Rigging a Jumbo

[Des Taff Jenkins]

I have rigged a jumbo a number of times but as the years pass I find I miss things.
Can anyone remember when rigging a Jumbo, the gutywires go through a bloke shackled to the deck and the led over a roller on the after end of the forecastle and onto the windlass drum, now this is where I can't remember, was the guy wire shackled to the drum of the windlass one on each drum ? or was some round turns taken over the barrels and hauled or slackened by a seaman.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Your talking about the steam guys I assume Des , would have thought it varied ship to ship and how the rigging went. Also the number of seamen you had available , both methods could have been used, also depending on how many heavy lifts you had.
A similar problem going up the seaway to the Great Lakes , with your 4 lock spring wires on a conventional ship where I found it was better to have a man on each wire as could slacken off quicker than the winch and finished up with less broken wires. However with tension winches was a different ball game and things weren’t so hazardous . Different job to the heavy lift but same principles . If we are talking about the same thing that is . Cheers JS

[Ivan Cloherty]

Usually on a 5 hatch vessel (our days) the jumbos were at #2 and #4 hatches. The rigging of steam guys for #2 jumbo would be led through snatch blocks on deck to the heel blocks on the #1 hatch winches. The winches at #2 would be used for the hauling and topping lift purchases. The steam guys for #4 jumbo would be led through snatch blocks to #5 hatch winches and the winches at #4 again used for hauling and topping wires.

I would have been vary wary of any system that used the drum of the windlass with a seamen feeding or slacking a wire on a jumbo with a heavy lift, but that again would depend upon the weight of the lift. Normally anything under 10 tons you would rig one of your UP (Union Purchase)normal derricks and use the winches at the hatch for hauling and topping, then using a deadman (Barrel filled with cement) hung from the other UP derrick to swing the unloaded derrick back inboard and the loaded derrick would be swung outboard by crew (or stevedores) hauling on the outboard guy rope.

Later the Stulken mast brought a whole new game into play.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi J.S and Ivan
We where unloading a train in Freemantle from no two hatch, and I can almost see the steam guy wire leading from a block on the deck slightly forward of No two and up over a roller set into the edge of the Forecastle, then it's a bit misty, I think there was a hole in the inside of the drums on the windlass, and both drums could be separated from each other and the anchor chains isolated. But I can't see the wire being shackled to this hole, although there was plenty of wire to run around the barrel.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Des my experience wth Jumbos was only with one ship the Maratha Endeavour , she was built primary to carry steam locomotives from Germany to India. Anyone who has ships photos of Chowgules Steamships ( Bahamas ) will see this 180 ton monstrosity halfway down the foredeck. On the assumption we may have a charter involving a heavy lift I got all the gear such as blocks etc out of the large mast house. It was a six fold purchase the lifting hook and the blocks were at least 6 feet tall. Anyhow half way through this plan of attack I was informed part of the top hamper which was imperative for the use of the jumbo had been removed in earlier years and to rig it would require a shore heavy lift crane. So every thing was restowed and I thanked my lucky stars that a job using it was not going to be by me. Apart from the rigging of such, a bigger problem was working out the stability as your centre of gravity shoots to the the Derrick head block as soon as the weight comes on it and all sorts of weird ballast problems have to be observed. As to the former removal of the top hamper gear it had been removed to be able to get under the bridges in Chicago up the Great Lakes and boy was I pleased about that. Stick with Ivan’s info. he’s more used to jumbos than me ,the only jumbo at the time was the one with a long trunk that I was interested in. Cheers JS.

[happy daze john in oz]

I heard they were sorting a Jumbo at the local green.
Turned out it was for an Elephant at the local circus.
Can be confusing at times.

[j.sabourn]

Bet it was Pink as well John ? JS

[Mo Docherty]

I remember putting the johnny over the jumbo head when it was erect

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
You are right about that, I remember when the train was swung over the side the ship healed over until the bulwarks touched the wharf , I used to have a picture of it but it has long gone somewhere.
Des

[Bill Morrison]

Hi Des #9. This is the best I can do. The one with trains doesn't show the derricks.
Bill.