the steering flat

[William Gardner]

on the first ships i was on all berthed aft we had a big steam steerlng engine noisy dam thing in space called the steerng flat what with the prop going thump all the time and that going used to send us to sleep in fact when the noise stopped i would wake up we got used to it remember a big quadrant gear inthe flat one day we did a emergancy drill to steer the ship from aft a wheel in the flat took two men to turn it cant recal if we had a signal pointer or we shouted the port or starboard rudder movements only a drill never used it for real 58 old ellermans

[Ivan Cloherty]

Also never used it for real William, as far as I can recall, not something you would forget really, like you also used it on drills, and glad I didn't have to use it for real it was hard work in good weather.

[Captain Kong]

My cabin was always next to the Steering Flat on the Fort boats, You could always tell who was steering with the quadrant leaping about.What with four men to a cabin, some on a different watch, Noise, banging, thumping of the prop on top of all that, Lights going on and off during the night as one watch called and the other turning in etc.
I could sleep like a top. Only woke up when she stopped.
Cheers
Brian

[robpage]

All the ships I sailed on , despite some being pre 1950 , all had hydraulic gear with one exception that had a quadrant , that was the noisiest thing imaginable . I had an aversion to changing over to emergency position . On the Gulf Finn the 3rd Engineer was an ex Brown Brothers apprentice , he was showing a first tripper how to change to emergency and the aft steering position . I was watching , he being ex Brown's may have a different slant , so
1) phone the Bridge
2) take the pin out of the Bridge control position
3) put the pin in the emergency position , and tell the new guy , never put your finger in that hole , the sickening crunch that followed was a good demonstration as what not to do as the hydraulics moved , and his index finger did not have the shear strength of the wrought iron pin . The third mate left the steering on auto as he did not know to put it to manual , and poor old Gilberts finger stayed in the hole .I poked it out with a pencil into the oily palm of my hand , and put the pin back to bridge position , picked the finger up and took Gilbert to the Chief steward , nd then threw up , it was not pleasent !!

[j.sabourn]

Someone told me once that a very rough way to steer a vessel probably only to a couple of points was to put the bight of a mooring line over the stern and to put the ends to the barrels of the after mooring winch one over and one under, and by driving and reversing the barrels could control by the bight in the water the general direction of the ship. Thinking back it was an old ex wartime seaman who told me so maybe he had, had to do it at one time. The old releiving tackles of the old steam quadrant would have taking about a day to rig. The actual control of the Quadrant from the steering quadrant position all you were doing was controlling it direct and byepassing the telemotor system. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

Have been on ships with no rudders. In theory they are magic to manouvre in still water. However as usual in bad weather a pain in the ass. All these ship designers come up with all these futuristic ideas and unforuanetly the seaman is the one who has to try them out in practice. Azimuth thrusters having one each end could spin the ship in its own length. The best idea I sailed with was on a norwegian vessel when speed was not essential. Used to drop an azimuth propellor about the midships area. Driven by an Electric motor and got 5 knots out of her. Shut the main Engine down and steamed for days on such. JS

[Keith Tindell]

I worked very briefly on Wightlink Isle of Wight ferries 20 years ago, and if my memory is anywhere near right, they did not have rudders, steered with various propellors , but the booze damaged brain cells could be wrong on that, KT

[robpage]

No , you re quite correct they had The Voith Schneider propeller (VSP), also known as a cycloidal drive (CD) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS). It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously. It is widely used on tugs and ferries..

http://www.voith.com/en/products-ser...ler-10002.html

[Captain Kong]

Many cruise ships today do not have rudders, The QM2 has the azipods.
and the Amsterdam of HAL, I have just come off has 2 x ABB Azipods 2 x 15.5 MW from 5 diesel generators, Total power 65,000 HP.So No Rudder.
Cheers
Brian

[robpage]

azipod.jpgvoith.jpg

That is an Azipod and a Voith