Olympic and Titanic Straps And Other Changes

[Mark Chirnside]

This is just a brief note to let everyone know that my new article is up at the TRMA website:

http://titanic-model.com/articles/markchirnside2/index.shtml

The article records some minor changes in the hull design of the two ships which I believe have been previously unknown, and do not seem to appear on the shipbuilder's plans.

I hope it will prove interesting to some of the techies -- and to those researching the forensics of the Titanic disaster, although I'm not saying it's anything earth-shattering.

Best wishes,

Mark.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I'm not greatly surprised that the strakes were not on the original hull plating plans, though they may have been added on to later revisions which have since been lost. I do know it's a trick that's still used today. Strakes have been used on some small and medium sized warships where excessive flexing and hull cracking has been a problem. You can see examples of that in the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates as well as the Type 42 destroyers still used by the Royal Navy.

An interesting article, Mark.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

Nice article Mark. Thanks for posting it. As usual, it was well researched and well written. Another fine contribution to our knowledge of these fine ships and how their design has evolved.

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Hi Mike, Sam,

Thanks for your kind words. It's good to know that you enjoyed the article and that my work was appreciated. We've still got a lot to learn about these ships.

Best wishes,

Mark.

 

[Noel F. Jones]

My earliest authority - Attwood, 1916 edition - seems to imply that panting frames etc. were retrospective modifications, viz.:

"In vessels built to the rules of Lloyds Register, the following rules have to be carried out to provide sufficient local strength against panting:-

All stringers, where practicable, to extend fore and aft, and to be efficiently connected at their ends with plates forming hooks and crutches of the same thickness as the floor-plates amidships, and those below the old beams should be spaced about 4 feet apart. In vessels whose longitudinal number is 18,200, or above, an additional hook or crutch should be fitted at the ends of the vessel, between each tier of beams, to the satisfaction of the Surveyors."

Apropos the modifications to the Olympic referred to in Mark's article, do we know the effective date from which the above-mentioned modifications became mandatory? Panting, as a phenomenon, has surely been known since much earlier than, say, 1912.

Noel