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THE WOLVERINE, Some Notes and Reminiscences By CAPT. \W. M. McFARLAND U. S. S. WOLVERINE (formerly MicHIGAN) in the July issue was very interesting and Mr. Bowen de- serves the thanks of all who have any recollection of the old ship for the trouble he has taken to gather the facts and weave them into an attrac- tive story. I wish to add a few points of in- terest and to make one correction. There were three instead of two sets of boilers. The first set was replaced in 1859 by Martin vertical watertube boilers. It was this second set which was replaced in 1892-1893. It would have been a wonderful rec- ord of longevity if the original boilers had lasted almost fifty years. Te. historical sketch of the old Famous Experiments on Steam From an engineer’s point of view, the great event in the history of the MiIcHIGAN (which made her name in- ternationally known) was the famous series of experiments on the expansion of steam conducted by Chief Engineer (afterwards Admiral) B. F. Isher- wood, from November, 1860 to Febru- ary, 1861. These were made to answer experimentally the question as to how far expansion could be carried advan- tageously and with economic gain. Some designers, forgetting that steam is a vapor and not a perfect gas, and also not appreciating the effect of the cylinder surfaces in causing internal condensation, ran away with the idea that expansion might be carried quite far, say five or six times with steam of 25 or 30 pounds gage pressure. Isherwood was a student but very practical and a firm believer in test- ing theory by actual work. His study and observation had convinced him that, with the slow-moving engines of that time and the very moderate pres- sures, the useful economic range was much less, and the going much beyond two expansions would cause an actual loss. In one way the MICHIGAN’S engines were peculiarly adapted for the test. They were fitted with poppet valves actuated by Sickles’ cut-off. This en- abled the point of cut-off to be varied (as I remember) from about one- eighth to three-quarters of the stroke. It was probably this feature that caused the selection of the MICHIGAN ; also, of course, as she was laid up for the winter, it did not divert her from other duty. The experiments showed that, un- der the conditions mentioned above, the point of maximum economy was at about two expansions, and that there was a very distinct loss at the higher ratios. As the greater ratio of expansion meant a larger and heavier engine, there was this addi- tional reason against unduly high ra- tios for marine purposes. So far as I can now recall, these were the first carefully conducted experiments of this kind and they had a maiked ef- fect on design. The older text books on the steam engine always referred to Isherwood’s MIcHIGAN experiments and usually gave abstracts of the re- sults. Any reader who enjoys anti- quarian research will find them re- ported in detail in Isherwood’s Hxperi- mental Researches in Steam Engineer- ing. (Most technical libraries have a set of this work). I was attached to the MICHIGAN as an assistant engineer in the navy, from June, 1882 to July, 1883. While in drydock at Detroit in July of 1882, we fitted a couple of under water valves to provide connections for deck pumps. This was to enable water to be pumped for washing decks, instead of drawing it by buckets, and also to fill the tanks with clean water while in mid-lake. Apparently it had been thought that, as all the lake water was fresh, potable water could be ob- tained even in port. The highly civil- ized (?) method of discharging sew- Capt. W. M. McFarland MARINE REview—August, 1934 age into the lakes had ended such a belief. I remember inspecting the cut- ting of the hull plates for the valve openings and the splendid appearance of the material. It was in fact, as stated, charcoal iron, or in other words fine boilerplate material. It is interesting to note also that the rivet heads were all conical. Possibly the work was betore the days of counter- sunk flush riveting. (I wasn’t enough of an antiquarian in those days to go back over the records and indeed had no opportunity). It would be interesting to one who could consult a complete file of Navy Registers to go over the list of officers who have served on the MICHIGAN and note how many have become famous. Perhaps the best known is Gridley, who commanded the Otympra at the battle of Manila Bay. Among others who became admirals were Jouett, Kantz, Swinburne and Rees. Tribute to an Oldtimer Among the officers themselves, prob- ably the best known “character” was Boatswain Patrick Murphy whose whole mature life was connected with the ship. He once told me that he raised the flag when the ship was for- mally placed in commission in 1844. He had filled many ratings on board, but for a number of years before my time had been pilot. He was compe- tent, conscientious and faithful and endeared himself to all by his amia- bility and skill. As a reward of long and faithful service, he was appointed boatswain in the navy, but continued as pilot until he retired. He seemed to know every part of the lakes perfectly, and it used to be said, laughingly, that he could dip up a bucket of water and, by tasting it, tell where he was in a fog. He had lived so long on the lakes and had ob- served the weather so carefully that he was a wonderful “weather propnet.” We all had such confidence in his judgment that, if he said it would not rain although the sky was overcast and threatening, we would go ashore without a raincoat—and he never failed. When the time came for his retire- ment, the officers on the ship got in touch with all the other officers who had previously served with him and a fund was raised to procure a hand- some silver service which was _ pre- (Continued on Page 40) 17