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Equipped Nine RetrigeratorShips or Transporting Frozen Meat to France Nine Ships Were Command- eered and Fitted Out With Insulating Material and Cooling Coils O transport huge quantities of [ food overseas to feed the troops on the fighting lines of France was one of the vital problems that confronted the country in the early days of the war. At the out- break of the war on Germany, the Baltimore Dry Docks & Shipbuilding Co., Baltimore, was building 10 ves- sels for private owners, of about 6400 'deadweight tons each. These vessels were 340 feet long, 49-foot beam and had a depth of 28 feet 6 inches. They were promptly requisitioned by the shipping board. These ships were originally designed to be used for general cargo, but in view of the urgent need for refrigerator vessels to carry frozen meat to France, the com- pany was directed to equip nine of them with refrigerating machinery and to insulate the cargo holds in order that refrigerated cargoes could be car- ried in them. In this refrigeration system am- monia gas is compressed and pumped through ammonia pipes to the con- densers. Here the gas is cooled by water, which circulates around the pipes. This ammonia gas is then forced through pipes to the brine coolers where it has plenty of room to expand, after which it is returned to the ammonia condensers. made of a saturated solution of salt, which will not freeze until it reaches .4 temperature of about 50 degrees be- low zero. is, of course, a cooling process and it is this expansion which absorbs heat from the brine until it is reduced to a temperature of zero, Fahr., or Possibly lower. The cold brine is Pumped from the brine coolers to the different parts of the ship through a large system of 134-inch brine cooling coils. These coils are fitted in differ- ent circuits all over the sides, bulk- heads and under the decks and cargo holds of the ship. In all there are about 73,000 lineal feet, 'or between a REG 13 and 14 miles of cooling coils on one vessel. In order that a uniformly low tem- perature could be maintained at all times and to prevent the escape of the cold air generated by the refrigerating apparatus, it was necessary to in- sulate all cargo hatches, decks, etc. The fact that the nine vessels to be refrigerated were built on the iongi- tudinal system of framing made it rather difficult to fit the insulation. The holds were insulated with granu- lated and sheet cork, which expérience has shown to be an excellent material tor marine insulation work. On these vessels the sides of the ships were insulated by bolting frame strips to and flush with the channel frames, then applying a course of %- inch tongue and grooved pine and filling the space between the pine and the ship's shell plating with granu- lated cork, well packed in between the longitudinal channels. To the face of the sheathing was applied one layer of insulated paper and two layers of 2-inch cork-board; then one course of %-inch pine and a finishing course of %-inch spruce, with two layers of paper Brine is The expansion of the gas | en ad ; | 1 Deck J + _ ' 5 { \ , ; Granulated Cork' x 7 ed hering Stips Crap ioted Cork : [itty sbeitee Furring Siripe eh J Gore Boarg : Hire 607n Svora 75 Seas hed Cor L af t Nore puiars\to be Insulated 1 thas 3 Cork Board Licept 476 See t10N SHOWING mir vt TNSULATION OF Cranuieted Corw Oi ihs4 | € Core Boond | >. IF Cork / Piccars * ---- between. This made the total thick- ness of insulation on the sides of the ship of from 15 to 18 inches. The decks and bulkheads were insulated in a similar manner, except that on the lower deck one layer of 3-inch 'cork- board was fitted instead of two layers of 2-inch. The tank top was insulated by laying grounds on it and then a layer of -inch pine with a 2-inch and 3-inch layer of sheet cork, to- gether with insulating paper between and on top of the layers. Another layer of pine was placed on top of this, then two layers of insulating paper, and the finishing layer of spruce. Portable insulated hatch cov- ers were fitted in the hatchways of the upper and lower decks in sections ap- proximately four inches wide. These portable hatches were made of hard- wood framing and were insulated with about 6 inches of corkboard, sealed on top and bottom with one layer of. %-inch pine, one layer of 7%-inch spruce and two layers of paper be- tween. The hatch coamings were fitted with hardwood wedge-shaped timbers, faced with ¢-inch galvanized steel as a protection against damage in handling cargo. Ventilators for the cargo holds and 'tween decks were fitted with in- sulated plugs, so that while the vessel was carrying refrigerated cargo, the ventilators could be entirely removed, and while carrying general cargo on the return trip the insulating plug could be taken out, the ventilator cowls put in place and the holds prop- erly ventilated. The specification requirements were: that when the job was completed and ready for test the machinery be run continuously for .24 hours, during which \time the' refrigerated spaces. should be reduced to a temperature of i5 degrees Fahr. Upon actual test, the temperature in the holds was: brought down to between 5 and & degrees Fahr. and on one of the No 4 Iween Deck Space No, 4 told No 3 Iween Deck Space No 3 oro Shatt Tunnel -Saloon Gulley Ergine. Room Auxiliary Coa/ Bunker louse Perrigeraring No 2 Tween Deck No. & (old No./ Tween Deck Space No./ Hold LONGITUDINAL SECTION SHOWING REFRIGERATING INSULATION ILLUSTRATION IS A MIDSHIP SECTION SHOWING H 417 AND HOLD CAPACITIES IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE LOWER VIEW WHILE THE UPPER OW THE INSULATION WAS APPLIED