The Titanic's steering engines responded to steering inputs from the helm and turned the rudder accordingly. She carried two, only one of which would have been in use at any given time, the other on hand in case of the first malfunctioning. They were located under the poop deck ahead of the rudder, one to either side of the ship's centerline.

How much did Titanic's rudder weigh?

Daniel

Actually Captain Dan, I was asking about the "turning engines", not steering.

The turning engines were located actually on the two main reciprocating engines. They were small little piston engines that could be put on and taken off the gears of the big wheel on the aft end of the engines. The purpose was to move the engines without much steam power in order to:

1. move the machinery in certain positions if they needed work on.

2. To gradually move the pistons/valves and other machinery when the ship was in port in order to keep the engines in smooth working order and so they would not "freeze up".

I only learned about this about 5 months ago and found them pretty interesting, so I thought I would see if anyone else knew of them.

Sort of like bumping the starter motor in a car to rotate the crankshaft. Interesting.

When I saw turning, I immediately thought of turning the ship. Great question! I love learning about steam engines, though I'm much more knowledgeable about gasoline engines (for obvious reasons).

Hey, they should do a Trivial Pursuit Titanic Edition!

Daniel

Totally! Titanic's engines were awesome!! Thats probably my favorite part of the new movie- "Lets stretch her legs!!!".

On the web, there is this guy from Germany who made a working minature model of one of Titanic's reciprocating engine that can actually work off steam pressure (but aparently, he uses air pressure so the valves don't corrode). Take a look for it if you like steam engines! (Sorry, I dont know how to post links yet)

I'll hunt for that miniature engine. Thanks!

Titanic's engines propelled the ship at a service speed right on par with modern cruise ships. I could be wrong, but I'd bet that if the boilers were diesel fired, Titanic would be able to run profitably in the modern era. With the center turbine running entirely on the exhaust, Titanic had 16,000 horses essentially for free.

Daniel

MGY Friend--You may very well be correct. But how could you mistake a man shooting himself when it was still illuminated on top deck? Again, we'll never know 100%.

I think the issue with the ship breaking was it was very dark. Most people in the boats were looking away. And those near by saw the bow going down gradually with the stern behind it. Take a took at the new Titanic movie. After she breaks, the bow is still present as the stern lifts up. That is because the keel was connected. To some, whether they are referring to it breaking, or breaking into two separate pieces. I don't know. I would like to have heard Chief baker Charles Joughin's(sp) theory on the ship breaking seeing and he was on the railing. And the last person to actually leave Titanic.

And how much did Chief Engineer Bell make a year? And I have to apologize. I said Smith made 6,200 pounds, and Wilde 1,500 pounds. That's how much they made in American currency. Smith made 1,250 pounds a year plus 200 pounds more for a bonus if his ships had no accidents. Wilde made 300 pounds a year. I would think an officer would make more than the engineer but go figure...I didn't know that. If we look further down the list a fireman(stoker) could make 72 pounds a year, and a stewardess could make 42 pounds a year.

Illuminated yes, however, probably not as well illuminated as it we see on the movies. Especially near the bridge where light was a nusensce to navigation, and to whereabouts this occurance probably took place. But you never no. The lights I read were getting dim too soon after or around this time.

I do agree it would have been nice to talk to Jourghin and to know more about the experience other than the "elivator ride" description.

As regard to people like Ligtholler and Col. Gracie, Charles Pellegrino made a good point that they were almost engulfed by the Titanic when it broke in half (and of course when the lights went out), and therefore, the ship probably took up all their vision space, so they would not see the details.

Ahh did you read that in "Ghosts of Titanic?" I'm just starting to read that now. I have heard Pellegrino fictionalizes a lot. But what I've read so far is pretty good.

Chief engineering officer Joseph Bell made 420 pounds a year. Being an engineer back then was a highly skilled, excellent job to have back then.