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@shaynewheeler9249

2 жыл бұрын

Coal fired steamship Titanic

@shaynewheeler9249

2 жыл бұрын

Coal fired steamship Titanic

@shaynewheeler9249

2 жыл бұрын

Coal fired steamship Titanic

@shaynewheeler9249

Жыл бұрын

Coal fired steamship Titanic

@TheMKEWERBY

Жыл бұрын

By the way, what was done about the waste ash accumulated from a voyage?

As a LONG-time liner historian, I just want to say that the content of your videos are excellent and informative, and you deserve many subscribers.

My father was in the USN from 1915 to 1923. He served on large, coal fired ships. Coaling was an all hands event. The men prepared for coaling by rubbing oil or a vaseline like jelly over their whole body so the coal wouldn't get into their pores. It made cleaning their bodies easier. The had clothes just for coaling. And this at a time when fresh water was not as available as today. Not all ships had distillers and navy ships had large crews. If they had showers, there was a salt and fresh water shower heads. On some older ships, they washed themselves and their clothes out of a bucket, squatting on the deck. So they washed in salt water and did a rinse in fresh. I have pictures of my dad & his mates covered in coal dust. Coaling ports were on the deck of warships. The USN had coaling ships with conveyors, but just dropped the coal on the deck. The crew then had to bucket it to the ports.

@thesaltysquirrel3425

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@user-mj6ng8ro1q

9 күн бұрын

Wow thats something you will never ever read in a book love first hand accounts its the true story

@mdsupreme1776

5 күн бұрын

How miserable

You are the channel I needed as a child. I grew up loving ocean liners! Your videos are great. Thank you!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

So did I! And I'm learning a lot by making these videos, so I'm glad that others are enjoying the videos.

@subirdebnath2519

3 жыл бұрын

Yes

@opgaming-yj8sq

3 жыл бұрын

I am a kid and I am very interested in oceanliners to

@bobclough8524

3 жыл бұрын

Show me the ship

@samshulman1693

3 жыл бұрын

Legit I needed a channel like this when I was 6 cause I was obSESSED with the Titanic and other maritime disasters and 20th century ocean liners. I’m still very much fascinated by the history of it all

Britain's Royal Navy was in the process of converting as many warships to oil when WW1 broke out. Those coal burning warships were the last ships you wanted to be on. Coaling was a filthy time consuming job that had to be done regardless of weather conditions. Usually done by chutes from a collier. Woe be the officer in charge if coal dust fouled the decks. The dust tended to get blown into the on deck machinery and gun turrets., or became a slurry in bad weather making the decks dangerous to walk. Deck hands then had a messy job to clear any trace from the decks.

@CompetitiveRacist54

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget the increased chance of a dust explosion which is not what you want during a battle

The coal fired Great Western carried enough coal to make the round trip from Britain to Australia and back. That's a lot of coal.

@redram5150

2 жыл бұрын

The Russian Second Pacific Squadron had no excuse then, lol

@Zirkobi

2 жыл бұрын

Must've been a "coald" voyage then 🤣🤣

@stuartplatt2146

2 жыл бұрын

Actually, that was the Great Eastern. Brunel's design brief was to create a steamship which could do the round trip without refuelling - there were no bunkering facilities in those days. The Great Eastern's cavernous coal bunkers eventually came to good use to store the cables when she laid the first trans atlantic telegraph cable. The Great Western was a trans-atlantic steamer only.

@phantomsoldier497

2 жыл бұрын

To be fair early coal fired ships were much slower and had small engines so consumed a lot less coal even if less efficient. The Borodino class battleships (present of Tsushima) was 14000 tons, sailed at 18 knots and made 15000 hp while the Great Eastern sailed at 14 knots and had only 4000 hp

Fun thing, even 100 years later coal suppliers still try to short shift you today... As someone working in a coal powerplant qich burns American and Russian coal, we constantly find large amounts of iron in the coal, everything from wire and bolts up to entire bicycles or steel plates thrown in, to increase the weight of the coal. Not even mentioning the rocks and sand, put in by the suppliers to increase weight

@ruddigerburns9051

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like my hardwood charcoal. Always find rocks in the ashes.

@Zonkotron

3 жыл бұрын

Hmm. Thats odd. Steel scrap price is considerably higher than coal price o.O

@200nick2

3 жыл бұрын

As someone who works in a coal export facility I feel your pain. We are just middle men for the suppliers, all we do is store the coal and then load it onto boats. But the big rocks we find are hard to sort out and the metal that comes out of the rail cars rips our conveyor belts or gets caught in our equipment and causes trouble... and the coal mines are supposed to get all of that out before it even gets sent to us. It is a never ending battle with our customers.

@kayzeaza

3 жыл бұрын

Fun fact: there are more people employed by the marijuana industry in the US then the coal industry

@llVIU

3 жыл бұрын

one day they'll probably ''accidentally'' put some explosives in your coal.

It was even worse for military vessels that couldn't have the hatches in their sides due to their armour. Coal was loaded in bags and carried below by the crew, coal was often used between the outer hull and the armour plate to increase the protection, as a result of this and other factors coal was all over the ship complicating the firing process. Often military vessels would be used to blockade an enemy port, this meant that ships involved had to refuel and reprovision while at sea often under difficult conditions, this could make a difficult job even harder.

@floro7687

3 жыл бұрын

The Germans had 5 meters of coal bunker along the sides of their ships in the Jutland battle, and it saved a couple of them. The Brits had oil bunkers, and lost this protection.

@ChaplainDMK

3 жыл бұрын

​@@floro7687 The only major oil fired Royal Navy ships at Jutland were the Queen Elizabeth class battleships of 5th Battle Squadron, every other Battleship, Battlecruiser and Armored Cruiser was coal fired. They did have fuel oil which was sprayed on the coal to get more power, but coal was the primary fuel and they all had thick coal bunkers behind the belt armor that served as extra armor. Though against armor piercing shells coal is usless as armor, but it was sort of effective as a rudimentary torpedo bulge. On the other hand coal has the downside of having a tendency of spontaneous combustion in specific circumstances, as well as coal dust being very flammable - coal bunker fires were a big danger to all coal fired ships of the era.

@FlorenceSlugcat

3 жыл бұрын

Could they not make a chute on top of the ship to pour it in? Like on the top deck, a chute that can be opened from a hatch.

@ChaplainDMK

3 жыл бұрын

@@FlorenceSlugcat Im no expert, but battleships needed to be protected from fire coming down at an angle, so the decks were significantly armored. The holes through the armored deck were either the armored barbettes that connected the turret to the magazine, very small chutes that allowed the secondry battery ammo to be passed through, and a few crew passageways in the middle. But for coaling you needed pretty large holes on the outside edge, the coal bunkers were almost always on the outside edges of the ship. Holes there would be particularly vulnerable to hits, as well as hits there traveling very deep into the ship

@vtbmwbiker

3 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure it's been determined that the USS Maine blew up due to a smoldering fire in a coal bunker-- just to add to the general sense of "no thank you" for coal burners.

I coaled a Clyde puffer - a 60ton coaster- once in the 1980's. We only loaded about 5 tons. I was the dirtiest I have ever been afterwards, I was also the stoker. it had a haystack boiler and a compound engine.

@ryanhall9049

3 жыл бұрын

dan mcfail im surprised your still here hows para handy and the rest of the vital spark crew doing these days mate

@Draxindustries1

3 жыл бұрын

Similar to 'The Maggie'?

@someguardsman

2 жыл бұрын

Please tell us more about the experience, I'm very interested to hear more

@paulstewart6293

2 жыл бұрын

The Glen sannox?

@stupitdog9686

2 жыл бұрын

In the 1980's !! How obsolete, so ..hell .. they shoulda been paying you a huge wage for that then ... maybe 10/6p an hour ??

Please note that the men who fired the furnaces on merchant ships were called Firemen. Not stokers, which was a Royal Navy name. The men who moved the coal were trimmers.

This is why liner hulls were typically painted black.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, and then it became tradition so that most liners remained black for a long time even after coal was no longer the fuel of choice

@21mozzie

3 жыл бұрын

Ahhhh! Of course!!!!

@tramlink8544

3 жыл бұрын

thats why you didnt want to be a crew member in the US navy in the 1880s with their pure white battleships :D

@donlove3741

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove odd ships powered by sail were mostly black.. Coal powered naval vessels were normally a shade of gray or in the Great White fleet .

@dpsamu2000

3 жыл бұрын

They re typically painted red "below the waterline" Then black from that line to white above the open deck line.

An example of how coal supply can cause problems was RMS Atlantic - for a long time Canada's worst ship disaster in terms of lives lost. Atlantic was inbound New York, pretty-well full of passengers including steerage, whose access to the boat deck was severely circumscribed by the two little hatches that were all they were given. Unknown - but rumoured - the White Star Line had 'salted' its coal load with some cheap stuff; Welsh steam coal was acknowledged the best, and needless to say, it also commanded the highest price so it was not unknown for shippers to bung-on a few thousandweight of cheaper stuff (or even 'made' coal; collected coal dust with a binder to hold it together - Kipling's "McAndrew's Hymn" refers). So RMS Atlantic set-out against the Gulf Stream and continuously encountered foul weather, and used more coal than planned, and at some point the chief Engineer advised the Captain that they likely didn't have enough coal to reach New York; in this, modern estimates suggest he was wrong and was exaggerating the problem, but hindsight is 20/20 after all. The Captain turned north toward Halifax to get more coal, and a "comedy" of errors and disobeyed orders resulted in tragedy. Celestial navigation with stars and sextant was how ships navigated across oceans then, but they'd been in ugly weather long enough that they were navigating by dead-reckoning and unsure of their position. The Captain retired to his cabin for some sleep, leaving orders that he be awakened at midnight; his intent was to slow the ship and start taking soundings with the deep-sea lead to learn the water depth and bottom composition, which would give him an idea of how far offshore they were. Then they would anchor and await daylight, to take sightings of the shore and compare with their charts, and if need be they'd send a boat ashore to ask a local fisherman where they were - all perfectly normal in those days before GPS. But the bridge watch decided to let the Captain sleep so they never called him at midnight and RMS Atlantic kept-on northward at high speed, and the current off the Nova Scotia coast sets to the southwest; so as they approached the shore, watching for the Sambro lighthouse west of Halifax harbor, they were already too far southwest to see it. RMS Atlantic slammed into the rocks just offshore and was swept onto its beam-ends; most of the immigrants drowned trying to get onto the deck, and the heavy swell drowned many more of those who did get off. The stupid little things that cause fearsome results...

@georgew2014

3 жыл бұрын

There's a good documentary on the Atlantic that includes excellent computer graphics, reenactors, and local historians: kzread.info/dash/bejne/jGp-zdmHZ87daKg.html

@2adamast

3 жыл бұрын

It's OK, the crew lost only 10 men and the captain was awake at midnight

@SiriusXAim

3 жыл бұрын

Chief Engineer John Foxley had a habit (which was commonplace amongst engineers) to under estimate the coal reserves in order to force Captains to be more cautious. The ship had enough coal to reach New York, but barely and Foxley knew that, had he reported the actual amount remaining, it would be at odds with his previous reports, so he chose to under estimate again.

@bigpjohnson

3 жыл бұрын

@@SiriusXAim Even today, Chief Engineers love to show less fuel and diesel oil in the log books. Its often to have a little extra just in case of any issues, and ship owners charge the charterers for more fuel use as well. That's why when a ship goes on and off-charter, there are surveys done to confirm the actual amount fuel on board.

Every naval memoir I've read from the age of coal agrees on one thing. Bombay (Mumbai) coal was the worst you could get. Engineers used to do anything they could do to avoid using it.

@Whiteyy191

Жыл бұрын

What were the downsides?

@MrRaZzA1995

11 ай бұрын

Some of the best in the world comes from the uk particularly the North east of England there's huge supplies of grade A coal

Let us pay our respects to the different workers involved in the process of refueling coal-powered ships and different ship workers involved in other mundane but dangerous jobs.

@markmark2080

3 жыл бұрын

The infamous "Black Gang", hats off to the guys, who for whatever reason, had to work down in "the hole" in those early days of steam.

@stevedoe1630

3 жыл бұрын

Sailors are famous for creating mundane jobs, especially for the young and unindoctrinated. For example: - radar calibration - tracing the lube oil handrail system - obtaining keys to the sea chest - polishing the prop shaft - etc.

@markmark2080

3 жыл бұрын

@@stevedoe1630 Hahahaha, The mail buoy watch.... fetching some "Relative Bearing" grease... "hey, we caught a Sea Bat"...

@deus_ex_machina_

3 жыл бұрын

@@stevedoe1630 You really do like Seamen don't you?

@timvandenbrink4461

2 жыл бұрын

Fetching a bucket of steam…..

Super interesting and informative! I really enjoyed this video, especially the footage of the Leviathan during her bunkering.

@tulsatrash

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed.

@Chr.U.Cas2216

3 жыл бұрын

👍👌👏 Well said! Me too! Best regards, luck and health.

@ericdee6802

3 жыл бұрын

I agree, superb job on the video and narrator

The ordinary man or woman today can't comprehend the hell it was down in "The Hole" on some ships and in certain regions of the World. It's been over half a century since I did my time in engine rooms and the worst I had to endure was on a WW2 Tank Landing Ship (LST) in the Mekong Delta. We did our watches in consistent 135 degree temps but had the luxury of a totally relaxed uniform, meaning our pants were cut off, shirts sleeveless and unbuttoned, we had water we could keep them soaked with and a couple supply vents to get in front of, plus we made runs to the galley to get buckets of ice cubes to eat. Compared to those guys shoveling coal to feed the boilers, we were on a luxury cruise. The noise in those diesel engine rooms was something to experience, this was before there was any "safety equipment" concerns, a far cry from today. I really enjoyed your video, well done.

@ruddigerburns9051

3 жыл бұрын

Hows your hearing?

@markmark2080

3 жыл бұрын

@@ruddigerburns9051 It's still pretty good, my time was spent in the aux. engine room with the generators, the main engine room was 32 feet square and had (2) EDM 567 locomotive diesels side by side. You would have to go over to the escape trunk and cup your hands over someones ear and yell, and they still could barely hear you, not much idle chatter down there, of course that was true in any engine room. I remember the hardest part for me was on the mid watch (midnight to 0400) when you're underway and every thing is normal and your sitting on your chair in front of the supply vent...sometimes your whole body seemed like it was asleep and the only thing awake was your mind trying to stay awake, those were long watches, just the OPPOSITE of someone in bed, worn out but unable to sleep because of stress or whatever. Of course those old boys feeding the boilers must have been tired but at least the blood was flowing, and dozing off was the least of their worries. My memories of time spent in the engine rooms of 3 different ships are some of my most cherished work related memories (and I have many), but I don't think I'd feel the same way if I'd been ruining my health shoveling coal down in "the hole".

@tjh44961

3 жыл бұрын

I took the "hardhat tour" of the USS Texas a number of years ago. They call it that because they take you into spaces that are often cramped, such as the magazines and the boiler rooms, and everyone wears a hardhat to avoid head injuries from walking into the spaces. Now, I'm a steam power enthusiast, and have built model steamboats, locomotives and stationary engines, as well as boilers. And even though I knew how the power plants in a steamship worked, I wasn't prepared for the conditions in the boiler room. The access to the boiler room was through an access trunk, basically a 30 or 36-inch pipe, with a vertical ladder inside, that you had to climb down to get to the boiler room deck. If I remember correctly, it was about 15 feet down from the deck above, and the hatch at the top was small, not normal hatch size, like you'd find in a companionway watertight bulkhead. During operations, it had to be sealed, because if it wasn't, it would affect the draft for the boiler. Now, the Texas was oil-fired, so the boiler rooms were fairly clean. I'd hate to think what the boiler rooms in a coal-fired naval ship were like. There's a reason that division was called the "black gang." I'd imagine that the likelihood of being able to evacuate those spaces was low, if a ship was sinking due to battle damage. Another thing that was brought home to me was how much bigger men are now, than they were 100 years ago. I'm six feet tall, and weigh about 200 pounds. In the first decade of the 20th century when the Texas was built, adult men were between 5' 6" and 5' 8" on average, and seldom weighed more than 140 pounds. They would have had a much easier time moving through that access trunk.

@markmark2080

3 жыл бұрын

@@tjh44961That's a great experience visiting old engine and boiler rooms. The thought of being in a sea battle should chill the blood of anyone in their right mind, but being down in the hole would be horror. Few people realize that in the sinking of the Hood and Bismarck, there were 4 ships with a total of 3500 DEAD in just a couple of days. I can't begin to imagine what it was like to be there, let alone being down in the hole with all the "doors" secured because of "Battle Stations". On the height thing, being on a WW2 Tank Landing Ship was tough for me as I was/am 6' - 5.5", the height of the compartments were 6' - 5" and you had all the electrical, plumbing, ventilation in the overhead so usually there was only one little place in a compartment where I could stand up straight but with my head down, the rest of the time I would standing with my hands on my knees. It was a miserable year but also the greatest adventure of my life, of which had no shortage of them. If you ever go near Evansville, Indiana, stop in and visit the LST 325 on display there or at least pull it up on KZread... Cheers

@BeachsideHank

3 жыл бұрын

1970, as Black Gang snipes in the fireroom of a U.S. destroyer; we'd cook baked potatoes filched from the spud locker in the mud drum , I'd heat up cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli on the main steam line for my own personal midrats, and in port once, one of our guys was on a working party taking on provisions and slipped down our "hole" a full carton of lobster tails, we cooked 'em in a bucket using the root steam for the bilge pump- supposed to be for the officers mess, heh heh ☺We all got tight, I mean real tight at Yankee station during fire support ops, even tighter still doing surface raids up north.

Back when boats still actually looked like boats. Cruise liners look like huge floating blocks now-a-days

@scottiebones

2 жыл бұрын

Cruise ships and ocean liners are comparing apples and oranges. They are different in looks for a purpose. Also, They didn't have Cruise ships back in those days, and we don't need ocean liners anymore!

@ZeldaTheSwordsman

2 жыл бұрын

That's because their job is to carry lots of people and lots of on-board luxury amenities on slow-paced leisure trips. Form follows function.

@chloedevereaux1801

2 жыл бұрын

ships not boats ffs

I remember in a book about the German merchant raider SMS Wolf (spent an astonishing 451 days at sea w/o once entering port), they're on their way back to Germany & about to run out of coal, & as a result basically pirated a Spanish freighter loaded w/ coal. at first they thought this was an incredible bit of luck, but ended up screwing them over because the vastly inferior Spanish coal only had about 1/20th the energy as the plundered British coal they had been running on. trying to transfer the coal at sea actually ended up burning coal at the same rate-of-speed they could transfer it to The Wolf, so they had to cut their losses & abandon the newly captured freighter & coal

Thank you for this exploration of an often-forgotten aspect of steamship life. One minor quibble: Only the first-class express liners, where turnaround time outweighed all other considerations, were converted to oil immediately after World War I; elsewhere, the lower cost of coal was still compelling. I knew a man who toward the end of his maritime career was Assistant Second Engineer on the SS UNITED STATES. He started in the 1930's on a passenger ship making the run from New York to Charleston, SC and she was still fired with coal. He worked as a trimmer, coal passer and stoker.

Looking at what engine rooms looked like back then vs now, it's amazing

@markmark2080

3 жыл бұрын

I agree, the modern large and very large ships with the giant diesels in spacious engine rooms look like 5 star hotels compared to the earliest steam age...

@monsieurcommissaire1628

Жыл бұрын

Yes, it was as close an approximation of Hell as anyone was likely to encounter.

The coaling problems encountered by Admiral Rozhestvensky and his Second Pacific Squadron is almost worth a video on its own. It certainly influenced the outcome of the battle even if it didn't directly lead to any lost ships. This channel keeps getting better and better and I really enjoy watching your videos! I think something you might want to work on is the audio. Sounds a bit like you're sitting at your kitchen table with an open window doing the narration. :)

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

That's quite literally what I'm doing (minus the window being open). Unfortunately, I recently moved and now live at the corner of a fairly busy intersection. I try to record early in the morning before traffic, but can't always do that. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying the videos regardless!

@WeddingVegetables

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove No worries, the content is what's important. I'm looking forward to your next video!

Thanks for this hugely interesting episode. I visited USS ‘Olympia’ in Philadelphia some years ago and was impressed that everything on that ship ran on steam, all of which was reliant on coal. At points in the ship there were steam-powered hoists which brought ash up from the fire rooms, and tracks along the overhead to scuttles in the hull so the ash could be dumped overboard. I had never thought about that kind of waste problem while underway. A danger you did not touch on which coal-fired ships faced was fire, from spontaneous combustion in a coal bunker. That could happen from bringing aboard wet coal, which is a separate question (if the coal,was in open barges, there was no way to protect it if it rained. so loading wet coal increased the chance of that coal spontaneously combusting, once it was stowed in bunkers), and required in some cases men actually going into the bunkers and digging down, if possible, to the source of the fire and extinguishing it. The USS ‘Maine’ experienced just such a slow-burning fire in a coal bunker when she was sent to Havana, Cuba in 1898 as a show of American potential. Unfortunately, the plan of the Maine’s bunker layout had that burning coal adjacent to a bulkhead that separated the bunker from an explosives magazine. The heat from the fire elevated the temperature of the bulkhead until the powder stored in the magazine detonated, tearing off the forward section of the Maine,sinking the ship and killing a large number of the sleeping crew. The US newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst claimed the explosion was due to a mine (Spanish, according to Hearst; a ‘dastardly trick’) instead of an accident. So the US went to war with Spain over a coal bunker fire. Analysis of the sinking of the man conducted by the Navy in the Mid-20th Century proved pretty conclusively that was the reason the ‘Maine’ blew up, and not the mine or outside cause claimed by the Hearst papers. Great work; thanks for your efforts. PS - I was an Infantry officer in the Army. I grew up in an Army family; my father was a Transportation Corps officer. Their motto was ‘Try Moving Without Us’, and though the Infantry ostensibly gets around on foot, the Army’s ability to move troops equipment, and logistics is reliant on the techniques developed by the Transportation people. I am an historian, and appreciate your motto of being at the intersection of transportation and history.

My Grandfather worked in a slope mine named " Ocean" . The mine and the town named due to the fact that the mine supplied Coal for ships on the Atlantic. Town was located in Western Maryland outside the town of Midland, Md. Thanks for the memories.

From passenger deck of "SS Empire Trooper" in 1950, watched our manual coal bunkering in Port Said, Egypt. Similar to clips of your footage, hordes of loin cloth turbaned labourers toiling for a living in baking sun. Trotting circular rail-truck to ship, heavily coal-sack ladened, dockside up long plankings for discharge into ship bunker ports. I was 7 yrs. Burnt into memory. We'd first passaged aboard coalers SS Stratheden then SS Empire Test. Then oilers; Braemar and Warwick Castle. Me RN warships 11 years, oil diesel and gas turbine. Us burned beers instead.

@peterswatton7400

3 жыл бұрын

My Grandmother had a picture of bunkering in Port Said taken in the 1920's. The long lines of labourers with a basket of coal on their heads appeared to be women, if my memory is correct.

@SueBobChicVid

3 жыл бұрын

Poetic.

@SquishyZoran

3 жыл бұрын

Peter Swatton Can you find it and upload it somewhere? I’d love to see it!

@georgew2014

3 жыл бұрын

@@peterswatton7400 In Meiji-era Japan (1868-1912), lines of women often passed baskets of coal to the men at the ships.

@jahmanoog461

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing. Eye opening.

Very informative, thank you!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it, Brian.

Never knew how complicated and fascinating coaling an ocean liner could be! Love you videos as always!

Can't wait for the oil video!

@johngillon6969

3 жыл бұрын

I was a boiler tender in the navy on the kitty hawk. you would not believe how much that sucked! Any way i was ok with navy life but wanted a dog and didn't figure that would happen in the navy. also at 22 years old decided it was time to climb out of that bottle. Everything worked out well with the dog.

@johngillon6969

3 жыл бұрын

@ryan Washington I was aboard the ship in 1968, and i believe that the kittyhawk and constellation were too large and the new airplanes were bigger and it put too much strain on the engineering department. I don't think the atomic powered ships had the problems of the last two oil fired boats. we used bunker oil when i was on board. they later switched over to diesel oil fired boilers. that may have helped but i don't know. I learned working in the boiler room that life is not fair. there are no more boiler tenders in the u.s. navy. as all the boiler driven ships are gone. it is all diesel gas fired turbines i believe. Being a Boiler Tender in my opinion was the hardest dirtiest and hottest job in the navy.

@markmark2080

3 жыл бұрын

@@johngillon6969 As an Electricians Mate (who had the most pleasant job in "Engineering"), I have witnessed the truth of your statements and can only offer my RESPECT to all the old school Boilermen for "what, why, how, and where" they worked. Guys that knew what heat and filth was all about and truly knew the joy of a GOOD shower,

@FinalLugiaGuardian

3 жыл бұрын

@@johngillon6969 How is the dog doing today?

@johngillon6969

3 жыл бұрын

@@FinalLugiaGuardian Thanks for asking, he is fantastic, he took the day off yesterday, i was getting on his nerves. he stayed home while i adventured solo. He is back in the saddle now and itching for action. Look out portland or.

That was a very Good Presentation ! Without coal or oil there is no transportation. Thank YOU

I'm writing a historical fiction / high seas Thriller that takes place during the years before during and after the first world war. This information is very helpful in video form. Enjoyed the video very much

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad this is helpful. The sources for this video are listed in the description, so you might want to check those out too. Good luck with the book!

@johngillon6969

3 жыл бұрын

I was in the navy and was a boiler tender. The boiler tenders had the hardest job on the ship. they had to spend hours and hours to get the ship's boilers and equiptment up to running speed, before all the other sailors had to board the ship. and it was hotter than hell in the boiler rooms as the ships were designed to cruise in seas of average temperature, In the south pacific the sea temp is much higher and as the ship aged, more demands were put on the operating plant, by bigger airplanes to launch strained the machinery caused breakdowns. and when you returned to port you had to complete the work and repairs you could not do at sea, because the boilers were constantly fired at sea. Boiler tenders had the least amount of time on shore, because of this reason. all the other sailors could just close up shop and leave the boat while in port. I liked the navy, but wanted to have a dog and figured it wouldn't happen in the navy.

@negativeindustrial

3 жыл бұрын

This would make a great activity to work into the plot somehow.

@johngillon6969

3 жыл бұрын

@David Jones No i just learned life is not fair. Boiler tenders got no respect. all you ever see of carriers is video's of the fly boys. it was dark and dirty in the boiler room, they used to send sailors down to the boiler room for extra duty, as punishment. we had extra duty every day. we never made the guys assigned extra duty work. it was bad enough just being with us in the hot nasty place. only way you can get guys to work in the boiler room is to make 18 year old punk recruits like me do the job .

@namewarvergeben

3 жыл бұрын

@@johngillon6969 I've noticed that steam engines in particular are romanticised to no end, often by people who are dissatisfied one way or another with their modern lives. I can't deny that steam engines are awesome to look at and hear. But like most things people get nostalgic about, they tend to forget the poor sods for whom this was grueling, badly paid work that even the sailors on higher decks considered punishment. How much contact was there between the "departments" aboard the ship? Did sailors and machinists mingle off-shift?

What an amazing channel! I had no idea coaling was such an interesting topic!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

I didn't either until I did the research. Thanks for watching!

The Titanic could load almost 7,000tons of coal. That was enough for 6-7 days. They had to dump around 100 tons of ash from burning the coal in the ocean every day. You could get all that energy from only 2.2 kilograms of uranium. That sounds like a lot, but is only a cube of 2x2inches. About one of these big ice cubes you'd get in a nice bar. Shows how far we've come since then...

@chris-hayes

3 жыл бұрын

Insane

Opening graphic shows RMS Campania. Capt Arthur Rostron sighted a sea serpent while in command of this ship. He was later captain of Carpathia, hero of the Titanic disaster. Rostron's memoir is a great read.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

It is! He goes on a lot of rambling tangents, though.

B. Traven, who wrote 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' also wrote the book, 'Death Ship' - which is really worth reading if you like old coal burning ships. : )

Oh boy, I miss those days when the liners indeed operated by real coal steam! Just kidding. Wow!! Greatly informative and eye-opening, Never realized the extent of the logistics required in getting the SS ocean liners ready for their ocean crossings. And I am sure many of the stokers also suffered the Black Lung syndrome with that livelihood. Thanks for posting this. Superb job!!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Myles! There was more to it than I initially thought, too. That's why I enjoy making these videos.

@richarddressner639

3 жыл бұрын

Black lung and whatever. You could call it slow motion suicide. The men would to anything to support their families.

@mylesgarcia4625

3 жыл бұрын

@@richarddressner639 Understandably.

@johnjephcote7636

3 жыл бұрын

South Wales did well as a coal exporter. Her coal was sent to bunkering ports all over the Empire.

"Honey I'm gonna go bunker up Ol' Smokey. I'll be back in 48 hours at the latest if I haven't died yet."

As a retired ship's officer (deck department) and sailboat captain, nice job and on an informative and well done presentation. Bunkering with fuel oil was bad enough. Coal was obviously much worse. Nothing like the old wind ships, which l missed out on.

the mass of rivets on old ships is astounding!

Brilliant. Very interesting look at a seemingly mundane process. Thank you

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Richard. It is more interesting than I initially thought and I'm glad I researched it.

@richardjweeks

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove I'm really enjoying your channel. Please keep the contents coming. 👍

Wow thank you very informative.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you got something out of it, WIlly.

A friend of mine has related a story about how he a two friends decided they wanted to 'see the world' by signing on to work on a lake boat working in the Great Lakes between Toledo and Duluth. They signed up and were hired, but only one of them got called to work. They heard from him a week or so later from Duluth: "Don't get on that Boat! and can you borrow a car and come get me?" His story of handling coal for two six hour shifts every day is similar to what is being told here. Back breaking and harsh conditions. It amazes me that the steam ship companies hadn't mechanized at least some of the coal handling process in some way. Powered conveyors if nothing else.

@rogerwilco2

3 жыл бұрын

Efficient power and electricity and electric motors were not available yet. It would need huge complex mechanical solutions, making thee ship much more heavy and difficult to maintain. Manpower was the solution that technology allowed back then.

Great historic contents. Ans thanks for a voice over instead of interspersion with interviews.

I don't know that it was caused by shorting coal, but SS Sirius on her maiden transatlantic crossing ran out of fuel and had to burn furniture.

@anihtgenga4096

3 жыл бұрын

I've heard stories about Egyptian steamers using mummies for fuel. That's what they had that would burn.

@Boypogikami132

3 жыл бұрын

WAS IT A LUXURIOUS SHIP? IF IT WAS, IT MEANS THAT MANY 1ST CLASS PEOPLE ARE MAD AT THE COMPANY THAT OWNED THE SHIP IN QUESTION!

@Bartonovich52

3 жыл бұрын

Wasn’t that one of the first transatlantic ships? I’d imagine that fuel requirements were pretty experimental and that breakdowns were common as well which is why it retained auxiliary sails.

@alanxgale

3 жыл бұрын

PS Sirius was not designed, or built for, the trans Atlantic. PS Great Western was, and arrived later the same day, having departed a week (?) later, still had "plenty"of coal in her bunkers. Sirius left port with coal piled on her decks!

@thomassmith8140

2 жыл бұрын

This was debunked, they had 15T of coal left when they arrived in New York, low as hell, and the newspapers just ran with it.

What an awesome video. I’ve learned a lot but I mean A LOT with this video, keep the amazing job. Idea for video: how engine telegraphs work, telegraph commands and telegraph movements (obviously on old ocean liners)

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Great suggestion!

@paulhorn2665

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove Yes but dont forget the stoking indikators and the boiler telegraphs.

There were mechanical devices to help with coal bunkering generally based on a bucket ladder. The De Mayo and Michener are two such devices.

cool info i'm adding a wharf to my steam era railroad

Ocean liners are indeed very hungry. I personally, enjoy the Ship Story's that you make the most. If you could make some more of those I would love it!! Great vid btw.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

RMS Lusitania/Mauretania and MV Britannic/Georgia are on deck!

@mr.captainotter5975

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove I'd love a Mauretania!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

@@mr.captainotter5975 September 8th!

On RN ships, there were very few excused coaling, just the Captain and a few select individuals such as the ship's doctor or medic but usually everyone, regardless of rank, had to haul coal or shovel it down the hatches. The ship and men were always filthy afterwards and the entire crew had to wash themselves,their clothing and the ship was washed down from masts to waterline, inside and out, as coal dust got everywhere.

Back to what documentaries should be. Really enjoy your content and try to let ads play when watching!

@TheGreatBigMove

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

This makes even the hardships of sailing look downright civilized by comparison.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

That might be a bit hyperbolic. The crew of sailing packets and clipper ships had very tough jobs. Both were intensely difficult physically and mentally, though.

@davidmeyer6908

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove Yes indeed they did. Before seeing this video though, I never really gave any thought of how arduous actually supplying ships with coal was.

I bet going to work as a stoker on an oil-fired ship was like a holiday after all that shovelling!

Logistics episode... Sounds GREAT 👍

It’s these fascinating and essential details that bring seafaring alive. Many thanks.

First video by this creator, really glad this was suggested to me. I never knew coaling a ship was so difficult, I always assumed it used the same kind of conveyors and towers or rotating dumpers you see at powerplants or loading coal carrying freight trains because of the volumes of coal needed for the largest ships.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Glad you learned something new

@Tuberuser187

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove Thank you for making it, you got me subbed for you genuinely quality content.

"Spending weeks away form home." -Would often be years.

Hi there! Great video! So educating and interesting. I love the narrator´s vocie, which, for me at least is very, very important in docs. and you tube videos. I think there may be one instance in which the shortage or difficulty to gain acces to coal may be considered, --- at least indirectly ---- a cause for disaster. The SS Atlantic, which ran aground on the coast near Halifax on April 1873. Travelling from Liverpool to New York, she changed course to Halifax in order to refuel on coal, since as you guys explained, officers were discrete in their calculations of coal supplies, in order not to be short. The SS Atlantic had enough coal to make it to New York, but still was deviated to Halifax in order to refuel due to this practice. As I said, this is and indirect cause of the disaster, but it´s in part a contributor to it because, at the end of the day, if she hadn´t been deviated from its course to refuel, she probably would have made it safely to New York City, don´t you think?

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Katia! I've gotten a lot of flack for my narration in earlier videos, but I've been putting in the effort to improve my narrating voice. I'm glad that effort is paying off at least a little bit. Regarding The Atlantic, that is certainly true. It wasn't due to the suppliers shorting the ship, but it was still related to the amount of coal onboard. The Atlantic is a very interesting story and gives good insight into the operation of early ocean liners.

@katiamurguiarangel7092

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove , And thank YOU for your prompt answer. Normally, when I comment on KZread videos I never get a response from the author, or nearly ever. And also, very interesting topic. I was wondering when I had already subscribed to your channel when I saw your video this morning. Turns out I´d seen the wonderful Gustloff... (sorry for the spelling) that one.... the german boat with nearly ten thousnd people on board sank by the Russians on 1945.... It was SO interesting.... and yet so tragic and sad and heart breaking!!!. I think you even answered me on a comment there. Thank you. And I really don´t know what people can have against your voice. It´s clear and engaging. Not monotone or annoying in any way. It is also paced and makes everything a lot more engaging and interesting. Good luck and keep making these great videos! Greetings from Mexico.

Simply a fantastic video!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Steve!

Even more stuff I never knew. Thank you!

Awesome video, just yesterday me and a friend of mine were just talking about this, because he was curious how did older coal burning vessels get loaded

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Hopefully this helps!

@fernandolouro6111

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove oh yeah it did, even I learned a thing or two, great video man, truly

Haven’t watched yet, but this looks like a good and not so well known topic! :) Edit: It was an amazing video! Never knew about most of the stuff covered.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you learned something. I did too when I was doing the research.

@carlosiiideespana3712

3 жыл бұрын

I’m happy you did! This channel isn’t like the typical stuff we see on ocean liners these days, which is a breath of fresh air for me.

@henryostman5740

3 жыл бұрын

@@carlosiiideespana3712 there is only one ocean liner left, Cunard's Queen Mary, all the rest are 'cruise ships', think of a huge barge with a hotel mounted on top and a pointy end welded on one end and an engine room on the other. Do not take them out on the north atlantic in winter, last year somebody did out of Norway, they had to be rescued.

@carlosiiideespana3712

3 жыл бұрын

I meant information we see ocean liners. Not ocean liners themselves.

4:12 My grandmother's brother was a Fireman aboard the RMS later HMS Duke of Albany. Must have been brutal and back breaking work. He died when she was torpedoed in August, 1916.

My dad was born in Southampton England in 1902. In 1915 he went to sea on a channel steamer supplying war material. In 1916 he was taken into the Royal Navy as an able seaman in which capacity he served for the rest of the war on the Acquitania on the Atlantic run from Liverpool to Canada or the US. After the war he was hired by the Cunard until coming to America in 1923. Coaling was one of the tasks which he told me about, and it differs from your account. The entire crew worked at coaling which was accomplished by a circular line of men being loaded with 80 lb. sacks of coal walking in a circle up one gangway, depositing the coal, then making their way down another gangway until the process was complete. Everyone hated it, but there was no avoiding it. On the America to Liverpool run the Acquitania was a troopship and dad served as a steward. On the Liverpool to America run the Acquitania was a hospital ship and dad served as a surgeon’s assistant. Sincerely, Fred Orman

The aquaitania was one of the first cunard ships to burn oil. Hence why its life was so long. (1914-1950)

@ianm452

2 жыл бұрын

... although she started as a coal burner. Aquitania was converted from coal firing to oil firing in 1919-20 in Armstrong Whitworth's yard on the Tyne, during a 7-month refit.

This was really interesting. I never understood what coaling all entailed. Thank you for posting.

I was boiler maker on SS Canberra for her 1976 world cruise. I recall bunkering 5000 tons of heavy fuel oil from lighters in Acapulco, took about 24 hours, I was knackered at the end.

Great little doc. Thanks for sharing.

I can't believe no one came up with an auger or convener belt system to load coal on ships and trains. It seems like come convener belts and augers could cut down on the labor required by a substantial amount.

@carwashadamcooper1538

3 жыл бұрын

They did. Labor was much cheaper and easier to replace when it broke down than machine. It still is in parts of the world, especially where you don't have to worry about health and safety.

@commonsense1907

3 жыл бұрын

The really big steam locomotives such as the Union Pacific Big Boy were fired with an automatic stoker which resembled an archimedes screw.

@warrenSPQRXxl

3 жыл бұрын

There were bucket ladder devices.

@warrenSPQRXxl

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelbizon444 I had one hand fired coal furnace which use stove coal. I shoveled coal in and ashes out in the morning. Later I had a boiler with an auger fed from the bottom of a large steel barrel into which I shoveled pea coal from the bunker through a grating to be sure there were no foreign objects. I would check on it every 2-3 days. The ashes just fell into a steel bucket. Both used anthracite and I had no problem with sizing of the coal. A big advantage of the furnace was that hot air would rise through the ducts even if the power went out.

@tjh44961

3 жыл бұрын

@@commonsense1907 The Big Boys were oil-fired, as were all of the Union Pacific's large locos (Challengers, FEF-3s, etc.) You would have found the stokers you're talking about on the railroads in the eastern half of the country, like the NYC, B&O, and Pennsy, where coal was more readily available. There is a cooperative project going on right now restoring the stoker engine for a steam loco under restoration, with a number of the machining channels, like Keith Rucker's VintageMachinery.org channel, Abom79, Dragonfly Engineering and Blondihacks, and possibly others.

Fascinating and informative.

Wow! What an informative video. I never thought about what an undertaking it was to fuel those old coal burning ships. I loved all the old photos too!

@lindabingham394

3 жыл бұрын

i wondered ifnthey could carry coal to get where they wanted to go acfoss the oceans

Great video mate! Very interesting :) I'm a stoker myselfe. Just one thing about the stokers and trimmers: The trimmers supplyed the stokers/firemen with coal. Also, the trimmers had to clear the boilers many fireplaces of ash and slag. Haul it away from the boiler room and hoist it up and dump it over board. The firemen were much higher in rank than the lowly trimmers. The stokers/firemen on the other hand, "only" were feeding the boilers coal and keeping an eye on the water level in the boilers. So in other words, the trimmers had a much harder and more brutal enviorment to work in. Cheers!

Anyone have an idea why this video reports "This video is unavailable on this device."? And yes, I've Googled it. And done every thing I've found. Thx for any help. Good day.

@Valarius_J

3 жыл бұрын

Same here, on a Windows 7 desktop.

@royalcomputer3780

3 жыл бұрын

Cant watch it on android either

@bobbyference9405

3 жыл бұрын

Same for iPhone

@survivalistboards

3 жыл бұрын

Windows 10, not available on this device.

@nickopedia5669

3 жыл бұрын

Same here, no luck on my windows 10 laptop and my iphone.

Really interesting and informative! Learned a lot.

Great video. You should expand it and talk about the Trimmers and Coal Passers whose job it was to be actually inside the huge coal bunkers. The Trimmers would make sure that as the tons of coal was moved to the furnaces that it didn't unbalance the ship. They worked like sea going cola miners. Like coal miners, they could be killed when the sea shifted a mountain of coal down on top of them. The Coal Passers kept the Stokers supplied with properly sized coal pieces to feed to the furnace. Hard work. Hard men.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

I intend to in a different video down the line. Thanks for watching!

Very interesting video. The biggest danger with coal dust (or any large amount of dust) isn't that it's messy. It's that it can auto-ignite, causing large explosions.

So that’s what the cranes on Olympic’s A Deck were for 😂

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Yes!

@petertyson1112

3 жыл бұрын

No, they are derricks and were for cargo.

I really want to watch this video, but it keeps telling me it’s not available on this device. I’ve tried my laptop and my phone. Any suggestions?

@OrionSlaveGirlUWU

3 жыл бұрын

I'm having the same issue. It's like ice been blocked from viewing this video.

@BrokenIET

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah me too, I might try log out of my YT account.

@tuvia4082

3 жыл бұрын

@@OrionSlaveGirlUWU VPN

Excellent. Thank you for your work.

I rewatch all these videos since I enjoy them that much!

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it!

Have often thought how tough a job it would have been to work in engine room of a coal burning ship. Did not realize what a manual process was involved to refuel. Did some of the older oceanliners continue to burn coal till their retirement? You might look at a video on how Military vessels like battleships handled coal loading and burning. Great video!

@jayschafer1760

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget that coal can spontaneously combust, so in addition to moving coal the boys in the bunkers would have to put out smoldering fires. Supposedly the Titanic had a bunker fire almost from the moment she left port.

@chrisman3673

3 жыл бұрын

@@jayschafer1760 apparently days before and constantly being put out. The side that was hit by the iceberg was damaged by coal fires before the titanic set sail.

Anyone else have this video unavailable on their device? On both phone and desktop in UK.

@spacetechempire510

3 жыл бұрын

Phone here in US

@spacetechempire510

3 жыл бұрын

Haven’t checked desktop

@BrokenIET

3 жыл бұрын

Doesn't work on my iPad or desktop for me in the UK.

@BrokenIET

3 жыл бұрын

Gonna try my phone.

Years ago I worked for Peabody Engineering Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of combustion equipment, mostly for power generation. Ernest Peabody learned how to mechanically atomize heavy (bunker "C") fuel oil without the use of steam. His burners were used on various steamships during the second decade of the 20th century, and were considered a great advance over firing coal.

So many fine photos and film clips of barges, trimmers and coal ports. A great episode, and timely for one of my projects, where I'm writing about early-20th Century shipping and the coal needed for it. Thanks, JHW

can you do a day on a 1920s ocean liner

Nice video I loved it

@josephconray

3 жыл бұрын

Luca Yates nice, which of the officers?

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@josephconray

3 жыл бұрын

Luca Yates Our great wireless operator

@josephconray

3 жыл бұрын

The Great Big Move You are welcome

An excellent video highlighting a forgotten maritime era. Well done.

5:33 getting all excited to hear a lecture on different kinds of coal. 5:47 damn

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

I think you're in the minority, unfortunately. But if enough people want a video on that, I can do it at some point.

@Lappmogel

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheGreatBigMove Doesn't really fit in with your other videos. Except if you want to deep dive into different fuels of different centuries.

@jeffreyanderson1851

3 жыл бұрын

The differences between antracite, bituminous, and lignite is actually pretty interesting.

I spent about 27 hours fueling up a chemical tanker two times within a month. Fuel was too cold and stalled the big Cummins engines driving the pumps. It sucked

@MrTitobanana

3 жыл бұрын

should have lit a fire under the diesel tank to keep it warm 😂

As a former firefighter with modern technology I can only imagine what those poor guys had to go through in the bowels of the ship to keep her going.

I actually never thought of this process. Super interesting, thank you!

Now I understand Henry's use of Welsh coal.

Interesting video, thanks. Being a bit of a collector, this film reminds me of the time I bought a B&W 16mm cine film from an antiques fair. Didn't know what was on it but it was cheap enough. I have a 16mm projector, and watched the film when I got home. It turned out to be someone's pre WW2 home movie of an overseas holiday to the far east. In one sequence the coaling of the ship is show, Suez Canal perhaps. All done by hand with the locals carrying the coal up a gang plank in baskets, on their heads. Amazing to watch, I later passed the film on to the BFI in London.

@TheGreatBigMove

3 жыл бұрын

What a great find!

The SS Atlantic wrecked as a result of the captain thinking they were going to run out of coal in 1870

@alexander10000000

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, but that was only because the chief engineer was falsifying the daily fuel report that the captain received. The chief did that because he wanted to captain to run at a lower speed, thus saving coal. But, we all know how that turned out.

@alexander10000000

3 жыл бұрын

@fred brant ?

Very interesting. I always wondered how it was done. In the beginning i thought the i am the only kid who found ocean liners interesting because when I try to share my interest with others, they will change the subject. The comments tell me that i'm not alone :) Subcribed.

Impressive presentation

I can see how oil was seen as an attractive upgrade - just pump the damned stuff on through a pipe with 1/10th the people required to keep the oil fueling the engines.

This is the channel that I've been looking for. Thank you.

Absolutely fascinating, glad I subscribed.

Geez, and here I was thinking it would be hard to fire an american steam locomotive right before the switch to using automatic stokers

I've learned something today: under no circumstances accept an arm wrestle challenge from a fireman on an early 20th Century steamship

When I was in the Royal Navy in the 1970 and at Faslane (Nuk Sub Base in Scotland) as a Navy Diver - we had a crappy ol ex fishing vessel, called "Yoyo", as our surface support diving vessel. It had a diesel engine - that consistantly burst into flame, but thats other (usually amusing) storys, but the heating & cooking on board was all done by coal fires. The galley, and the crew's mess had multi fuel stove like things - only 20 yrs before they were invented?? I remember coaling ship ... usually took about four bags ... all a which had to be carried on my back!! It was hell, and often took up to 15 mins! It was a lovely vessel - NOT!! - when repainting the hull we had to be really careful, because excessive pressure on the paint brush would tear out great lumps of ship side planking. I belive (Hope) the RN is a little better now-a-days!

Interesting video. We have it so soft and easy nowadays, and people still complain about work.