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Introduction - Ship construction
was, and is, the result of centuries of experience. At the time of Titanic’s
inception, ship construction had reached a point where standard proportions had been
established for nearly all vital features. However, the first part of the twentieth
century was a time of rapid advances in which new patents and inventions from all
scientific and engineering disciplines were incorporated into the art of shipbuilding,
with many of these advances being put to practical use by naval architects before they had
been fully accepted by their land-based peers. The pace at which technology was advancing
was so fast that “state-of-the art” fittings on a newly completed ship could
become outdated within a few years. Titanic was representative of this time of
constant evolution, combining the best of traditional practices with the latest
improvements of her day. |
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Image above, Ship Structure – This generic
illustration identifies the principal of parts that comprise a ship’s structure. Author’s collection
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The structural
design and arrangement of any ship includes a multitude of parts chosen for strength,
watertightness and/or safety. Generally speaking, the ship as a whole can be regarded as a
huge box girder, three sides of which are composed of the shell plating and the fourth by
the main strength deck - in Titanic’s case, the Bridge Deck (B). These four sides of
the box girder are, in turn, strengthened by support structures such as the keel, frames,
beams, keelsons, stringers, girders and pillars, each of which . . . (continued) |
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Manual riveting - A “rivet
squad” consisted of three men and one or two boys and worked with iron rivets, as
this material was more malleable than steel. One boy heated the rivets; the other conveyed
them to and inserted them in the hole. If there was only one boy, he would toss the rivets
to the man called the “holder-on” or “holder-up.” While this man held
the head in place using a “holding-up” hammer of between 13 and 16 pounds, the
other two men would clinch the point. Riveting hammers varied from 3 pounds to 8 pounds in
weight, relative to the size of the rivet and its location.
The procedure of closing a rivet was as follows: the hot rivet was inserted in the
hole, the holder-up struck the head a few blows to “lay it up” so that it would
bed fairly on the plate; he then “held it up” with the hammer, placing the head
of the hammer against the rivet head while the two men on the other side struck the rivet
several blows in rapid succession . . . (continued) |
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Hydraulic riveting - Hydraulic riveting
was adopted to some extent in all large shipyards; however, it was not always found to be
advantageous in regard to expedition and economy, and although riveting machines were
available, they were not always employed. Their use was generally confined to the riveting
together of the frames, reverse bars, and floors, or the component parts of built-up
beams, deck girders, bracket plates, tank margin lugs to margin plates, etc., as these
parts existed in large numbers. They could be brought to the riveting machine, bolted
together and riveted without delay in wholesale fashion. Even small riveting machines
weighed upwards of half a ton and required pipe connections for a hydraulic supply; they
were located in a convenient spot where they could be suspended from a small trolley or
runner, which traveled out and in on the horizontal arm of a crane, so that the riveting
machine could reach every point of the area swept by the latter.
In the yard of Harland & Wolff, an extensive and elaborate hydraulic
installation was provided which made it possible to machine-rivet much of the hull in
place. The riveting machines were suspended from traveling hoists suspended from the
gantry above, the hoists traveling fore and aft on permanently fitted overhead rails . . . (continued) |
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Other topics in this chapter:
Materials used in ship construction (Wrought iron, steel, forgings, castings,
plates, shapes) - Rivets and riveted work - Types of rivets - Rivet hole punching - Rivet
preparation |
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