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MEMOIRS OF A YOUNG ENGINEERING OFFICER
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Radar at that time was not good as
reflections from waves crests and the "clutter" of derricks
/masts/halyards etc reflecting the signal caused a great deal of
signal "noise" around the center of the scanner on the display, so
another vessel close to was not easy to spot. I laughed and pointed
out that the Eagle was twice our size. However, the deck
officer pointed out that the way the two ships turned away each from
the other, we would have pushed the Eagle over. He also said he was
on the wing of the bridge and could almost have touched the hull of
the Carrier at the crucial time.
I am certain that no
[official] record will ever be found of the incident, as both
navigating bridge staffs were in error.
The picture of the
Rangitiki in dry dock, this evokes memories of a most bitterly
cold winter when the ship was in the King George V dry dock. The
painters were happily chipping and scraping away at the hull. They
started putting holes in the plates and knocking rivets clean
off with their chipping hammers. Well, Lloyds surveyors were
quickly called back ~ they had previously issued a seaworthiness
certificate, and so whole sections of the hull were marked off for
replacement. Imagine the ship as being like a large bell in dry
dock, and hammers and riveting guns going. Sleep was not easy!
Reverting to the use of
residual fuel oil, it presented the problem of scavenge
fires (exhaust fires). Once, when making our way up to the Ocean
Terminal at Southampton, a scavenge fire started in an engine. The
second engineer was a clever fellow and forbade the use of the CO2
fire extinguishers, as the change from red hot to very cool gas at
expansion would almost certainly have caused much damage to the
cylinders etc. So he told the bridge he would keep the engine
running on three of the six cylinders, but if they ordered it
stopped he would not restart it. So the forward three cylinders
kept firing away.
I am not long returned
from a cruise on the new Queen
Victoria,
OH MY - how things have changed! The “in” things now are bow and
stern thrusters, and the latest, to me, developments are Azipods as
the main propulsion systems; two high voltage motors that can rotate
through 360 degrees. The normal position is with the propeller at
the front of the machinery, thus pulling the ship forward rather
than pushing it, and with real time directional thrust added by the
thrusters for low speed manoeuvring.
I learned much about
engineering in those days, including the need for smaller engines
and no long propeller shafts, or multi collar thrust blocks.
Eliminating these would all lead to a reduction in weight and would
free up space for cargo or passenger accommodation and son. Hence
the great advantage of things like Azipods, no prop tunnels, etc.
However the electricity demand of the
Queen Victoria
is in the order of 63,5 MW. Passenger comfort levels are much
higher today than in the days of the Rangi-Boats.
Both my brother-in-law and
myself are far from happy about the slab-sided nature of the modern
cruise liner, and consider the first thing the modern captains of
those floating gin palaces must look at is the weather forecast,
unlike the Rangitiki and ships of her ilk which were
excellent sea boats. It was good to see her putting her bow into a
rough sea and just shaking it off and then meeting the next one.
Names I can recall are,
Joe Fletcher - Chief Electrical Officer, Harry Ball - Chief
Refrigeration Officer, Ian Broadhurst - Second 'Fridge Officer,
whose father fired the first shot of the Commonwealth forces in the
last war. He was in command of a battery protecting the Heads of
Wellington and harbour in New Zealand’s North Island when a ship
failed to stop on order, so he had a shot put across her bow. She
stopped P D Q! Others are Tom Beaufort - a junior engineering
officer from Bluff in the South Island, Dave Shell - he Fourth
Engineer who smoked 'till he put the light out and smoked before he
put his light on. The Captain was called Lettington if memory
serves me aright, and then there was "Slash" a Liverpudlian, a
junior engineer who was a rough diamond indeed but a joy to know.
Also two Glasgow engineers, to whit Bobby Laurie and Dave Grieg,
It is great number of
years since I last knew the Rangitki and the crew , but some
things stick in my mind. Often out of the blue comes a memory of
that long time ago. I have every much enjoyed
your web site and shall return to it often and I thank you for all
your effort in producing such a wonderful piece of Nostalgia for me,
and many others also I am sure.
T. C. M. Whyte, F.I.E.T.
May 2008
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