How Queen Mary Beat France's Superliner Normandie - The Epic True Story
Oceanliner Designs・19 minutes read
The text discusses the maiden voyage of the RMS Queen Mary in 1936, aiming to beat the speed record of France's Normandy with its powerful turbines, highlighting the fierce maritime rivalry between the two superliners.
Insights
- The RMS Queen Mary, departing on her maiden voyage in 1936, aimed to beat France's Normandy's speed record by utilizing powerful turbines for propulsion, marking a shift towards more efficient engine technology in the post-war era.
- Queen Mary's success in surpassing the Normandy's record highlighted the significance of innovative engineering, such as Vladimir Djokovic's hull design and the adoption of Parsons turbines, showcasing the pivotal role of technological advancements in maritime competition and progress.
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Summary
00:00
"RMS Queen Mary Maiden Voyage Speed"
- May 27, 1936, RMS Queen Mary departs Southampton on her maiden voyage with 1849 passengers and 1100 crew.
- The ship aims to beat France's Normandy's speed record for the fastest transatlantic crossing.
- Pre-World War I, triple expansion steam engines were common on passenger ships but were limited in speed.
- Turbines, introduced before the war, were powerful and efficient, leading to their adoption by many shipping companies.
- France, Britain, and America, post-war, had different outcomes in terms of ship losses and modernization.
- French Line, lacking modern ships post-war, embarked on building impressive liners like SS Paris, Degrassi, and Ile de France.
- Britain's Cunard and White Star Line had pre-war and newer German ships, while White Star boasted the largest trio of ships by tonnage.
- French Line planned to challenge British competition by building a superliner, initially named T6.
- Engineer Vladimir Djokovic's radical hull design for the new liner aimed to reduce drag and increase speed efficiency.
- Normandy, the new superliner, was turbo-electric, utilizing steam turbines for electricity to drive propellers, making it the largest ship in the world at the time.
13:57
Queen Mary outperforms Normandy in speed
- Queen Mary underwent extensive testing with 22 models in water tanks, totaling 8,000 tests, revealing a hull design that minimized pitching but lacked efficiency compared to the Normandy.
- Queen Mary's engine room housed four massive Parsons turbines, producing 212,000 shaft horsepower, surpassing the Normandy's 160,000 horsepower from turboelectric engines.
- The powertrain of Queen Mary included four primary boiler rooms with yarrow boilers, an auxiliary boiler room with Scotch boilers, turbo generator rooms, and engine rooms, occupying significant space across the ship's lower decks.
- Despite a close initial speed comparison with the Normandy, Queen Mary eventually surpassed its rival's record by two hours and 35 minutes in August 1936, initiating a fierce maritime rivalry.
