Battleship engine room

[USSWisconsin]

This was really neat and I didn't want to hijack the destroyer thread since they passed beyond the steam engine discussion
but wanted to stay on the subject for a bit.

HMS Dreadnought Boiler Room C
This superbly detailed cutaway drawing is from John Robert's "The Battleship Dreadnought," part of the "Anatomy of the Ship" series. This illustration depicts the maze of piping and machinery that was typical of a boiler room in the early 20th century.

HMS Dreadnought Boiler Room C | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Michigan_Guy]

Neat stuff! Thanks for posting that!

[USSWisconsin]

A 3D model of HMS Dreadnoughts turbine

[USSWisconsin]

the turret, like the boiler room, labels


Plan of British 12"/45 Mark X Twin Turret Gunhouse | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[DocHayes]

What are the Ready use shell racks for?

[Dreadnought]

What are the Ready use shell racks for?

The Ready use shell racks would contain live rounds for the gun. These rounds could be fired immediately if a timely action is required. I have never heard of them used in a main battery turret as such before. I guess in a way I have, rumors held that times when the BB's went into theatre sometimes rumors of the projectile lifts being filled as well as the shell decks for x amount of extra rounds. Dont know if thats true or not but have heard several times. Apparently for the British 12"/45 guns in this diagram they have 1 as shown unless it was added by the person that drew it. If you notice it is of the same shape as the projectiles in the guns loading cradle (loading boagie (#4) in this case) but I cannot imagine such a scenerio unless they were that close to battle or bombardment to have one on the ready as such.. safety hazzards and all.

[USSWisconsin]

The Virbus Unitus - steam propulsion Austria Hungarian version

[USSWisconsin]

The Ready use shell racks would contain live rounds for the gun. These rounds could be fired immediately if a timely action is required. I have never heard of them used in a main battery turret as such before. I guess in a way I have, rumors held that times when the BB's went into theatre sometimes rumors of the projectile lifts being filled as well as the shell decks for x amount of extra rounds. Dont know if thats true or not but have heard several times. Apparently for the British 12"/45 guns in this diagram they have 1 as shown unless it was added by the person that drew it. If you notice it is of the same shape as the projectiles in the guns loading cradle (loading boagie (#4) in this case) but I cannot imagine such a scenerio unless they were that close to battle or bombardment to have one on the ready as such.. safety hazzards and all.

it appears they were common on early British battleships

[Dreadnought]

it appears they were common on early British battleships
Attachment 24505

I would say common on a war footing, but in times of peace I dont think you would find them off the shell decks and secured. In peacetime safety takes priority not to say it doesnt in battle but in peacetime more generally practiced.

[USSWisconsin]

I would say common on a war footing, but in times of peace I don't think you would find them off the shell decks and secured. In peacetime safety takes priority not to say it doesn't in battle but in peacetime more generally practiced.

I believe you are correct, in peacetime the ready use racks would normally be empty - all the ammunition would be safely stowed in the magazines, except perhaps in a shooting exercise where ROF was a factor in the competition. From my reading: shell and powder handling had a big shakeup in WWI - for the Germans at the Battle of Helgoland Blight (1914), and for the British at Jutland (1916), a couple years later. The British had the most costly lesson - loosing 3 battlecruisers at Jutland, the Germans managed to limp home with their burned out turrets after Beatty's thrashing at Helgoland, perhaps due to their smaller guns (with smaller, metal cased charges for their sliding block breaches), heavier protection and compartmentalization. It was the powder charges that were most vulnerable to flash, the shells (projectiles) were much more insensitive. The British bagged charges would be more danagerous than the metal cased main charges used in the German big guns, though the Germans had bagged fore-charges which were just as vulnerable.

[USSWisconsin]

Battleship Wisconsin - Turret 1 Panorama
panaramic view of USS Wisconsin BB64 main turret
very cool

http://www.nauticus.org/exhibits/int...panorama-shots

[Ken_NJ]

Alot more room without the optical range finder. Not much to bump the noggin on. Saw this from Facebook as well.

[Dreadnought]

She looks really good, nice, clean and painted. The tubing you see across the top of the roof is for dehumidification. Needless to say, if they dont keep up on it, it will snow in turret one once humidity sets in and the paint begins to peel. She does look really good though.

[looking4NSFS]

She looks really good, nice, clean and painted. The tubing you see across the top of the roof is for dehumidification. Needless to say, if they dont keep up on it, it will snow in turret one once humidity sets in and the paint begins to peel. She does look really good though.

Dread.
How is this peeling prevented when ships that are dehumidified for keeping are reactivated? Is it a matter of how long the process is in effect? Or is it just accepted that the paint will peel and will need redone? Maybe this is a better question for the Ghost Fleet thread.

[Dreadnought]

Dread.
How is this peeling prevented when ships that are dehumidified for keeping are reactivated? Is it a matter of how long the process is in effect? Or is it just accepted that the paint will peel and will need redone? Maybe this is a better question for the Ghost Fleet thread.

From what I understand, there is a delicate balance of humidity/dehumidification that will keep them for a prolonged amount of time if conditions are right. This means that so many spaces are dehumidified and certain spaces left for normal temp breathing. Rusty explained this before but I'm not so sure upon which thread. You may be correct in thinking that it is contained in the Ghost Fleet thread.