Titanic - Olympic's Stern

[Steven Hall]

It appears that this holes in the stern plate (frame, or rudder post) had been used for some reason. The Olympic has 8 holes, while Titanic has five. I looks like the provision made for the attachment of a plate of some description. (?)
The Titanic photograph shows a starboard view, while the Olympic presents a view from the post side. What it does indicate is that these holes had been likely drilled completely through. I had ordinary believed that they may have been an anchor point (one of) for the rubber to be braced true during launch, though not convinced of this idea.
I have never heard of any builders plate being attached in this area of the ship. It does show one of the subtle differences in the stern hull arrangement.
I don’t believe this area is visible on the wreck today.
Any suggestions on the use of these holes.

http://usrwww.mpx.com.au/~titanic401/z1.jpg
http://usrwww.mpx.com.au/~titanic401/z2.jpg

 

[Steven Hall]

Images.

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello Steve,

That plate that you are seeing is a 'zinc sacrificial anode'.
There are a couple of these plates in the rudder area on Olympic and Titanic.
Britannic also has these, see any picture of her stern/rudder.

I hope Scott Andrews doesn't mind, but here's a piece of text which is on the Titanic Scale Model Tutorial(http://rivetcounter.txc.net.au/), although I copied it from The Debris Field website(http://www.debrisfield.com/Models/Mike_Pell/mike_pell_model.htm):

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Quote:

If you look at page 89 of Anatomy of the Titanic you will see a strip of metal on the forward bottom edge of the rudder. This was one of the zinc sacrificial anodes. Scott Andrews explains that they were used "to prevent corrosion of the steelwork in the vicinity of the center screw through galvanic action. They tend to stand out well against the anti fouling paint because they must be left unpainted in order to function. They are silvery-gray in color.
There were also a number of these fitted within the arch of the center screw aperture, You'll see them in better reproductions of the drydock and pre-launch photos.

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Regards,
Remco