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UPKEEP OF A LINER, Care of Hull, Superstructure and Decks F ALL the structures built by O man, a ship is the most sub- ject to the rayages of wear and tear, and wind and weather. Take the case of a modern liner leaving the port of New York for a winter voyage—spick and span with paint and polish, and looking like a yacht. She encounters bad weather during which she rolls and pitches, strains and labors for five or six days. Rust spots break out in a thousand different places; funnel smoke and fumes are sucked inboard on the lee side blackening decks and_ paint- work; her funnels are encrusted with salt from the driving spray; her can- vas gear is slack and flapping about like a lot of old rags, and She ar- rives in port resembling nothing bet- ter than a rusty old tramp. No sooner is she in berth than the erew and shore gang get busy with paint, hoses, suji-muji (sSeaman’s name for a mixture of washing soda and water), scrubbers, holystones, sand and canvas, brass polish and sundry other cleaning gear, and in a couple of days she is again spick and span, and ready to go through the same drubbing on the return voyage. And so it goes on throughout the year, with probably a few fine weath- er voyages during the summer. Care in Upkeep Important Now this constant endeavor to keep ships clean and in good condition is a very important matter to the ship- owner, not only to check undue de- terioration but because smart look- ing ships are a good advertisement in themselves. To maintain a fleet of ships is a problem that demands close co-operation between the super- intendents who control the activities of the shore gangs, and the officers whose duty it is to keep the ships clean throughout the yoyage, for only in this way can expenses be kept down to a reasonable figure so neces- sary in ship operation today. For the purposes of this article, it will be convenient to consider a fair- ly general type of ship, and infer- ences may be drawn from it to suit larger or smaller types as may be desired. We will take a vessel of 15,000 tons gross, built to carry 1000 passengers, 240 crew, 8000 The author, Commander J. G. Bisset, R. D. R. N. R., is master of the Cunard liner R. M. S. Ascanra and was formerly staff captain of the R. M. S. AQUITANIA. tons cargo, with a speed of 16 knots on a consumption of 100 tons of oil fuel per day. She belongs to a line of long standing and is engaged on a regular trade between United States and Great Britain, each complete voyage taking about 28 days, which includes 4 days in port at each end. She averages 12 voyages a year and hag an annual layup of 4 weeks. About three months before the layup, the chief officer is required to hand in lists of repairs and other work which is needed, in order to enable the marine superintendent and his staff to prepare an estimate for submission to the management. This estimate is invariably too high, and the manager having cut it down to what he considers a fair figure, the superintendent is faced ‘with the problem of cutting out the less important items—a _ difficult business when everything is crying aloud for attention. A Complete Overhauling During the layup, and subject to the above mentioned limitations, re- pair jobs that have accumulated throughout the year, without inter- fering with the safe or efficient run- ning of the ship, are taken in hand. The ship is placed in drydock, and all underwater repairs are carried out. The bottom is scrubbed as the water is slowly lowered in the dock, and this should be given careful at- tention if the subsequent painting is to be efficacious. Chipping and scal- ing must be done where required and coated with red lead, after which a coat of anti-corrosive paint followed by a coat of anti-fouling are applied to the whole under water portion. In the vicinity of the propellers, a third protective coating of some par- ticular preparation such as Apexior is applied as a general precaution against pitting. The cables are ranged in the bottom of the dock, and the shackle pins driven out for survey of a representative of Lloyds or American Bureau of Shipping de- pending on the vessel’s classification. The cable lockers are then scaled and painted. i In the wet dock, all boats are low- ered into the water for annual sur- vey, and the small gear put into good order. Cargo gear is tested in ac- cordance with the provisions of the factory act, if the vessel is British or the steamboat inspection if Amer- MARINE REVIEW—January, 1934 BY J. Gy, BisoeE! ican. The ship is fumigated, special attention being paid to crew’s quar- ters and store room. Decks are caulked where required, holds cleaned out and hatches put in good Shape. Chipping and scaling in bad places round the decks is taken in hand, and the whole ship gets a coat of paint. Deck houses are washed, rough places smoothed over with painters’ cement, and given a flatting coat followed by a coat of good enamel. In the meantime similar activity has prevailed in the engine room and passenger quarters, so that when the ship puts to sea after a layup, she is in first class condition, and she serves aS an inducement to the of- ficers to keep her that way. Before sailing the superintendent will discuss with the officers the work that has been done and that. which has been left undone, and ar- range if possible to have it completed while the ship is in commission. Once the ship is running, no shore gang labor is employed in outside ports, and it is reduced to a mini- mum in the home port. During the four days in the home port the great majority of the crew are paid off and go to their homes, so that a few shore gangs are necessary for tend- ing moorings, taking in stores, touch- ing up overside, washing decks and paint-work, and generally having the ship ckean and smart for the embar- kation of passengers. Work Done at Sea At sea, the crew work in two watches, and little more can be done than keep the ship clean and carry out general routine. If passengers. are on board, all decks are washed down every night, care being taken to avoid disturbing passengers by the banging of brooms or hoses on the deck or undue talking or shouting on the part of the men engaged. Holystoning is only undertaken on those parts of the decks that are not immediately over passengers’ cabins. A certain amount of painting can be carried out at sea, providing it is well out of reach of the nimblest passengers, and not offensive on ac- count of Smell in confined spaces. Such items as boats and davits, der- ricks, and general overhead work are generally undertaken at sea. In bad weather when work is im- possible on deck, scaling and paint- 19