Inside the Boiler of The World's Fastest Battleship
2022 ж. 30 Мау.
210 338 Рет қаралды
In this episode we're inside one of the boilers on the battleship.
For our previous video inside Massachusetts' boiler: • Inside a Battleship's ...
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Been there, done that. 55 years ago. I had both 'M' and 'D' type boilers in my time aboard ships. One thing that most didn't realize was that in the combat zone, that boiler repair work was 24/7 until the boiler was buttoned up and re-fired. We had no 8 hr shifts. It was work until either it was your turn to stand watch again or the boiler was put back online. Many a night I snoozed on the deck plates. On most boilers, a burner was pulled to access the box. The 1600 hr steam time was just to clean and wire brush the exposed tubes and metal surfaces. Re-brick was only done in a yard unless there happened to be a brick failure and then the damaged areas were repaired with new brick. The studs were there to hold the plastic chrome ore (pco) that came in danm heavy short barrels that was rammed a handfull at a time with a pneumatic hammer, about the studs wielded to the tubes around the transition points where the tubed entered the drums. Most of the burners were fitted with pre-shaped fire brick supplied from B&W. Every opened boiler was a 'joy' to look forward to for the BT's. When I was in, the safety breathing equipment consisted of old T-shirts. That ash on the deck of the boiler was converted into clouds that a BT breathed for weeks when scooping it into buckets. That and the 120 degree heat of the Gulf made such a great incentive for telling the on-board recruiting NCO's where that stood in our lives. There was no cleanup when it came to chow. We would climb out of the hole and apparently looked like a pack of racoons standing in the chow line. From a good standing member of the Tonkin Gulf Club.
Hearing about all the occupational hazards I am happy to hear you being able to talk about those things so long ago!👍🏻
Thanking you for your years of service aside, your opening says all I need to know... "Been there, done that..." lmao.. you're that guy who finds a way, anyway to tell your story in conversations where all the topic needs to be is somewhat related.. you worked the hardest, stayed awake on patrol and boiler repair the longest, got the dirtiest, volunteering for the most dangerous, ate chow the fastest, put away the most food, all while walking 10 miles up hill to get to the ship each day in a snow storm... lmfao... your comment was very detailed.. Ryan must have asked you about your work in the navy.. Just I must have missed that part.. otherwise you would be the biggest unsolicited claim maker too 😉
B and W?
@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 babcock and wilcox
Let us not forget how hot the air was , as i remember shortly after lite off the air temp would be at least 120 Degrees. I personally saw at least 3 thermometers that exceded the scale (260 Degrees F) . Thank You . As a point of Trivia When I was aboard USS Hepburn FF 1055 in the Indian Ocean The Corpsman came down one day , the coldest place that he could find was 155 degrees , I never found out the hottest he recorded. Thank You . After all if the Snipes don't groove the ship don't move.
On the boiler tubes you called those protrusions on the tubing, but they are not completions they are actually studs shot by general electric stud guns that can be anywhere from 7/16 to 5/8 or half inch in diameter at about half inch to 3/4 of an inch in the length depending on the specifications by the boiler make. I worked for George p righteous years ago and we had the only stud guns that you can find in the planet. They went out of their way to buy every single part for every single broken or working gun they could find. We specialized in this work and traveled all over the world to do this kind of work. The studs are shot onto the tubing and the refractory is packed around the studs so the tubing wasn't damaged from the fire. The studs were to transfer the heat to the boiler too.
My first thought about those ‘bobbles’ was that they were there to increase surface area for better heat absorption.
Stud guns are quite common in structural steel fabrication. They are used to reinforce concrete floor decking...
@@mcgherkinstudios The studs are there to add anchors for the plastic chrome ore or PCO which is llke firebrick that is soft enough to be pounded onto the tube to separate the saturated side from the saturated side so that we could control the superheated steam temp. Those studded 2 inch tubes were also used on the side of the superheated side to protect the innner boiler casing The superheater was used at ALL timed because of the SSTG's. Sa soon as a certian amount of steam flow was indicated the superheater was lit off. you could always tell the topwatch because he had no hair on one arm from the fire blowing out of the lite off port . On the Midway we always just removed a burner to access the furnaces.
@@Jreb1865 right they're also used in the automotive world. im assuming he's referring to a certain model that was outdated but worked the best? because a stud gun is very common
@@johnchilds6471 Oh, so he guessed it right at 12:08. Good for him. Is it to just stop it sliding along the tube? Or, are they along the full length of the tube? Looked like they were only at the base in that first shot.
About a month ago I met my brother-in-law's 96-year old uncle who served as a boilerman on the Fletcher-Class destroyer USS Marshal. I asked him if he ever had to clean out the fire box and scraped the pipes. He was surprised that I knew about that, and responded that he indeed had that dirty duty. He went on to explain that that job always fell on the lowest-ranking, smallest member of the crew. This gentleman further explained that it always seemed that he was the smallest and lowest ranking sailor on the Marshal! It was a delight to talk to this former tin can sailor!
well if it the smallest, seams like it could of be a peak job, if they are going, that is, your not going to up set the only person on ship, if need do that job, are you,
Average opening size of a steam drum, mud drum, and ash hopper was an “18 hole. Translation is about a “36 waistline could enter, and you had to superman the opening, one shoulder forward of the other to narrow the shoulders for entrance. A funny thing was, when we were rolling tubes and welding others that couldn’t be rolled on the inside of the mud drum was this. Of you had bad gas and farted, it rose to the tube openings that led to the steam drum directly above apx 30’. And you’d know real quick about it from the guys working above in the steam drum. Took too much effort to go in and out the drums to escape them, so they were captive to many DELIBERATE farts 😂. Us laughing below seemed to rub them the wrong way.
That is one EXHAUSTED curator. I got claustrophobia just looking at the access hatch.
In re relining the boilers - until the 1970s, Babcock & Wilcox firebricks contains asbestos and that's where a lot of service/maintenance exposure occurred when people were removing damaged/old bricks and relining the boiler.
I also have asbestos in my lungs probably from removing firebrick from #5&6 boilers on the uss wasp cvs -18
Did they make them in Beaver Falls PA or another B& W plant. I seem to remember there was another plant in the Mid West
I was on the USS Midway for 27 months during Vietnam. I was a BT (B division). We had 12 boilers divided across 4 groups (main engines), 70,000 BSHP/shaft. The funny thing is the keel for the Midway was laid as a Battleship in '43, shortly after it was redesignated as an aircraft carrier. At one time we had it cranked up to 37 knots. Of course we weren't doing flight ops or anything like that. We even took the evaporators off line for an hour to conserve steam for the main engines. Let me tell you, she was screaming. We were @117% of design power output and had the emergency backup (2 ea. 12 cylinder diesels) generators online to save even more steam for propulsion. Fun times, sometimes! Now, let's go fly some planes and shoot some munitions. We also had 5 inch guns.
Wow, it's hard to imagine the Midway doing 37 knots. That sounds like a blast!
If I remember correctly, we were reading 310+ RPM on the main shafts.
I bet the midway was in great condition then... Did about 2 years of cruising (as part of air wing) on midway in mid 80’s. A different era
Another MIDWAY hole snipe here! (1985-1987) M Division, 1 group. . Plenty of underway time, and plenty of GREAT port visits. Even if you were in three section duty...
Nope, Midway designed and built as a carrier from the keel up. That rumor may have come from being such an advance over the Essex class that the Midway class was designated CVB for a while, but the B does not stand for Battleship. For reference, see Norman Friedman's Design History of US Aircraft Carriers.
As Boilers Officer on USS Lexington CVT 16 with same basic engineering plant as NewJersey, I was proud to served with 100+ Boiler Techs or “BTs”... salt of the earth sailors who made everything else that happened on the ship possible! Thanks for drawing attention to these unsung heroes.
Retired BT here.... love it!
This man is dedicated to his job - give him a raise!
I'm not sure what's more fascinating. Hearing your in depth knowledge on just about every aspect if this fine ship, or seeing all the retired sailors chiming in with even more knowledge to fill in the gaps.
I am certified for dangerous vessel entry myself and have been in everything from high and low pressure seperators to the main condenser on an Adams class Destroyer. Those entries cannot be done by people with claustraphobia either. That was a great job man. I've been in the bilges myself, good job!
That would've been a cool episode for Mike Rowe when he was filming "Dirty Jobs". He did one where he cleaned a ship's boiler, the New Jersey's boiler would be a good one.
Congratulations to you filming partner for getting in there with you.
Deja vu; seeing you crawl into that boiler brought me back to 1963 when I was 19 years old. Not many people know what it feels like to get into small spaces like that. I worked in the mine at Franklin, N.J. We were working down to 3,000 feet to take out 86 different minerals. Once, I was "invited" to go into a particular hole that the miners who were working it were very proud of. Most of our shift crawled through a hole about the same size as what you were going through to admire their work. We were in a cave about 50 feet long and 3 feet high with the roof loaded with blasting powder and fused, ready to be set off. I looked around and said, "It would be very hard for all of us to get out of here if anything went wrong". No one said a word, they just quickly left through that little hole. Later that year my twin brother and I enlisted in the USAF for 4 years. Interesting times. I made a plastic model of the N.J. when I was 12.
I was in the AF as well - different era though. What did you and your brother do in the AF?
I can tell you, the most god-awful job in engineering was cleaning "fire sides" and "punching tubes" doing "water sides" on a naval boiler.
Cleaning stacks also! Hanging from a bosun chair... trying to wire brush the sides... while soot seemed to float from airflow.... that was worse in my opinion!
it wasn't nearly as bad as "punching the bore" though
I was a BT3 on USS Rathburne DE-1057 Pearl Harbor on WESTPAC 72-3! Underway for Subic Bay! What a trip! 1200psi mod D Type B&W Boiler! Scary times ruptured a one inch outer bank steam tube and thank God it didn’t blow that side panel off of “A” boiler! Or I wouldn’t be telling you about it! Wonder if Olongapo looks the same? Many good memories left behind! Turn to you skates!
@@paulschaller3644 Ahhhhh Subic Bay! Pleasure Island! Lol Been there many many times! Got stuck there 40 days in drydock... Horrible!!! Lol
@@paulschaller3644 it doesn’t. Buddy of mine was back there last year. Physically Olongapo looks the same but the energy if you will is gone. Subic City is a resort type area. That’s where I lived.
"Hi, I'm Ryan Szimanski, curator and contortionist..."
haha
Started my 35 years in navy civil service working at Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a boilermaker apprentice in 76. This brings back memories. I was smaller then, about 155 lbs, so I always got the jobs in tight places. Spent many 12 hr shifts rolling boiler tubes in water (mud) drums because it was easier for me to maneuver in them.
my dad graduated from Great Lakes in March 1951 as a Fireman Apprentice. he arrived at Norfolk, assigned to DE 698 the USS Raby. he said it was wreck with paint being chipped and red/orange undercoating showing all over and since he was only about 130lb and 5'4" he was sent to the fireroom with a couple of other guys. he spent 7 weeks hauling bricks and cement out of the boilers to be dumped before the boiler could be relined. i think theres a photo of him in a Med Cruise book from the USS Walter B. Cobb (APD 106), in one of the boilers doing something similar or at least making some kind of repair. pushing 92, its surprising that he has no respiratory issues from any of the soot or asbestos on the ships... thanks Ryan for your adventures!
Good for him being healthy and old. When I was in the army in 78 I was at a school where one of the instructors was a navy chief. That was tight when the asbestos issue hit 60 minutes. I mentioned it to him one morning. His response was “ we stripped so many asbestos pipes years back I just try not to think about it😢”. It’s funny how whenever I see one of these he comes to mind and I wonder how his health fared.
Now that you mention it, I wonder how common asbestos was aboard ships, even though Schammot bricks are something different, but they probably used it almost everywhere for fireprioving or did they. It's a shame that asbestos dust is so dangerous, otherwise this stuff would still be very useful.
All Navy ships has had asbestos,and many sailors got sick later in life!!
The engineering in all these machines is amazing.
Its too bad that they're useless right now... Since Speed and Tech advancements > Big Armor and Big Armaments.
@@friendlyfire3412 I wouldn't call them useless, if we had a need, we could still use them. We did use them when we thought there was a need.
all done with blackboards and slip sticks
20 year old me thinks this looks like a lot of fun. 35 year old me has a sore back just from watching.
Ryan, you and your film crew deserve a shower and a beer or two after today's video! Thanks for showing us the places we can't go.
Two cans of beer a day and that's your bleeding lot...A stoker's not a stoker with a shovel any more !
@@jamespowell7302 Don't haul on the ropes, don't climb up the mast. And if you see a sailing ship it might be your last. Still remember Tom Lewis signing that aboard Balcutha years ago.
This video really made me smile. I’ve seen diagrams showing the boilers on other channels but I’d never got a good fix on the size. Knowing they are ‘1 curator’ tall was very interesting. Thanks for keeping the channel interesting. It’s fascinating to follow what your doing.
Hes used "The Curator" measurement before, althoughi think it was width last time
@@kristyskirt9015 We should start calling dimensions on the battleship with Ryan lengths.
"one curator tall" 😁 - WIN 👍
Love the shirt. As a former Submarine Sailor I was happy to see the Navy honor those ships by reusing the names for Submarines.
I’ve been watching this channel for about two years now. Not every single video can be about the 16” 50 caliber guns. But somehow you keep interesting and educational content flowing. I hope to visit the New Jersey one day. Keep up the hard work and never ever quit learning and having fun.
I “got to” climb inside the boiler of a DDG on my 19th birthday to scrape the tubes on my midshipman cruise. It was still pretty hot.
I "got to" pull KP at Ft. Benning on my 19th and I wouldn't have traded with you. But I steal a big piece of cake 😂
paris hilton; "thats so hot."
Ryan - this is pure curator greatness. Thanks! Almost beyond the call of duty.
I found it much easier to slide in and out on my back. Keeps your face and arms out of the soot and you can use your feet to push of the outer air casing. Navy Special Fuel (NSFO) is F-77 NATO I believe. It was Bunker "C" blended with 20% JP-5 which reduced the viscosity so it could be pumped without heating in most ambient conditions though it still require heating for proper atomizing. It was phased out in the 1970's. Navy Distillate (ND) or NATO F-76 replaced NSFO as a boiler fuel for ship propulsion. It looks like a dark beer and even can have a head on it. Our ship converted from NSFO to ND in 1972. The Captain run the ship, but the BT's made the ship run! Oilking DE-1076 1971-74, DD-596 before that
Hello USS Fanning sailor.
I worked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. I went through the apprenticeship as a boilermaker. Some spaces were very tight like in the water or (mud) drum. Laying on your back rolling the tubes in, hard work.
I grew up in Barberton Ohio, where B&W’s Main Offices are located. Do you know where the NJ’s boilers were manufactured? My father was a B&W design engineer. This video gave me a better appreciation for the work he did, and for all the 24/7 activity we put up with growing up in Barberton. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Wow I’m from around here and I never knew that! Is there a museum or anything that can be toured? I’m a nerd and find b&w and such topics interesting and I’d love to see what there is to see!
I was on the uss wasp cvs-18 there were 8 B&W 600# boilers
Hats off to Ryan for a video of an area of the battleship that few people will ever see. Those inspection hatch's are only for the slim and wiry type. Thanks for your efforts.
Go inside the economize and count the tubes ! The ship I was on...(U S S Columbus C G 12) also had 600 lb Babcock and Wilcock boilers and we were required to do fireside every 600 hours of operation. And waterside every 1200 hours of operation. This time frame may have been changed when they switched to the newer cleaner fuel. Our ship used the thicker crude oil..(Known as black oil) . Best way to explain it is it's the raw crude oil that comes out of the ground..it just has been filtered to remove rocks and dirt from it. The oil then is heated to make it a thinner viscosity and some benzene was also added to help fire up a cold boiler ( it helped make the oil more flammable).
Ryan, that was really interesting! I'm always surprised and pleased at the depth of knowledge and experience by those who post in the comments. Thank you Ryan and everybody!
As an HVAC tech, I can appreciate this. Very cool, and yes, very dirty. I thoroughly enjoy these in depth tours and information on parts of the ship most don't ever get to see. Thank you for the videos! Lets see the condensers, sea chests, next.
In college I worked at a power plant built in 1949 that had Babcock & Wilcox boilers. At the time of them coming online, it was the most efficient coal-fired plant in the world. It was always mind blowing to think that machines that complex were designed using nothing brain power, slide rulers, and coffee.
the plant i worked at for 33 years went online in 1952 i was born in 53 and started at the plant in 81, it was the first 1000 deg SH and 1000deg RH B&W boiler GE 125 mw turbines. Yes, amazing what they could do back then
Which plant?
and chalk boards
A big thanks to the Camera Operator for going in with him. TBH I was expecting Ryan just to go in on his own. With a camera strapped to his head. this was much better. so thanks again for another great video.
I sure hope there's a shower on board for Ryan to clean up. This was a great video. Thanks for taking us into the boiler!
Cool. I recently learned that my neighbor growing up was a civilian boiler water chemist at the Philadelphia navy yard and did some work on the Iowas when they were being reactivated in the 80's. I wasn't able to get out of her whether she worked on New Jersey or not.
Great Vedio informative.Great job.
I actually still have some of the original studs that have not been used in a boiler before they are shot through the gun if you would like some email me.
11:30 Ryan, shame on you for making Libby climb in there! 🤣
She climbed in first actually!
I just watch these videos thank you. I don't do confined spaces. I know the tubes wont collapse on top of me, but that is exactly what would happen if I were in there.
Having climbed into many boilers I appreciate you (and Libby) taking us inside. I don't think I would be flexible enough to do it now. Some how I doubt the combustion chambers would be rebricked every cleaning. You would need to carry too many bricks on board. You would only replace any that were badly damaged.
Ryan, seeing some of the confine spaces you enter is like watching a scary movie to me. 🤣 This one was chilling. Enjoyed every moment and very informative as usual. You are the ultimate curator.
Yeah, it's not the getting in, it's getting out!
The imagery indeed looked like it came from a certain kind of horror movie.
I’m gonna say what every guy is thinking … coolest job ever!
Feed water goes from the DFT through the main feed booster pumps to the main feed pumps where it's pumped through the economizer before it enters the steam drum on top of the boiler. From there, out of the top of the stream drum it's now saturated steam (approx 495 degrees) on it's way to the superheater to be made into main steam (850 degrees)
@@kristyskirt9015 Yes it is similar in some ways.
@@kristyskirt9015 it's basically the exact same but the main difference is instead of a boiler like in the video, there is a nuclear reactor that makes steam. Both a boiler and a reactor exist solely to make steam. There are some finer details that are different as a result, but the power generation process is largely the same
Oh, also after the main steam goes to the HP turbine, then through the crossover to the LP turbine, it exhausts into the main condenser (as noted in video). There is still steam in the main condenser, it's now called aux exhaust steam and is used to heat things like the feedwater in the DFT and water in the distilling plants. It's very important for the main condenser to keep a certain level of aux exhaust steam, otherwise "augmenting steam" will be shot into the main condenser to bring the levels up.
@@kristyskirt9015 All steam systems work in a similar fashion. Rankine cycle.
@@ytlas3 ya need to go back to the MM3&2 book. Too many things wrong. There is vacuum in the condenser, created when the steam condensing into droplets and fall in the hotwell. The vacuum goes (most times on a Navy ship) back up into the LP turbine. I think the highest LP turbine casing pressure I've seen was during high power runs. Aux exhaust came from (in the old days) the exhaust from the steam driven pumps, blowers, etc. It was controlled into the condenser with a back pressure valve, to maintain pressure on the line, so you can use it for reclaiming the heat from it. Now, with all electric pumps and blowers, you have to make up "Aux steam") for those purposes. I was gonna comment on the difference in the terminology used for that feed water storage tank. In the Navy, it's called a Deareating Feed Tank (DFT). On merchant ships they call it the DC (direct contact) Heater. They do the same thing, in the same way, yet one emphasizes one function over the other. The main difference between a fossil fuel and nuclear steam plant, is that nuclear plants only produce saturated steam. That and they can go a bit further without refueling.... Oh, let's just say that doing "firesides" on a nuc would really suck!
Ryan. I can’t imagine a better curator than you, my Girlfreind and I have been watching you for a long time, Thank you.
I was a Boilermaker at PSNS, completing my Apprenticeship in 71. Posters are correct about the studded tubes being used to retain plastic (malleable) castable to protect tubes from direct flame impingement. That boiler appears to have been using distillate fuel, rather than Bunker C. Bunker C would leave a lot more black soot and tarry deposits.
With Bunker "C" the goo would build up and when you looked in the burner port you could see a mass hanging from the firesides that looked like a body. We use to call them "Deadmen".
PSNS motto, "file to fit, paint to match."
Best video on the old girl. Battlewagons are more than just big guns, I would be interested in the gally's and feeding the crew during GQ
As I remember, on the WWII built destroyers I served on, the tubes had to be manually cleaned every 600 hours using bunker c. The BTs would smear their bodies with petroleum jelly to keep the soot out of their pores and making an easier clean up. We had 4 boilers but ran on 2 most of the time. When the boilers were retubed they got new bricks, usually during a shipyard overhaul. In 1970, most ships were converted to burn jp5 so only one fuel had to be carried. Lead bars were added in the bottom of the fuel tanks to make up for the difference in weight. Many ships were decommissioned about that time. My guess was to avoid the conversion cost and Vietnam was winding down. I was a QM, just what I picked up from friends and my dad was a chief engineer.
Wow, great informational video! As a formerly licensed biller operator and as a tall and super skinny guy, I was the one that was designated to go into the boilers through the manhole. However, my extreme fear of confined spaces got me out of that job. I never once saw the innards of a boiler because of that reason, but I really wanted to. I just couldn't control my fear of confined spaces and it did bad things to me. I tried, I tried, because I wanted to go inside so badly, but I just couldn't conquer that fear. It gave me the willies just seeing Ryan in the boilers. Again, great job and great information!
Because of your channel, I now have to see your ship.
Same.
We don't have that cleaning problem on HMS Victory, you chaps want to get up to date. The only oil that old lady used was whale oil for the lamps. I'm a tank man myself, just a smaller coffin when a shell says hello. Seems a shame to see such a wonderful ship laid up. I'm glad though she hasn't been turned into baked bean tins. Why we kept HMS Belfast light cruiser (6" pop guns) instead of a King George 5th class battleship I have no idea. Mind you us Brits have had too many punch ups over the last couple of thousand years and we are only a tiny island.
The tubing on the outside bulkhead is a water cooled wall. First, like the name says, it cools the outside walls of the boiler reducing the amount of insulation required. Second, like the economizer, it preheats the feedwater before it goes into the steam drum.
There's something that just feels so weird about seeing brickwork (including what looks like some kind of mortar) as part of a ship's construction. Even when it makes logical sense for some reason it feels out of place somehow.
Same feeling when you see bricks inside a steel furnace. It looks like a cathedral. 👍
Strum the screen tubes like a harp.
A video on the funnels would be good, from the boilers all the way to the tips would be cool
Uptakes as well
Just like an episode of the old series, "Dirty Jobs"! Great video. I visited the New Jersey around June 1968 as a high school grad in Long Beach, CA before it departed for Vietnam. Helped me make my decision to enlist in the Navy the next month. While on duty at Barbers Point Naval Station in Hawaii in spring 1969, I went over to Pearl Harbor and visited the ship again, just after it returned from its Vietnam deployment. Beautiful ship.
I served on the destroyes USS THOMAS, 833,the PARKS 884, and the missile cruiser CHICAGO. I spent many aday cleaning fireside and punching tubes MEMORIES
Having been a BT on a destroyer many years ago it wsa nostalgic to be inside a boiler again. If you realley want be cramped try going iside the steam drum or better yet the water drums , whiich was required to clean the water side of the tubes to remve the chemical buildup. A great video thanks
My Mom: "hello, 911..my son stuck a Lego in his nose". Ryan's Mom: "hello, 911...my son is stuck in a battleship boiler"..."again"
😆
"Dead Steam". Time to go watch "The Sand Pebbles" again. You know the scene. When I was young I would get into any space, not any more. Now I break out in a sweat seeing Ryan climb into restricted spaces.
Been there, done that on the Missouri. Probably 1989, I was a Gas Fee Engineer, had to check the furnace before BTs could go inside to work. We had a couple burners open and a fan had been ventilating for 24 hours so there wasn't really any concern about gas but it had to be checked. It was still pretty warm inside 24 hours after being shut down and tagged out. It required dozens of Danger tags to secure properly. BTW the steam plant was never run on saturated steam - that would be a good way to ruin the main engine and generator turbines in short order. Superheated steam is required and the superheaters were always used.
I know others have mentioned it but I would never go inside one of those boilers without an asbestos respirator all of the mortar and insulation are filled with it. I was a BT3 from 1970-74. When we had Marines on board they would send the ones that got into trouble to the boiler room as punishment. Had them paint Red Lead and High temp silver...
. . . and clean bilges.
Dude...Ryan you are just an amazing host. Your level of knowledge is so extensive but yet you make it digestible by us viewers. And what you get to do!!! I saw the video title and thought...surely I misread that. Nope...somehow you amazed me again by your total lack of claustrophobia. Thank you for doing what historians should....make history fun, amazing and alive. One question though....have you or do you plan on doing a video about the Constitution? I've been on her many times and im not ashamed to say i tear up every time.
Ryan, you’ve got the best gig in the world. And you do a really splendid job with it.!! BZ. N
I just can’t imagine a 900’ long battleship going 40 mph - just another example of how the Iowa’s were really the epitome of battleship design. Hell even smaller and far more modern warships can’t approach speeds like that… just amazing when you’re talking about technology 3/4 of a century old.
She was haulin ass.
I mean, steam is the "Hand of God" and it was and still is one of the most efficient systems (depending on how you use it) ever made. If you hop onto Jay Leno's channel he has several steam powered cars he talks about. At the final gasp of Steam, the designs were so efficient they could be considered modern (in terms of performance) today, despite the car weighing several tons more than a modern variant. Jay even takes a few of them on the highway, keeping up with traffic just fine. What's actually shocking to me, is that these modern ships didn't take advantage of that technology. I'm assuming that there's got to be some limitations regarding up scaling that tech (speaking of the one used by Doble), because in terms of power and reuse of power, those engines could probably push these ships even faster. Even more shocking, is the fact that we're not using steam cars today, with the advent of more efficient batteries and steam generators that fit inside your average beer cooler, making twice the power old steam generators did on electricity, we'd have far cleaner cars, even cleaner than electric only.
@@aserta Drachinifel has a long video on his channel discussing steam ppwer on warships with a guest who's an expert on steam cars- really good video, like you said, upscaling changes a lot of what's practical. Also the last car steam engines were so precisely made that you couldn't adjust anything on them or they wouldn't work right, they had to be perfect. That condition is maybe not the best for a battleship intended to slug it out with other battleships, and maintained by lots of sailors constantly. I find the steam power stuff just so amazing, crazy to think how efficient they had become like you pointed out.
@@ralphgesler5110 Isn't another factor a ship's length to width proportions? Umm, my brain is dredging up the term, fineness ratio, is that the thing?
@@KennyCnotG Well almost all major powerplants use steam turbines, I wonder why it is that modern freight ships don't use steam turbines anymore, probably maintainance and space requirements. Steam has the relation with the bigger the more efficient it seemingly becomes.
today on "battlewagon spelunking", ryan goes where no human should ever go (nonrates only).......TWICE!
I cannot envision NOT superheating the steam. Doing so would seriously degrade the turbines. We would NEVER put steam to the header that was not superheated.
All nuclear ships run on saturated steam
@@markschenher4559 Those turbines are designed for saturated steam. For land based nuclear power plants with 33% thermodynamic efficiency, why not a methane burner to superheat the steam and get 40% efficiency? I guess the regulatory environment and lawfare by the anti-nukers, along with game playing politicians would put the kibosh on that.
Only the newer BBS like the Iowas used Superheated steam, older BBS with the North Carolina used low pressure turbines, and lots of WW1 era ships used low pressure turbines or triple expansion engines, that dont need superheated steam
@@TheMrLebaron The North Carolinas and South Dakota class used 600 psi steam plants with 565 degree steam temp.
@@RogerWKnight increasing the "efficiency" of a nuclear by burning fossil fuels would be expensive and impractical. However, various Gen IV reactor designs will run at higher temperatures, thus increasing efficiency.
Very cool look at the insides of a battleship.
I was able to tour the New Jersey back in 2006, we were at Fort Dix doing training. I wouldn't mind going back for another tour.
Seeing it, I understand the purpose of the fire brick but before seeing it, had you told me there were bricks used to build the NJ I would have thought you were messing with me. Great video. Keep it up.
I've been enjoying your videos for quite sometime now. As watched this one in particular, I was shocked at how comfortably you climbed into a confined space. Please be careful, confined spaces are incredibly unforgiving especially without PPE and procedure. Stay safe Ryan and company!
B&W!! That plant was just across my grandparents house on College Hill in Beaver Falls PA!
I was a Machinist Mate for five years and "dirty" was part of the job.
I wasn't at all claustrophobic until about 5 years ago (I am 61 now). An amazing video, but I was hyperventilating for part of it. Thanks Ryan, your videos are always fascinating.
I wouldn't like going in there either! Ryan is amazing!
@@Gr8thxAlot You sound conflicted.
Gearing DD snipe, '69- '73. Punching downcomer tubes while on your back in the mud drum was the worst job, using a 3" rotary wire wheel driven by 150 p.s.i. air just inches from your face and relying on the guy outside to bend the hose, which was your on/off mechanism. He literally held your life in his hands, no PP or respirators either, just a bandanna scavenged from the rag bag. I got a V A rating for tinnitus damn near on my say so alone just because of my job & workspace. Other rates feared and hated us snipes and officers NEVER came down our hole, as long as we answered all bells.
Things we do for love, Ryan. You're our hero!
What an insane space. Appreciate the inside view!
Next on "What is the dirtiest and most cramped hole on a battleship we can squeeze a curator into" :)
These videos are great! Thank you for the detailed explanations. You have such a cool job!
Ryan, the bumps on the tubes are studs spotweded to the tubes to increase heat absorptio.
Great video, thanks a lot! When you hear the word curator in conjunction with a museum you think of a grey haired guy in a suit behind a desk. It's great to see this job role done by a "hands on" man who is not afraid of dirt! ;-)
Great video. I always wondered how big the boilers are. Love your videos. Very fascinating.
Awesome video. Great info….extremely interesting. You’re a huge asset to the community of battleship enthusiasts. Thanks very much.
As Chief Engineer of a WW2 Gearing class destroyer, in the 1970's, I was in and out of firesides and water sides many, many times. Not something I miss.
Ryan is DEFINITELY NOT.... a white collar curator! ❤ Thank you!
Well done Ryan. I think I might have fitted through those holes to gain the same access as you did when I was half the age I am now.
Back in my much younger days, I used to crawl into boilers like that, not on board ship but in land based power plants. Definitely not a place to go if you suffer from claustrophobia.
Congratulations on freaking me (and I’m sure others) out as you squeezed through that port :-). But that is the kind of unusual, cool stuff that has us watching
The main condenser header should be easier to access. Seems like the USS Savannah header man o=holes were 16'. Another very interesting place is the reduction gear sump. the bull gear should be right there and visible. It may may be 25' in diameter.
Naval architects are some truly sick sadists. It’s almost like they take very detailed measurements of exactly how much space is needed to fit humans in places and then deliberately subtract 25% just for giggles.
this video makes me wonder about pinch points - specifcally in the cramped turret spaces- how did sailors operate in those confined spaces whilst being assured of not being crushed as those barrels and turrets rotated and spun? oh and Ryan, you should do the next boiler video in a fresh new pressed tuxedo!
Really appreciate your deep dive videos into New Jersey, Thank you .
I was getting slight shivers when I saw him crawl in, I have a bit of claustrophobia Still enjoyed it! :)
Big J did 36 kts easy after her reactivation, she was light and fresh out the ship yard!!!
We were at 35 knots during transit from Vietnam to rhe Phillipines, don't remember if we were coming or going. I happened to be in a boiler room during one of our " speed runs" and asked the question, is this top speed. Answer was NO.
@@randyghilarducci9509 still going faster then she was ever made to go makes her even more of a legend beyond the designers intent, loved your story 😀
Great Video Ryan, thank you. Question where did the battleship stored bricks to replace the ones in the boilers and how many replacement boilers bricks were typically carried on a deployment?
My shipmate pal was a BT on Canopus. He guided me into the boiler during a rebricking. This is a sight I'll never forget. Glad my stripes were white, not red.
I love vintage steam equipment, especially these battleships and old steam locomotives.
The bulk and complexity of these steam plants and steam turbines is incredible! You can definitely see why a lot of modern boats are moving to gas turbine powered mechanical drives or electrical drives. GE LM2500 makes about 40000 shaft hp per engine at about 50000 pounds (not including outboard gearing and accessory equipment).
Looks a bit like a pizza oven - world's hottest and quickest pizza oven! 😋
kzhead.info/sun/dcWlqa2uZHmofok/bejne.html
Not inside the firebox, not easy access and too hot. But on the steam lines in back of the boiler I think we all heated up cans of beans or spaghetti 👍. Oh and we always had coffee pots ship could not move without them fired up
Ganiscol, make mine a "Meat 🍖 Lovers" Chicago Deep Dish Pizza 🍕!😁
Wrapped roast or ham in foil and stuffed it behind the steam or mud drum lagging pad many times. The water in the drum being ~400 degrees made the space behind the pad a great oven.
Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Another great video Ryan! Thanks