Landlubber Q's to all you Seamen boat chaps

[Shedendman]

Being a chap whos feet have always been on dry land i have a question.
On old ships theres this thing on the bridge that when the captain says something like full steam ahead etc some other guy moves this sort of level thing that goes clang clang clang ding ding whatever,then down in the engine room the same sort of thing moves,then this guy moves another level to the same place which also rings out the ding ding tune,its like a dial come half a clock with markings on with writing(you can now tell i know sod all about boats)
1 whats this thing called? (if i knew i'd show a picture,lol)
2 why do they move it all the way to one side back a little then move it to the setting?
3 how the hell does it work,i mean,is it some sort of rope system,levers,etc
If the bridge is way up there and the engine room is way down there there must be some very precised engineering made for this to be spot on accurate

By the way,saw this on an old movie on Talking Pictures freeview 81 absolutely love this channel

 

[brightspark]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?ei=.......0...1c..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.ZyG-xJVqFSg

 

[Shedendman]

AHHHHHHHHH,now i know
So,how does it work ie the workings etc?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

1, Ships engine telegraph.

2, .To confirm the order is received and understood.

3, Bi wire system control.

Bi wire.

Two wires, built in safety.
One set of wires to transmit down, one to transmit up.

Cams, and pawls to ring bells and flash lights.

HMS Belfast system is still working, but voice tubes are sealed.


In days of old the helm was located lower down in the ship. So the captain had no direct control of the helms. I think HMS Salisbury was one of the first frigate to have the helm on the bridge, I think is designed from the start.

 

[brightspark]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_order_telegraph#/media/File:EOT_BLOCK_DIAGRAM.png good old google

 

[Shedendman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_order_telegraph#/media/File:EOT_BLOCK_DIAGRAM.png good old google

Now i know what it is then google will be my friend

Still clever bit of engineering though
cables made from?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Later ones. Nylon centre core stainless steel 8 strand wire.

Early ones, hemp cored 5 to 8 core brass wire.

Both types were be stretched to avoid issues when in use.

On Naval ships a daily check was to test tension in the cables. At the convenience of the ships Navigation officer. So if you had upset him it would be at an un godly hour in the middle or at the start of the morning.
Unless there was a good film on. Just before half way point.

 

[Shedendman]

William Chadburn British

 

[Shedendman]

Later ones. Nylon centre core stainless steel 8 strand wire.

Early ones, hemp cored 5 to 8 core brass wire.

Both types were be stretched to avoid issues when in use.

On Naval ships a daily check was to test tension in the cables. At the convenience of the ships Navigation officer. So if you had upset him it would be at an un godly hour in the middle or at the start of the morning.
Unless there was a good film on. Just before half way point.

Thanks TYA see far better to ask here than ask google

 

[addjunkie]

Thing of the past now most ships have bridge control...though the ability to manouvere from below with no automation should still be there. Also steer locally in the event of control failure.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

All.ships over a certain tonnage needs to have:
Normal control.
Secondary control.
Emergency control.

Back up by Local control, still with the above.

Finally a mechanical aid, to be rigged if all the above fail.

 

[Shedendman]

All.ships over a certain tonnage needs to have:
Normal control.
Secondary control.
Emergency control.

Back up by Local control, still with the above.

Finally a mechanical aid, to be rigged if all the above fail.

So you're basically saying in this digital computer age we're in now somewhere theres along the lines they still have a system that dates back to the late 1800's? Blimey

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

In an emergency you can rig blocks and tackles, chain blocks or mall self powered power packs to the rudder head to make it move.

 

[Wightsparks]

In an emergency you can rig blocks and tackles, chain blocks or mall self powered power packs to the rudder head to make it move.

I used to Engineer on Superyachts (the fancy ones that hang out in Monaco). Once had full electrical failure in a storm (these sort of boats don't really do storms) on a 38m Motoryacht, had to rig the emergency rudder controls which was basically a big manual hydraulic ram that bolted to the twin rudder linkage. Took 5 mins of hard pumping just to get the rudders centred so we could steer with the engines. Then I fixed one of the 104kw generators with a rubber glove.
Good times!

 

[addjunkie]

In an emergency you can rig blocks and tackles, chain blocks or mall self powered power packs to the rudder head to make it move.

Sadly that doesnt work with modern rotary vane type steering gears it needs to be hydraulic power packs. All have local solenoids, then youd be in to portable power packs.

Ram type steering gear went out with the ark

 

[selectedgrub]

I got one.
The funnel things on the deck that were shaped like old gramophone horns.
What were they for or do?

 

[penfold]

Thing of the past now most ships have bridge control...though the ability to manouvere from below with no automation should still be there. Also steer locally in the event of control failure.

More or less; most of the time the people who stare out of windows for a living do the controlling from the bridge, there's a full set of engine(and in our case controllable pitch propeller controls as well) in the engine control room along with a stupid telegraph thing that looks like it was designed to fit on an arcade machine which flashes lights and honks at you until you follow on. Then there's the controls at the engine side and finally the twirly knobs that would allow manual control of the injector pumps if literally everything else has failed while the skipper shouts at you through the headset for not fixing things immediately. The CPP unit has a similar twirly knob.

I got one.
The funnel things on the deck that were shaped like old gramophone horns.
What were they for or do?

Ventilators, they date from the days when ships did not have(and then latterly in the steam and motor ship age skinflint shipowners refused to pay for) forced draft ventilation; the crew would manually turn the things so they would face into the wind and create a draft through the accommodation.

 

[wookie]

So you're basically saying in this digital computer age we're in now somewhere theres along the lines they still have a system that dates back to the late 1800's? Blimey

Well unlike a car that can just pull off to the side of the road, on a boat it can be life and death if you loose either steering or propulsion. It's often too deep to drop an anchor and you don't want to be broadside to the waves, so the more means of maintaining control of your boat the better.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

All a ship needs is enough F.L.O.A.T. 01 in the tanks.

But a "Boat" is different. A "Boat" can fill or empty the float tanks at will.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Ram type steering gear went out with the ark

Interestingly, that's the last ship that @The_Yellow_Ardvark crewed