Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), November 1910, p. 458

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458 the oiler found it. In steel ships a . fractured tube rarely leads to more than the filling of the peak, but if sluices are fitted and not closed the after hold of course fills also; a gland failure on the other hand floods the after hold compartment directly. In ships intended for work in heavy 'ice, as with all cross-lake car-ferries, it is also a common practice to fit one or more large sea-cocks well aft to provide injection water for the condensers because they are less lia- ble to become choked with ice than those further forward, and broken sea cocks and nozzles are also not by any means unknown. The giving way of three deadlights in a seaway is open to some question unless it is to be believed that they were miserably defective. Pere Mar- quette 18 was no experiment, how- ever, and embodied the experience of any. intimation of what befell. "TRE Marine REVIEW a number of earlier ships built for hard work in winter gales and drift- ing and pack ice and that her water line fittings were of such a flimsy na- ture is not credible. Even if the lenses were stove in the blind shut- ters should have been sufficient. They were not stove by the boats along- side, nor by wreckage from the jet- tisoned cars because it was not until after they were said to have given way that either boats or cars were put overboard. Undoubtedly the bulkhead did give way, probably due in part to some surging of the water in the after. hold caused by the sea running at the time. The case is unique, in the history of lake navigation at least, in that while other' ships have passed out mysteriously they left no soul to give Here, thirty-two people are rescued and yet November, 1910 not one who knows why the Pere Marquette 18 foundered. The West- ern Reserve left one messenger to tell us that she broke in two, but from the Gilcher, Bannockburn, Hud- gon, Ira Owen, Clemson, Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, and others came no word to tell of their last hours. From the Cyprus one man 'came ashore to say that she had taken in water through her hatches. Of all these, that of the Bannock- burn is the most baffling. The others had to fight for their lives in heavy weather; she disappeared in cloudless, calm summer, without a trace. Built for ocean service, of the well known and tried tramp type, she came to the lakes. and was. swallowed without time to get over a boat or for a man to snatch a cork jacket. Surely the inland seas are not without their share of mystery. LAUNCHING THE OLYMPIC White Star line, was launched from _ the yard of Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Ire- land,- om Oct. -» 20. This great triple- Serew 'steamer e¢x- ceeds by nearly 100 ft. in length and 13,000 tons' displacement any other ship afloat. Her principal dimensions are: Weemoth Over salle icc 6 cto sate oe ors 882 ft. 6 in. Brent 2OVeh Ae. sai cec css sos 92 ft. 6 in. Breadth "over boat deck.......... 94 ft Height from bottom of keel to boat GCs eee. cca es 3 0 97 ft. 4 in. Height from bottom of keel to Captains. HOUSE: <2... ee. cy. 105 ft. 7 in. Height of funnels above casing:. 72 ft. Height of funnels above boat deck 81 ft. 6in. Distance from top of funnel to keel 175 ft. Number of steel decks..::........ 11 Number of- watertight bulkheads. 15 poo LAUNCHING THE HE -Olympic, of. the . The launching weight, about 27,000 tons, was transferred from land to water, and this operation, always (in spite of long erperience). a matter of anxiety 'to those responsible, was naturally, in the case of such a vessel, an under- taking of unusual importance. The method of launching, however, was one of the simplest imaginable, the vessel being held on the ways by hy- draulic triggers only requiring to be released by the opening of a valve in order to let the vast structure glide into the water. Besides being the largest and heavi- est vessel ever launched, the "Olym- OLYMPIC. the heaviest weight ever. pic" is undoubtedly also the strongest. Both in design and workmanship this has been kept in view, and the most approved structural arrangements sug- gested by the ripest experience have been adopted, and every mechanical device requisitioned to secure this end. Never before in the history of ship- building have such elaborate means been employed,.or such a combination of science, invention and skill in the production of a ship; nothing has been. left to chance; everything has been carefully thought out and_ skillfully planned, down to the most minute de- tails, and from keel to truck the "Olympic" will be as perfect as hu- man ingenuity and skill and the most powerful appliances can make a ves- sel. The double bottom, extending the whole length of the vessel, 5 ft. 3 in. deep (increased under the recipro- cating engine room to 6 ft. 3 in), the massive beams and close framing, the large shell plates, the steel decks and watertight bulkheads combine to make a structure of exceptional strength and rigidity. The hydraulic riveting in the vessel is also an important fac- tor, the whole of the shell plating up to the turn of the bilge being riveted by hydraulic power, and an immense amount of this riveting having also been carried out in other parts of the vessel--shell, top sides, decks, string- ers, etc. The rivets were closed by means of the powerful 7-ton riveting machines suspended from the traveling frames on the gantry; and while mak- ing the sound, tight connection so es- sential in this mighty hull, the rivets studding the shell plating present a

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