg on the face of the engineers and a reminder to turn the engine over with the turning gear just prior to standby and not a few hours before.
The problem later turned out to be serious erosion on the cylinder liner water-side walls and in the area of a sealing ‘O’ ring that allowed water to leak through the cylinder ports but that is another story

Bob
 
#35 ·
The easiest ship to manoeuver engines I was on was USSCo Waimate. She had two 8 cylinder British Polar engines coupled to a single shaft thru magnetic couplings. At stand by one engine was started running ahead ahead and the other running astern. The lecky stood at his console and activated the current to the coupling. The engineer simply fed more fat as required by the telegraph. Never short of air. No thrill, nothing like a quadruple expansion steam engine on the China coast.
 
#37 ·
I like that set up(Thumb) and yes I agree there is nothing like having control of a VQE or in my case a VTE.
I had the feeling which may well be confirmed by Dartskipper? that the Telegraphs fitted in the Engineroom of the vessel he mentions were of the non answering type which is not unusual on smaller vessels.
 
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