R.D. #2, Box 195, Acadia Drive Magnolia, Ohio 44643-9621
Back in 1907, Cunard Line built two giant ocean liners,
Mauritania and Lusitania. This put a great strain on the
White Star Line. So White Star came up with a design for two ships
1 times larger than any ship of that time. They were named Olympic
and Titanic. Later a third sister was added. Her name was
The middle sister was to become one of the greatest sea
disasters of all time. On her maiden voyage, the RMS
Titanic grazed an iceberg for 300 feet, opening 12 square feet
to the ice cold ocean. Consequently, the water overcame the pumps,
and she sank, taking with her 1,523 human lives. On board were
2,228 lives1,324 passengers and 904 crew members. She was certified
to carry 3,547 and had seating in all her life boats for 1,876.
Far below her fine living area was the living part of the
Titanic. She had 29 boilers, 25 double-end and 4
single-end, and 186 furnaces hand fired by some 360 stokers. The 25
double-ended boilers were to provide steam for the main
engines.
These were reciprocating type consisting of four cylinders, each
being triple expansion, one high pressure 54′ diameter, one
intermediate pressure of 84′ diameter, and two low pressure
each 97′ in diameter. All had a common stroke of 75′. These
two monsters could turn 76 RPM and produced 15,000 SHP each. These
weighed in at 920 tons each, and turned the wing propellers.
After the steam did its work on these engines, it exhausted into
a low pressure steam turbine that turned the center propeller at
165 RPM at 16,000 SHP. This combination gave Titanic an
economical 46,000 SHP, and she could cruise at 21 knots. Not bad
for a ship with 46,329 gross tons and 34 foot draft.
This was all done in boiler rooms 6, 5, 4, 3, & 2; when
combined with boiler room #1, Titanic produced 900,000
lbs. per hour of steam at 215 lbs. per square inch. In 24 hours,
she burned 500 tons of coal hand shoveled.
After the main engines were stopped, boiler rooms 6 through 2
were taken off-line, leaving #1 boiler room to make steam to
operate the pumps and the electric generators. Can you imagine what
would have happened on that moonless night if the generators
failed? Total darkness, panic, and . . . !
Just who did this task? Who stayed at their post? Who was
prepared to die deep in the bowels of Titanic? The marine
engineer. The person nobody seems to know about. In this case,
their names were:
Thos. Andrews, Jr.
Builder
Joseph Bell
Chief Engineer
W. E. Farquharson
Sr. Second Engineer
Norman Harrison
Jr. Second Engineer
J. H. Hesketh
Jr. Second Engineer
Bertie Wilson
Sr. Asst. Second Engineer
Herbert Gifford Harvey
Jr. Asst. Second Engineer
Jonathan Shephard
Jr. Asst. Second Engineer
George Fox Hosking
Sr. Third Engineer
Edward C. Dodd
Jr. Third Engineer
Charles Hodge
Sr. Asst. Third Engineer
Francis Ernest George Cox
Jr. Asst. Third Engineer
James Fraser
Jr. Asst. Third Engineer
Leonard Hodakinson
Sr. Fourth Engineer
Jas. M. Smith
Jr. Fourth Engineer
Henry Ryland Dyer
Sr. Asst. Fourth Engineer
Rennex Watso Dodds
Jr. Asst. Fourth Engineer
Arthur Ward
Jr. Asst. Fourth Engineer
Thomas Hulman Kenp
Xtra Asst. Fourth Engineer
(Refrigerator)
Frank Alfred Parsons
Sr. Fifth Engineer
W. D. Mackie
Jr. Fifth Engineer
Robert Miller
Xtra Fifth Engineer
William Young Moyes
Sr. Sixth Engineer
William McReynolds
Jr. Sixth Engineer
Henry Philip Creese
Deck Engineer
Thomas Miller
Asst. Deck Engineer
Peter Sloan
Chief Electrician
Alfred Samuel Allsop
Jr. Electrician
Herbert Jupe
Asst. Electrician
Alfred Pirrie Middleton
Asst. Electrician
Albert George Ervine
Asst. Electrician
William Kelly
Asst. Electrician
George Alexander Chisnall
Sr. Boilermaker
Hugh Fitzpatrick
Asst. Boilermaker
Arthur J. Rous
Plumber
William Luke Duffy
Chief Engineers Clerk (Writer)
The marine engineer who is he? What makes him become one with
the machinery he operates? None of these brave unsung heroes ever
saw the light of day again. They stayed below deck so others could
be saved.
