TITANIC by Force9 – Trumpeter - 1/200 - PLASTIC - White Star Liner

[Marcus.K.]

Beautiful and fun! 

 

Maybe that Video is interesting for you?

[Force9]

Thanks all for the kind remarks and continued encouragement!  

 

I've been traveling the past few weeks and neglecting my build log... Let me start catching everyone up.

 

Cheers

Evan

[Force9]

The Bow Hawse Pipe

 

The bow of the Olympic class liners had a distinctive opening for the bow hawse pipe: 

This opening was used for the infrequent deployment of the bow center anchor that was stowed in a well on the foredeck.  Probably also handy in certain mooring and towing situations.

 

The Trumpeter kit includes a very generic roundish appendage to represent this feature.  A big miss in accuracy that is hard to reconcile.

I was a bit worried about correcting this since screwing it up would be very noticeable on the model - but leaving the inaccurate kit version in place seemed to be a worse option.  Something needed to be done.

 

There is a very attractive 3D print that Arturo Anzures has available on the Shapeways site that could be a nice solution. Unfortunately, this option requires some serious surgery on the kit that will involve quite a bit of finesse and epoxy putty to properly incorporate.  I’m a bit squeamish about going down that path.

 

If I’m willing to work with the general dimensions of the kit version (slightly wider than historical scale) I think I can fashion a simpler solution that will get me a decent result.

 

Here I go…

 

First, I notched out a section in front of the kit version using a hobby knife, micro-chisel, and a flat file. 

This creates a space to insert a small bit of styrene shaped appropriately to resemble the historic contours of the hawse pipe.  

The piece was sized to the same width as the kit version to minimize the need to carve up the plastic and to maximize the surface area for the solvent.

After getting it affixed, I went ahead and drilled out the hawse pipe opening.

I first drilled a small pilot hole, then went back again with a larger bit for the final version.

 

At this point I had the framework of the new hawse pipe in place and just needed to fill behind the new styrene with epoxy putty to establish the final contours.

 

I’m not a frequent user of Milliput, but I do appreciate having some on hand for the right moments.  The White Superfine version works best for me.

I wear disposable gloves to mix the two components together between my fingers and then roll it back and forth on some tin foil (to protect my work surface from the residue).

I used some scrap styrene to fashion a few simple shaping tools to help mold the epoxy into the final form.

 

The styrene hawse piece defines the overall shape as I add putty to back fill behind. Having a small cup of water nearby is critical… Milliput is easily smoothed and manipulated if I dip my shaping tools in water as I go along.  

The first pass does not need perfection – it just needs to represent the rough outline. I’ll come back with progressively finer sanding paper to smooth everything out.

 

Round sanding sticks are useful for the next step:

The internal hawse pipe opening is widened and smoothed out to better match against the historic references.

 

I’ll stand pat with this result until I get to the primer stage.  Like some other areas on the hull, I’ll make refinements and finalize everything once the primer helps fill and smooth out some of the rough surfaces and otherwise reveals the imperfections.

 

This turned out to be less painful than I thought it would be…!

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited July 9, 2023 by Force9

[yvesvidal]

Very nice improvement over the kit hawse.

 

Yves

[Force9]

Thanks for all of the Likes!

 

 @yvesvidal I appreciate your note and agree that I managed to improve my Titanic.  This could have gone badly... Whew!

 

Evan

[Force9]

U-505

 

A slight diversion…

 

I’ve been very interested in a future project to build a submarine kit – specifically WWII era Gato or UBoat of some sort…

 

I recently visited Chicago to attend a nephew’s graduation and was able to check off another bucket list item – visiting U-505 in the Science Museum.

 

It did not disappoint. 

For those not familiar with U 505, she was captured late in the war by a US Navy task force that was specially trained to board a U-boat after forcing it to the surface.  Dan Gallery was in command, and he wrote a very entertaining book about the effort that I read way back in middle school.  

 

The museum does a terrific job of presenting the story of her capture and highlighting the many contributions made by the combined team to pull it off.  However, they do leave out much that is interesting about U-505 and the overall operation that you can dig up with online searches.

 

A previous commander, for example, cracked under the tension of an extended depth charge barrage and pulled out a pistol and killed himself in front of the crew.

 

U-505 survived a low-level bombing and sailed across the Atlantic entirely on the surface and was probably the most damaged German submarine ever to return to port.

 

Most of the internal spaces had been gutted before the boat reached Chicago.  German companies donated most of the gauges, harnesses, etc., needed to restore the interior.

Dan Gallery himself was nearly court-martialed by Fleet Admiral Ernest King for his efforts.  King was angry that the sub was not scuttled after removing everything valuable. The key goal of the project was to capture the critical naval codes and Enigma equipment (along with useful manuals about torpedo technology, etc.) before the boat could sink.  An enterprising sailor managed to put the lid back on the main scuttle to prevent further flooding and the German crew otherwise neglected to arm explosive charges when they abandoned ship.  

The captured submarine was a dangerous liability… If another U-Boat spotted her being towed to a friendly port the jig would be up and the German navy may well have revamped all their codes and reconfigured the Enigmas – ruining a key advantage that the allies already had in place at that period of the war. 

 

Gallery managed to calm Admiral King down and issued a proclamation to his task force reminding them all to keep quiet or suffer severe consequences.  The captured U-Boat crew was sequestered and denied communication back to their homeland in violation of the Geneva convention.

Be sure to plan to visit this incredible artifact if you’re ever near Chicago.

 

Cheers,

Evan

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Force9

[Kelp]

Evan,

The hawse hole project is coming along nicely!

 I’m planning ahead for the porthole windows and will go with either the fiber optics as you have mentioned and as the Midwest Model Shop used. My other option would be to place acetate to the inside of the hull across the porthole locations. A possible problem with this method is the thickness of the hull plastic.  The acetate maybe too far behind the surface of the hull to look realistic.  I can’t say for sure, since I haven’t drilled out the portholes yet.  Can you post a photo showing a sample of what the fiber optic porthole looks like?

 

Nice progress on your model!

Don

[Force9]

Ahoy @Kelp!

 

I appreciate your continued interest and look forward to seeing your efforts down the line...  Happy to assist in any way I can.

 

Here are some quick looks at fiber optic filament inserted in a port:

 

 

You see the filament intentionally poking out to get a sense of the fit.

 

Here it is pushed flush to the exterior.  I haven't treated the end at all... I'll likely need to buff the ends before final fit to get the best look.

 

I agree with your concern that acetate set behind the drilled out ports will not have the right effect given the thickness of the hull.  You could come back and fill in the space with clear canopy glue or some clear resin (hardened with UV flashlight) but that would seem to be many more units of effort than using filament.  Probably more expensive too.  I'd have to recommend the filament route... Just be careful to size the drilled out ports in relation to the filament and not in relation to the historically accurate scale diameter.

 

I purchased my filament online at a very reasonable overall cost.  I have 10 foot lengths each of 1.0mm, 1.5mm, 2.0mm. 2.5mm and 3.0mm with a total cost (incl. shipping) of around $20 US.

 

 

Filling the ports is a long ways away for me... Many steps remaining before I even smear any paint on the hull.

 

Cheers

Evan

Edited June 14, 2023 by Force9

[Kelp]

Hi Evan,

Thanks for taking time to show me how the fiber optic cable would look in the porthole.  I am leaning towards this method.  The Midwest Model Shop’s fiber optic portholes looked nice when he turned on the LEDs.  
 

Don

[SigEp Ziggy]

Great Build!  I am looking forward to more posts.

[Force9]

Ahoy all...

 

I should mention some key resources that I will be utilizing going forward...

 

Firstly, Robert Read has generously opened up all of his Titanic plans for everyone to access and download free of charge. 

 

1. Titanic Plan Page 1  This plan page is a starboard profile of the ship.  Updated 6/23/23

2. Titanic Plan Page 2  This plan page is a port profile of the ship.  Updated 6/23/23

3. Titanic Plan Page 3  This plan page has plan views of the upper decks, underbody, and forward and aft elevations. Updated 6/23/23

4.  Titanic Plan Page 4 This plan page has drawings of visible ventilators and a location map. Updated 6/17/23

5. Titanic Plan Page 5 This page has individual drawings of deck equipment and a location map. Updated 6/23/23

6. Titanic Plan Page 6 This page has plan and elevation drawings of “Boat deck” and “A deck” deckhouses.Updated 6/17/23

7. Titanic Plan Page 7 This page has plan and elevation drawings of “B deck” deckhouses, forward and aft well decks, and    docking bridge.  Updated 6/17/23

8. Titanic Plan Page 8 This page has Hull Lines drawings with sheer plan, body plan, and half-breadth plan.  Updated 6/17/23 

9. Titanic Plan Page 9 This page has a shell plating expansion drawing. Updated 6/17/23

 

These are available with certain conditions regarding attribution and non-commercial use, etc.

 

Of particular interest to me is the Shell Plating Expansion plan... I'm in the midst of the bottom hull plating and this is a critical guide.

 

Also very useful are the internal deck layouts available from the folks at Titanic Honor & Glory.  They charge a reasonable fee to get a single download file with all of the decks included.  You can zoom in and out and grab snippets to print as needed.  A wider set with individual files for each deck is also available, but not necessary for my purposes. Here is the deck plans link: TitanicDeckPlan.com. (Note:  I'm not affiliated in any way and don't get $$$ for the shout out)

 

Cheers,

Evan

[Roger Pellett]

Very detailed and interesting work upgrading this kit.

 

If this effort has piqued your interest in things Titanic, the book below written by a Forensic Naval Architect and a professor of Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan discusses the design of Titanic as well as Lusitania and Britannic without the sensation usually associated with these vessels.  I took Marine Engineering courses from one of the authors, the late Jack Woodward.  The authors’ conclusions about the three ships are most interesting.

 

Roger

 

[Force9]

Ahoy @Roger Pellett...

 

THANK YOU for the reference - I will add that to my collection.  I had a terrific book that I found at an awesome used bookstore hidden away down a side street in Boston that specifically focused on the engineering of the Olympic class ships... Alas, I can't find it.  Ugh.  This looks like a valuable substitute.

 

Cheers

Evan

 

[Force9]

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow American modelers... Happy Ungrateful Treasonous Traitors Day to all my Brit friends...

 

Hull Openings

 

In addition to the portholes, I will need to cut a few more openings into the hull.  

 

First is the Condenser Discharge opening...This goes into the gap in the line of small holes near the waterline above the intakes.

 

The kit provides small grills to represent the lower intake openings.  I also cut an opening for these… I don’t like the look of pasting these directly on the hull.  I want them recessed

 

I used one of the photo-etch pieces for a template and cut out the small openings.  I then lined these with .010 x .080 Evergreen to create a narrow ridge to seat the PE.  I’ll come back after painting the hull and put a black interior box behind these to give some sense of depth.

 

You'll also notice some openings for doors... I'll be showing glimpses into the interior at various points in the build.  For the hull I'll open views into the 1st class entrance lobbies (P/S) and the 2nd and 3rd class entrance lobbies.  I've also opened up the D deck baggage door that leads into the 3rd class covered promenade.  I'll have views into that area through the baggage door and the open forward Well deck hatches above.

 

After cutting the opening, I rounded the inner corners slightly before final filing to square everything up:

 

Bow Detail

 

I've also cleaned up the bow hawse a bit more and added the narrow strips that helped to keep the anchors from catching on the lip of the plating as they were raised back up to the anchor hawse...

I peeled away a bit of the plate overlap detail to make sure everything laid down smooth...

 

This mostly catches everyone up to where I am at the build.

 

Bottom plating up next.

 

Cheers,

Evan

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Force9

[DavidG]

Hi Evan,

good luck for your bottom plating. I did it on mine, it took me a month, but enjoyed the process, despite most of it will be hidden. 

There seems to be three sources for the layout; the mentioned planking expansion, a scaled underbody view and the Woody kit. Note, all 3 are different patterns. The styrene kit is probably the less hassle, and fits well to the kit hull, however quite expensive. I investigated the planking expansion drawing as well, but it requires to re-draw it from scratch to the hull, which I didn't feel ready to do. So ended up using the bottom template from facebook, which neither fits very well to the existing plating of the kit, but by omitting some plates, can be tweaked to an acceptable result. There are around 500 plates to cut individually. Here is how it looks:

 

The kit has some partial plate detail in the bow area, where I had to adjust what to include and what not. But after a coat of primer (which I sprayed yesterday) it looks acceptable.

I look forward to see your approach.

best,

David

[Force9]

Ahoy @DavidG

 

Wow - your bottom plating looks terrific and I salute the effort it took to achieve your result!  That hull is long - you must've stood on a step stool to get everything in your photo... 

 

Thanks for your additional insight... I appreciate having others on the same voyage to provide perspective and prepare me for any rough seas ahead.

 

Cheers

Evan

[Force9]

The Bottom Hull Plating

 

The bottom of the kit hull has no plating detail - another victim of the complexity of injecting plastic into a mold and needing to get it out in one piece without breaking the mold itself.  

 

Most modelers don’t really care about the missing detail and are otherwise displaying their model in a manner that obscures the hull bottom. I will be lifting the model on pedestals to show off the bottom and will need to represent the plating in some reasonable form…

 

As @DavidG pointed out in his post, there is a very fine kit available from Woody’s Model Works (now Maritime Models) that provides the hundreds of precut styrene plates and a clever methodology to get all the plating overlaps in place and attached to the model. It does take considerable effort to get the best result and it is relatively expensive.

 

I don’t want to do that much work (or spend that much money).  

 

I need a simpler approach that won’t require cutting and pasting many hundreds of individual pieces to the hull with all the Units of Effort that will entail.

 

Hmmm… Pondering…

 

I need to first lay out a pattern for the plating to guide my efforts.  

 

On the Facebook Builders page an enterprising modeler has provided an exact 1/200 scale version of Bob Read’s underbody plan view that can be laid out directly on the model as a plating guide.  But as @DavidG also indicated, this will not translate very well.  

 

The first issue is that the Trumpeter hull form does not match the original ship.  Instead of the smooth compound curves of the Titanic, the model has been squared off across the mid-section and takes on a rectangular shape that does not align to the Titanic’s actual underbody plan. 

 

The second issue, of course, is that that plan incorporates the contours of the actual Titanic hull and shows the perspective of the plating with respect to the curves as they transition upward on the hull. We can’t see the size and shape of each hull strake using this view.

 

Let’s illustrate with a quick exercise:

 

I cut out the 1/200 underbody plan bow section and taped it to the model.  I pricked some pinholes along the lines and came back along with various colored markers to mark the corresponding dots on the model surface.

The revealed pattern is interesting…

Of course, the plan lines diverge from the model versions as the bow narrows and the plating angles change upwards toward the forecastle, but the lines near the center on the flat bottom aren’t too far off from what Trumpeter has in place.  There will need to be a lot of adjustment to the pattern to fit the kit on either end, but there is some hope that the plates along the centerline could line up.  A modeler could use the underbody plan to lay out all of the plating from the centerline out to the edge and get most of it mapped across the mid-section.  The catch for me was that the curvature of the plating pattern would eventually run up against the square edge of the Trumpeter hull.  It looks to me like David resolved that as best that can be done.

 

In any event, the overall shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom has me ditching any idea of matching the plating to the underbody plan – I'll have to make up a workable plating pattern on my own.

 

Okay, now you purists will need to avert your eyes…

 

I am going to proceed with a few elements in mind:

 

(1)  I’ll need to operate within the shape parameters of the model and not rely on the ship plans. The model plating will conform to the squared midships shape and be closer to reality only at the bow and stern.

 

(2)  I will use .010 x .250 Styrene strips across as much of the hull as possible.  This will simplify the entire effort and speed things along.  Why make this hard?

 

(3)  I won’t overlap the styrene pieces at the butt ends.  Instead, I’ll represent the butt laps with small strips of .010 x .030 styrene affixed at intervals to represent the individual plates. 

 

(4) I need to keep in mind that the underside of Titanic was built with overlapping strakes in the “clinker” style… Not with the alternate “In and Out” hull strakes used on the upper hull. I won’t be actually overlapping the edges of the strakes. Instead, I’ll artificially replicate the clinker overlap of the plates using thin .010 x .030 styrene affixed under the abutting edge of each successive strip.  This will lift the styrene edge to give the clinker effect and give me more control on the alignment of each strake and a more consistent effect across the entire hull bottom.

 

As I prepare to map out the pencil guide lines it’ll help to divide the hull bottom into sections that each have their own approach.

 

 

The BOW and STERN sections will have custom shapes for the plates to match the shape and contours of the model.  The Titanic had distinct plates in these areas that can be replicated on the model - Trumpeter already includes some of what is needed that I can build on.

 

The MID section is straightforward.  I’ll use the wide .010 x .250 strips to fill in most of this area.  No need to introduce any curvature since the model form is rectangular along this entire expanse.

 

The TRANSITION sections between the MID section and the BOW and STERN areas are the trickiest.  I’ll need to get creative to connect the plating smoothly while keeping aligned with the spirit of the original plating pattern used on the Titanic.

 

The Shell Plating Expansion drawing that Bob Read makes available is the best source for how to proceed.  This plan outlines the hull plates in their entire form and lets me zero in on any distinct plates that I can incorporate into my build.

 

I’ll show how this all comes together starting with the bow section in my next post.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited July 14, 2023 by Force9

[Force9]

Thanks again to everyone for the Likes...

 

The Keel Plates

 

For my hull plating methodology, it will be important to establish a straight centerline that I can use to build each successive row of strakes out toward the edges of the hull.  Using .010 x .080 strips, I carefully attached the Keel Plates (not sure that is the exact technical term) along either side of the kit centerline seam.  (I didn't use one wider strip since the hull is slightly angled from this seam.)

 

I taped a metal straightedge against the kit seam and laid down the first strip. Same procedure for the other side. 

 

This was done across the entire length starting from the bow and proceeding back to the stern.

 

Once in place, I used successive strips of .010 x .250 styrene to trace the pattern of the strakes from the center out to the edge.  I only did this on the port side since each piece will be mirrored on the starboard side.

Adding BOW hull plating

 

Since I will not be overlapping the styrene to create the butt laps, I don’t need to begin at the stern and work my way forward.  I was free to start at the bow.

 

Bob Read’s  Shell Plating Expansion drawing includes terrific detail in the bow section that can be incorporated into my representation.

 

In particular, the “stair-step” plating that abuts the stem can be replicated on the model.  The forwardmost plate (numbered 1 in the highlight above) already exists in Trumpeter’s version.  

I need to fill in the area underneath the first plate with a short length of Styrene. I used the trusty Tamiya tape to overlay the spot and traced the outline.  

 

This was transferred to a length of .010 Evergreen strip and cut to match.  I made two – port and starboard.

 

I’ll come back later with a solid plate to overlay on top of this to represent that part of the stair-step.

Next, I created two copies for the plate marked 3 in my reference.  The same methodology – trace the outline on tape, transfer to .010 thick styrene and cut out two identical copies.

 

 

 

 

The piece was bent over a hobby knife handle to give it some curve to help match it to the hull form.

From this point I just repeated the trace, cut, and cement process for each plate that I had outlined in pencil on the hull.  

 

No need to be too exacting in the fit – that is why they invented Tamiya Putty:

I should note that each piece was given a generous wet coat of cement to make sure it holds to the hull in the future.  Because the strips are so thin, I will likely see occasional bubbling under the styrene that I’ll need to sand smooth along with the odd dab of putty.

 

Some sample views:

What I haven’t illustrated yet is the approach I took to replicate the Clinker effect across the strakes.  I’ll show that more clearly on a future post.

 

At a later step, I'll come back and lay down small strips of .010 x .030 styrene to represent the butt overlaps to define individual plates.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited July 14, 2023 by Force9

[yvesvidal]

All this is a significant amount of work on top of the kit hull as designed by Trumpeter. It reminds me of all the work I had to do on the hull and deck of my Trumpeter U-552 submarine.

 

Yves

[Force9]

Aye @yvesvidal...

 

We get spoiled with all of the molded detail.  Those of us who focus on plastic models are cringing at the extra work needed to bring these ship hulls up to the next level... Meanwhile wooden ship modelers think nothing of layering on multiple strips of custom trimmed planking and hundreds of individual copper plates as a matter of normal course...

 

I'm happy to put in some extra effort.  All part of the fun.

 

Cheers

Evan

[Force9]

The Strakes Layout

 

Before proceeding with any of the hull plates I had to lay out some penciled guidelines based largely on the shape of the Trumpeter hull bottom… 

 

As indicated in the previous log, I used the .010 x .250 strips to mark up the mid-section.  The bow and stern areas were laid out next based on an approximation of what the hull expansion plan showed.  Finally, the mid-section layout was connected to the bow and stern layouts with curves that narrowed to meet in the transition sections - while also mirroring the curved edge of the model.  This generally followed the principles in play on the actual ship.  The other standard that I’ll try to adhere to is having no more than two strakes dead end into any other.  You’ll see some areas that look to violate this on my initial pass, but I’ll try to mitigate that when I finalize everything prior to priming.

 

A ”bendable buddy” (my term) flexible drafting ruler came in handy to plot the transition section curves.

In the interest of full disclosure… I did mess up a bit on the entry holes for my future pedestals.  I needed to drill these out before laying down any styrene.  I initially used my drill press to do this.  I drilled using successively larger bits to get the large opening, but the last (and largest) drill bit drifted and left me with an off-center mounting hole.  Rats.  I didn’t realize it until I started laying out the keel plates.  I filled the existing holes and hand drilled the newer versions.  Lesson learned.

The Stern Hull Plates

 

Like the bow, there seemed to be an opportunity to incorporate some of the plating seen on the expansion plan into the stern area of the model.

Building out from the stern most plate already molded on the model, I penciled in some outlines to approximate what can be seen on the hull expansion drawing:

Not exact, but it’ll do for my purpose.

 

A couple days’ worth of modeling time using the same trace, cut, cement process as before left me with a reasonable result.

 

The individual plates will get defined at a later stage.

 

I’m currently working through the mid-section.  More fun on the way.

 

Cheers,

Evan

Edited July 14, 2023 by Force9

[Hubac's Historian]

Beautifully meticulous plate work!

[Roger Pellett]

There were several systems used to plate iron and steel ships before electric arc welding largely eliminated riveting during WW II.  The most common was the  “in and out” system, not clinker.  For riveting to work, the hull plates had to be solidly backed up.  For longitudinal seams plates could be fayed against their neighbor but the overlapping geometry of transverse seams required a baking strip between the plate and frame.  Without this, the rivets would not draw up tight.  Clinker planking required tapered backing strips, difficult to shape and expensive.  The in and out system allowed the use of cheaper non-tapered backing strips.  The picture below, taken from a 1916 shipbuilding text shows the different plating systems.

 

Roger

 

 

[Force9]

@Roger Pellett

 

Extremely interesting... I was under the impression that Titanic had the sawtooth edges incorporated into the lower frames themselves to allow for the clinker system - in the manner you'd see done with constructing a rowboat etc. Instead, your source shows these tapered wedge-like strips added into the mix as the plates are riveted...?  Would these tapered strips be affixed to the underside of the strakes before riveting?  Or would they first be affixed to the frames? 

 

My next post will clarify my interest...

 

Cheers

Evan

[Roger Pellett]

Ships with Frames joggled to fit in and out plating were not unheard of.  I believe that they were mostly seen on smaller vessels, particularly those where weight was a concern.  I doubt if Titanic was weight sensitive.  Passengers are actually a light cargo.  Capacity to haul these is limited by internal volume.  The same is true for the freight that she carried.  A prestige vessel would command high freight rates, not applicable to heavy bulk cargos.

 

I do not know how the backing strips were fitted during construction.

 

Roger

 

 

[Kelp]

Evan,

I found this drawing of the lower hull plating in the Titanic the Ship Magnificent book,  Figure 4-10.

 

Don

[Roger Pellett]

This comes under the “you learn something new every day category!”  Titanic did have joggled frames and clinker plating.  I stand corrected.  The joggled Frames, of course would have eliminated the need for those pesky backing strips between the, frame and plating.  I dig out some references from my library and found a midships section drawing for Titanic.  It appears that the shell her double bottom was clinker plated with joggled frames up through the turn of her bilge with in and out plating (Frames without jiggling) up the sides. I wonder if this was standard practice with Harland and Wolfe built ships?  

 

 

Roger

Edited July 17, 2023 by Roger Pellett

[Force9]

@Kelp - Thanks for the clarifying diagram.  Extremely helpful.

 

@Roger Pellett - Yes... Most Titanic modelers are aware of the clinker bottom and in/out sides.  Not sure why that was done though... I saw one reference imply that using the Clinker underbody would lower the overall displacement of the Olympic class ships.  Dunno how the math works.

 

Cheers,

Evan

[Roger Pellett]

The overall displacement theory makes little sense.  The metric that Naval Architects usually try to minimize is Tonnage.  Since vessel registers and shipping reporters describe ships as “the 10,000 ton SS Rust bucket,” those not familiar with shipping terminology assume that 10,000 tons is the vessel’s displacement which is equal to its weight.  In fact in this case, tons is a measure of the vessel’s internal volume.  The term dates way back to Henry VIII when wine was shipped in large casks called TUNS and Import duties were assessed on the number of Tuns that the vessel was carrying.  Since then, vessel’s are measured to determine their internal volume called tonnage.  This number is used to assess docking, harbor, and pilotage fees as well Canal Tolls.  The idea is to maximize the amount of cargo that can be carried while minimizing the Tonnage.

 

The clinker plating would not affect cargo carrying capacity.  Cargo was not stowed in the double bottom, and while it might have saved some weight, that would be insignificant in the overall scheme.  In the case of a grounding, it would make the ship’s bottom easier to repair.

 

Roger

[Force9]

Then the mystery remains... Why did they bother with the clinker bottom???!!!

 

Evan