add, typically dirty. But if you’d like to see the engines...
‘The boiler rooms, too, if you do not object,’ Holmes insisted. ‘In fact, it would be most helpful to my knowledge of the ship’s operations to speak to some of your stokers.’
‘Stokers!’ Bell exclaimed. ‘Those boys only know one thing – how to feed coal into a furnace.’ The chief engineer was clearly insulted. ‘Now,if you want to know about the engines, I know every nut and bolt...’
‘Mr Bell...’ The chief engineer stopped short at the sound of the captain’s voice. ‘Please lead the way to the turbine engine room.’
‘Yes, sir. This way, gentlemen.’
Holding tightly onto the handrail, I followed Bell down a flight of metal steps onto the lower deck of the electrical station. We passed two of the four electrical engines, and then stepped through yet another watertight door. The roar of the dynamos was nothing when compared to the almost deafening sound we encountered in the next room. There, we found the ship’s huge turbine engine, tirelessly turning the shaft that rotated the ship’s centre propeller. A crew member stood next to it, squirting oil through an open panel.
‘As you know, the Titanic is a triple-screw steamer,’ said Bell. ‘The central propeller is driven by this Parsons low-pressure turbine. Both of the two wing propellers are driven by a set of reciprocating engines, which are in the next compartment down. This combination of engines is relatively new, first used on the Laurentic. It allows us to take steam from the reciprocating engines and gain additional power by running it through the low-pressure turbine.’
‘It is enormous!’ I said.
‘Yes, indeed, Doctor Watson,’ Bell replied. ‘The entire turbine unit weighs no less than 420 tons. The rotor is twelve feet in diameter and more than thirteen feet long...’
Holmes took his watch from his coat pocket and checked the time. The captain took this as a signal.
‘Thank you, Mr Bell. Now let us move along to the reciprocating engine room... Gentlemen, I think you will find our next destination even more interesting. It is the heart of the ship’s propulsion system. And there is no one better qualified to describe it than my chief engineer.’
Bell, smiling at this vote of confidence from the captain, again tookthe lead, and opened the door to the next compartment. And, without fail, the progression of louder and louder whirring and rumblings of machinery continued. It is difficult to imagine how the upper decks remained so quiet and peaceful. We were now in the rough underside of this floating palace – an area that few passengers were invited to see.
‘Here they are, gentlemen, the reciprocating engines,’ Bell continued. As you can see, there are four of them – two on each side. They are designed to take steam at 215 pounds per square inch – much, much greater than the turbine you just saw. Each cylinder is ninety-seven inches in diameter, and the heaviest cylinder, with liner, weighs fifty tons.’
Three crewmen passed through on their way to the turbine engine room. One had a beard, but it was light brown.
‘Any questions, Commodore, Doctor Watson?’ asked the captain.
Holmes shook his head. His arms were folded in front of him and he was glancing about the room impatiently. I decided that this was not the time to expand my knowledge of nautical engineering.
‘Very well,’ said the captain. ‘Mr Bell, proceed to the Number 1 boiler room.’
The boiler room was much as I had envisaged it. Stokers were lined up shovelling coal from a bin into the fiery open doors of the furnaces. It was hot, sweaty, grimy work. The stokers, covered in coal dust, did their jobs mechanically, perhaps thinking of home, or looking forward to an evening drink with their shipmates before retiring to their bunks. A few, on noticing the captain and chief engineer, firmed up their posture and shovelled more vigorously.
‘This is one of six boiler
‘The boiler rooms, too, if you do not object,’ Holmes insisted. ‘In fact, it would be most helpful to my knowledge of the ship’s operations to speak to some of your stokers.’
‘Stokers!’ Bell exclaimed. ‘Those boys only know one thing – how to feed coal into a furnace.’ The chief engineer was clearly insulted. ‘Now,if you want to know about the engines, I know every nut and bolt...’
‘Mr Bell...’ The chief engineer stopped short at the sound of the captain’s voice. ‘Please lead the way to the turbine engine room.’
‘Yes, sir. This way, gentlemen.’
Holding tightly onto the handrail, I followed Bell down a flight of metal steps onto the lower deck of the electrical station. We passed two of the four electrical engines, and then stepped through yet another watertight door. The roar of the dynamos was nothing when compared to the almost deafening sound we encountered in the next room. There, we found the ship’s huge turbine engine, tirelessly turning the shaft that rotated the ship’s centre propeller. A crew member stood next to it, squirting oil through an open panel.
‘As you know, the Titanic is a triple-screw steamer,’ said Bell. ‘The central propeller is driven by this Parsons low-pressure turbine. Both of the two wing propellers are driven by a set of reciprocating engines, which are in the next compartment down. This combination of engines is relatively new, first used on the Laurentic. It allows us to take steam from the reciprocating engines and gain additional power by running it through the low-pressure turbine.’
‘It is enormous!’ I said.
‘Yes, indeed, Doctor Watson,’ Bell replied. ‘The entire turbine unit weighs no less than 420 tons. The rotor is twelve feet in diameter and more than thirteen feet long...’
Holmes took his watch from his coat pocket and checked the time. The captain took this as a signal.
‘Thank you, Mr Bell. Now let us move along to the reciprocating engine room... Gentlemen, I think you will find our next destination even more interesting. It is the heart of the ship’s propulsion system. And there is no one better qualified to describe it than my chief engineer.’
Bell, smiling at this vote of confidence from the captain, again tookthe lead, and opened the door to the next compartment. And, without fail, the progression of louder and louder whirring and rumblings of machinery continued. It is difficult to imagine how the upper decks remained so quiet and peaceful. We were now in the rough underside of this floating palace – an area that few passengers were invited to see.
‘Here they are, gentlemen, the reciprocating engines,’ Bell continued. As you can see, there are four of them – two on each side. They are designed to take steam at 215 pounds per square inch – much, much greater than the turbine you just saw. Each cylinder is ninety-seven inches in diameter, and the heaviest cylinder, with liner, weighs fifty tons.’
Three crewmen passed through on their way to the turbine engine room. One had a beard, but it was light brown.
‘Any questions, Commodore, Doctor Watson?’ asked the captain.
Holmes shook his head. His arms were folded in front of him and he was glancing about the room impatiently. I decided that this was not the time to expand my knowledge of nautical engineering.
‘Very well,’ said the captain. ‘Mr Bell, proceed to the Number 1 boiler room.’
The boiler room was much as I had envisaged it. Stokers were lined up shovelling coal from a bin into the fiery open doors of the furnaces. It was hot, sweaty, grimy work. The stokers, covered in coal dust, did their jobs mechanically, perhaps thinking of home, or looking forward to an evening drink with their shipmates before retiring to their bunks. A few, on noticing the captain and chief engineer, firmed up their posture and shovelled more vigorously.
‘This is one of six boiler
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