Ship porn
- Thread starter bi0boy
- Start date
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
no pic, unless I go net-trawling, but an anecdote ...
back when I were a nipper, the RN were recruiting from schools and, like several others, we were treated to a helicopter and senior officer visit.
We got the captain (I think) of Ark Royal and an early SeaKing.
After the talk and display, he asked for "any questions" and some wag asked what the fuel economy was like. After the initial reaction settled down, the reply was "about a gallon a fathom at full flank speed (he said that just over 30 knots)" cue a stunned silence as that sank in. Apparently, that was done during a certain cross-Atlantic dash a year or so before, when they left their "oiler" trailing behind them ...
back when I were a nipper, the RN were recruiting from schools and, like several others, we were treated to a helicopter and senior officer visit.
We got the captain (I think) of Ark Royal and an early SeaKing.
After the talk and display, he asked for "any questions" and some wag asked what the fuel economy was like. After the initial reaction settled down, the reply was "about a gallon a fathom at full flank speed (he said that just over 30 knots)" cue a stunned silence as that sank in. Apparently, that was done during a certain cross-Atlantic dash a year or so before, when they left their "oiler" trailing behind them ...
SikhWarrioR
And the Worms ate into his brain
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
oneflewover
Following "The Tigers"
I remember going out of Seaforth on this old lady..
A sister ship of the Atlantic Conveyor of Falklands War fame?
oneflewover
Following "The Tigers"
Looking at the photos of the old Liners, the design brief had to have had the line "and make it beautiful" something completely missing from todays briefs, which must include "make it look like a brick"
Cid
Proper break this time
Kite assisted cargo ships - the way forward?
Really?
Apparently works...
To make a brief foray into superyachts, it's worth mentioning the Maltese Falcon...
Dynarig sails... Fully computer controlled. Originally design as a system for potential sail shipping. Company called Dykstra (who worked on the Falcon) have some ideas:
Which will probably come to naught.
Cid
Proper break this time
I think for Londoners HMS Belfast must hold fond memories. A mate of mine had his birthday party on it, the bastard.
Although just along the South Bank is the Hay's Galleria which has a ship sculpture type thing (David Kemp's 1987 the Navigators) which used to freak me out and fascinate me in equal measure.
Although just along the South Bank is the Hay's Galleria which has a ship sculpture type thing (David Kemp's 1987 the Navigators) which used to freak me out and fascinate me in equal measure.
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
oneflewover said:
Previous generation to the Conveyor: so older and smaller.
19sixtysix
Life as viewed from a Gay Gorbals Garret
Typhoon-class submarine. The largest sub ever built, carrying 200 nuclear independently targeted warheads in 20 ICBMs, a single ship of this class could have devastated an entire Continent single-handedly.
But it's still just a boat.
It certainly works. Back in the late 70s a British firm had this in service:
AFAIK it showed a significant saving in fuel, but when oil prices went down again in the 80s it wasn't worth pursuing. For the same reason I doubt there are that many sail-assist projects under development atm, but there was certainly talk about them a few years ago when oil prices were peaking.
On a rather mundane note, Panagia Tinou, one of countless ferries plying its trade around the Greek islands. I want to go and travel on this ship:
I have fond memories of her in her first life, as the Sealink ferry Hengist:
She's not done badly - more than 40 years old now and still going strong, though one wonders for how much longer.
I have fond memories of her in her first life, as the Sealink ferry Hengist:
She's not done badly - more than 40 years old now and still going strong, though one wonders for how much longer.
A bit more Atlantic liner porn. The Mauretania:
'All ships have a soul,' said Franklin Roosevelt, 'but the Mauretania had one you could talk to.' She also held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing from 1907 to 1929, and when she was finally beaten by a brand-new German liner she had one last go at getting the record back, in which she didn't succeed but did beat her own time from two decades previously.
A generation earlier, the early White Star Line steamers were handsome things, this one being the Britannic:
'All ships have a soul,' said Franklin Roosevelt, 'but the Mauretania had one you could talk to.' She also held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing from 1907 to 1929, and when she was finally beaten by a brand-new German liner she had one last go at getting the record back, in which she didn't succeed but did beat her own time from two decades previously.
A generation earlier, the early White Star Line steamers were handsome things, this one being the Britannic:
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Ah, but were their identities swapped in mid Atlantic as part of an insurance swindle meaning it was actually the Olympic that was sunk by an iceberg, by Neil Armstrong who was an illuminati lizard? Wake up sheeple!
bi0boy
Power User
A generation earlier, the early White Star Line steamers were handsome things, this one being the Britannic:
Why did it have four masts? Were they just reluctant to part with them with the advent of steam?
They were more of an insurance policy against engine failure, really, combined with a touch of traditionalism. The sails would have sometimes been set when the wind was favourable, to help the engines along and cut down fuel consumption, but Atlantic liners were fully-fledged steamships from the 1840s and sails became less and less necessary as engines became more powerful, efficient and reliable, and less desirable as superstructure grew. The next generation of liners, from the mid-1870s onwards, dispensed with them completely.
That said, if you look at Titanic's registry certificate she's still listed as schooner-rigged even though she couldn't carry sail at all. By that point the masts' main purpose was to accommodate the look-out post and radio aerials.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
I know that when the RNLI first introduced engines the crews were affronted at the insult to their seamanship and indeed, the engines were "auxillary" to sailing or pulling. But by WW2 that was reversed with pulling and sailing boats being superseded by motorlifeboats.
However, the last in service pure pulling lifeboat was in Whitby until 1957.
However, the last in service pure pulling lifeboat was in Whitby until 1957.
SikhWarrioR
And the Worms ate into his brain
After the collision with HMS Hawke in 1911 while RMS Olympic was under the command of Capt EJ Smith which was supposed to be uneconomic to repair??
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SikhWarrioR
And the Worms ate into his brain
It certainly works. Back in the late 70s a British firm had this in service:
AFAIK it showed a significant saving in fuel, but when oil prices went down again in the 80s it wasn't worth pursuing. For the same reason I doubt there are that many sail-assist projects under development atm, but there was certainly talk about them a few years ago when oil prices were peaking.
Like next gen steam locomotives and the new airship designs could they just be waiting their time ?
Sail-assist definitely has a future, but AFAIK it's pretty much on hold - at least as far as commercial applications go - pending another rise in oil prices.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
The P&O Strathnaver started life in 1932 as a mail ship working London - Brisbane. She was requisitioned as a troop ship during WW2 and took part in the Anzio landings. Refitted after the war, she went back to plying her trade between Britain and Oz, but now transporting migrants to and from the UK and Australia and points between.
In September 1952, Strathnaver brought my dad to London from Bombay, through the Suez Canal, via Port Said and Marseille.
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Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
The RNLI design their own lifeboats in Poole.This is the Arun class which was quite innovative when it was introduced in 1971 and is what the current Severn and Trent boats are based on. It's now left service and been sold around the world from Canada to China:
The only charity for which I have a standing order. They need £400,000 EVERY DAY
Heading out to sea during the very worst weather possible, putting their lives at a very real risk every time - nearly every single life-boatman and woman is a volunteer. Makes me fucking proud to be a human.
The P&O Strathnaver started life as a mail ship working the London - Brisbane route. She was requisitioned as a troop ship during WW2 and took part in the Anzio landings. Refitted after the war she went back to transporting migrants to and from the UK and Australia and points between, and in 1952 brought my dad to London from Bombay, through the Suez Canal, via Port Said and Marseille.
If we're getting into ships with a family connection, herewith the New Zealand Shipping Company's RMS Rangitata:
She brought my grandmother and her two daughters back from New Zealand, after my grandfather buggered off with another woman. Not the world's most successful attempt at emigration tbf.
RNLI subscriber and supporter here too 
Always bung a score in the box at any lifeboat station I'm near (I'm half a mile from the weymouth LB right now actually!)
Last needed their help a couple of years ago - Falmouth lifeboat one day, Plymouth the very next
As detailed on one of the "drag" threads iirc
But yeah, heroes one and all, and being a seafarer, knowing those dudes are there ready to drop everything, put to sea in any conditions to come and save your arse, is a great thing.
Hooray for the RNLI
^^ Weymouth lifeboat
Always bung a score in the box at any lifeboat station I'm near (I'm half a mile from the weymouth LB right now actually!)Last needed their help a couple of years ago - Falmouth lifeboat one day, Plymouth the very next
As detailed on one of the "drag" threads iircBut yeah, heroes one and all, and being a seafarer, knowing those dudes are there ready to drop everything, put to sea in any conditions to come and save your arse, is a great thing.
Hooray for the RNLI
^^ Weymouth lifeboat
