Engineering Triumph

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 92, 9 July 1927, Page 2

Engineering Triumph

Steamer Rammed Below Water-Line

7,000 Tons of Water in Engine-Room

RAMMED below the water-line and all power put out of commission, and with 7,000 tons of water flooding the engine-room, the new American steamer Malolo which was on her way to run her trials, demonstrated an engineering triumph of the stability of a steamer under severe stress. There was no real danger of the vessel sinking, but the crew and officials attending the trial suffered a period of considerable discomfort.

Rammed on May 25 during foggy weather off the Nantucket Shoals, the Matson Line’s new wonder ship the Malolo was rendered hors de combat while en route to take her trials off the Massachusetts coast. The vessel in collision, the Jacob Christensen, took her fair and square amidships striking, nose on, the bulkhead dividing the first and second series of boilers and puncturing the Malolo below the water line. This flooded both compartments cutting off all motive power. Immediately after the crash the hydraulic watertight doors were closed and the inrushing water being confined to the two damaged compartments the Malolo floated easily despite 7,000 tons of invading water. True, her trim was altered so that she sank 10ft by the head and about sft by the stern, but the great thing is that in spite of a blow which in most cases would sink a ship in a few minutes —which is what actually happened when the Empress of Ireland was sunk in the spring of 1914 —her safety devices were so perfect that she was never in any danger of sinking. Even had a third compartment been flooded she would have floated safely. DISASTER HAS COMPENSATIONS While it is unfortunate that the Malolo should have met with such a mishap at the outset of her career, the incident is not without compensations for it has proved that a vessel of the highest modern construction can survive what would ordinarily prove a death blow. By taking the crash at that particular point all power and heat was immediately cut off. Had the point of impact been five feet one side or the other, one set of boilers would have been intact and the vessel could have proceeded under her own steam; but it is a triumph in the cause of safety at sea to know that even with motive power totally disabled the stability of the ship was not seriously imperilled. The Malolo s crew and company of experts suffered considerable inconvenience and the hardship of being cut off from the world for a few days, but they were not in any real danger and that is the main thing. On Saturday, May 2S, an army of newspaper men, press photographers and others interested were escorted out to Ambrose Light on the Moran tug Joseph H. Moran, where the Malolo was met coming under towage of seven towboats and a wrecking tug. It was noticeable that she was down by the head and had a slight list to port. WATER-TIGHT DOORS PREVENT FLOODING On boarding the Malolo it was easily seen that no damage liad been sustained

! except at the point of impact on the ! port side. Above the water line the injury was negligible—a few scratches and two buckled plates, although the crash must have been severe since the force of the impact had loosened a few rivets on the starboard side exactly opposite. The Stone system water, tight doors closed with smooth precision and demonstrated under the severest possible test their practical value. Of the accident itself. Admiral David W. Taylor says he saw the Jacob Christensen advancing out of the fog at a good rate with a bone in her teeth “like a snowdrift’* and the next minute the crash occurred. As showing how fog distorts an object it may be noted that Admiral Taylor estimated the si le of tiie Jacob Christensen at S,<KM) to 10,000 tons, whereas her registered tonnage is only 3,594. It has often been alleged that objects seen through fog are magnified, but it is not often one can get such concrete affirmation. There was no panic on board. In fact, one fireman was so occupied with his task he did not bother about the water until he found himself floating. By that time everything had been made secure. One small element of danger existed in an ill-fitting manhole cover in the swimming pool. Water was making rapidly through this defect, but a courageous engineer, working under water, soon remedied the fault and meantime the water was kept under control by hand power pumps. This pumping was about the only genuine hardship experienced. ONLY MINOR DISCOMFORTS Of the lesser discomforts, the absence of light and heat proved the most trying. The auxiliary electric plant partly met the difficulty and the radio batteries were kept shipshape enabling the ship to keep touch with the shore and other shipping. Heat for cooking was another difficulty, but the ship’s company improvised stoves with sheet iron and all the available hard wood around the vessel was collected for fuel. It was a most remarkable test from an engineering point of view—and a most complete one in every particular—and triumphantly the Malolo has met it. The Sperry gyro compass and the direction finder proved their value in the emergency, and there are many other devices that proved their special merit, so many that it is beyond the space of this article to describe how everything stood up under the strain.