The Marine Engineers of the STEAM SHIP TITANIC

By Mark S. Eibel
Published on January 1, 1995
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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
Britanic.

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.

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