When Engineering Goes Wrong: Three Badly Designed Ships
Oceanliner Designs・26 minutes read
Ship design involves complex operations, impacting safety and functionality, as demonstrated through historical failures like the Lucitania and Principesa Yolanda. Factors like metacentric height and engine choice play a critical role in ship performance and safety, as seen in examples like the RMSS Estus and Imperator.
Insights
- Ship design intricately balances engineering precision and mathematical accuracy to ensure safety and functionality, with past failures emphasizing the critical repercussions of small oversights, as highlighted by Mike Brady from Ocean Liner Designs.
- The influence of a ship's intended purpose significantly impacts its design, exemplified by instances such as the RMSS Estus's engine misstep due to Lord Kiland's choice of diesel engines over steam turbines, showcasing the importance of efficient engine design for profitability and speed in ocean liners.
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Why is ship design crucial?
Safety and functionality depend on engineering precision.
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Summary
00:00
"Ship Design: Precision, Consequences, and Efficiency"
- Designing a ship is a complex operation requiring engineering precision and mathematical accuracy to ensure safety and functionality.
- Past maritime engineering failures, like the Lucitania and Principesa Yolanda, highlight the critical consequences of small oversights.
- Three ship design failures will be discussed, ranging from harmless to deadly, by Mike Brady from Ocean Liner Designs.
- Ship design is influenced by the ship's intended purpose, impacting its structure significantly.
- Passenger ships need to balance metacentric height to avoid discomfort from excessive rolling or seasickness.
- Ship power plants are crucial for different speeds; the Estus and Alcantara's engine misstep led to their failure.
- Ocean liners required speed for profitability, leading to the importance of efficient engine design.
- In 1925, the RMSS Estus failed to meet speed expectations due to Lord Kiland's choice of diesel engines over steam turbines.
- Harland and Wolf replaced the underperforming diesel engines with turbines to increase power and speed.
- Imperator, a German ocean liner, faced stability issues due to a high center of gravity, leading to listing problems and a challenging refit process.
14:00
Empress ships' design flaw led to disaster.
- Imperator's design fault led to quirky behavior, potentially dangerous.
- In 1906, sister ships introduced with modernity and luxury harbored a deadly secret.
- Canadian Pacific Railway aimed to enhance transatlantic Fleet standards.
- Empress of Britain and Empress of Ireland brought luxury and modernity to the route.
- Safety standards improved with double bottom and compartmentalization.
- Empress sisters featured 10 bulkheads to ensure flood ability.
- Engine and Boiler Room compartments in Empress ships were too large, risking sinking.
- Longitudinal bulkheads in boiler rooms exacerbated flooding during the Empress of Ireland disaster.
- Lessons learned from tragedies like the Empress of Ireland continue to shape modern safety standards at sea.
