graham 01
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The fire aboard
Hi All
I was just thinking on new threads to have a go at. I have thought of a few but how about for starters we look at the fire in the coal bunker?
It was reported that a severe fire was ablaze when Titanic left port on her voyage, This has been picked up on by many researchers and interested people since the disaster,
In reality it has to be noted that ships of that era, run on coal to produce the steam for the engines to run. We could go into explaining how the steam engine came to be or transpired from early ships like SS Great Briton, (which was not the first I know) up to modern day vessels. But that is a long job. So lets look at the question.
Did Titanic set sail with a enormous fire raging in its bunkers?
The answer seems to be YES, She did. But like water is wet this was a common thing. Coal dust used to ignite through "spontaneous combustion" It was a hazard that effected vessels on numerous occasions. The stokers and engineers where used to this problem and would stoke coal out of the bunker in question, then wet the remaining coal down. Aboard Titanic the fire started in boiler room 6.
It would also have to be noted, if like many believe the fire was so strong as to make bulk heads glow, a lot of titanic coal would of been wasted away.
David Brown in Last log goes through how much coal was loaded on to titanic and how much she burned. In this there is a great piece of how a captain of the era worked out his fuel. Smith would of eaten into his 10% over estimate had he sped full stem and over for long. ( another story).
So back to it what do we all think about the so called fire. Did it play a part in the events or not.
Regards
Graham
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Why dont people do what they say nowadays http://www.freewebs.com/hms-kellington/
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Mar/16/2004, 11:46 am
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wills
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Re: The fire aboard
hi graham,
i will have a go at it now.
ok as far as the fire i think it happened.
i also think that it could have been the main contributing factoras to why her steel was so brittle. even if they did get it exstinguished before the open sea. the damage was already done.
i have heard about the coal just igniting for no reason. i also read somewhere that it burnt up a lot of her coal. i know that they got some out of the coal bunker 6 but not all of it. now i know that it is hard to pin point one thing or another but the fire does seem to be a major topic when discussing titanic. it is gonna be very interesting to see what others think of it.
wills
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Suicide is a permenant solution to a temporay problem........
Whatever obstacles control,
Go on, true heart,
thou'lt reach the goal.
http://com4.runboard.com/bthetitanicshack
wills~~~~~
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Mar/16/2004, 1:02 pm
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graham 01
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Re: The fire aboard
Hi Wills
It is a good topic with which to start a debate. and as usual I will post a link here for you all to start. It is a good unbiased account
http://www.titanicmodel.com/db/db-03/CoalBunkerFire.htm
Regards
Graham
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Why dont people do what they say nowadays http://www.freewebs.com/hms-kellington/
http://www.freewebs.com/graham7760/index.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/hmsroyaloak/
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Mar/16/2004, 1:15 pm
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wills
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Re: The fire aboard
that is a very good article.
yes indeed. i myself can not believe that a ship would set sail with a fire on board. it would risk the lives of the passengers and crew to me it would not be worth it at all.
however back then they lived by a different set of rules no matter how bizzarre they seem to us today they were still rules and they had to be follwed.
when we discuss the fire on titanic it reminds me of the ship [i believe it to be the extacy] that caught on fire because of bad wiring . i believe it started in the laundry room.
that was bad the passengers had to disembark .
wills
---
Suicide is a permenant solution to a temporay problem........
Whatever obstacles control,
Go on, true heart,
thou'lt reach the goal.
http://com4.runboard.com/bthetitanicshack
wills~~~~~
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Mar/16/2004, 11:02 pm
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Titanica
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Re: The fire aboard
spontaneous combustion (SC): isn't it a phenomenon that occurs not only to coal, but also to living things?....I read sometime ago during a "forensic medicine course" during my studies that it could be a possible cause of unexplained fatalities even in humans!! EERI 
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Mar/17/2004, 8:49 am
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graham 01
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Re: The fire aboard
Hi wills
Agreed it does seem strange to set sail with a fire in the belly. But it was just another thing n those days, they accepted it as a part of the job. Fire control nowadays is totally different, health and safety etc. Half in fact most of the ships would not be able to allow passengers on board let alone sail.
A fire in the coal was a added hazard not a problem as such.
As for the ship you mention with the fire in the laundry cupboard, I don't think the Extacy was it's name but you could be correct. It was in the great lake or am I thinking of another one here. There has been many ships destroyed by fire and I mean passenger ships not war or cargo.
Regards
Graham
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Why dont people do what they say nowadays http://www.freewebs.com/hms-kellington/
http://www.freewebs.com/graham7760/index.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/hmsroyaloak/
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Mar/17/2004, 10:07 am
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graham 01
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Re: The fire aboard
Hi Titanica
You are correct. Spontaneous combustion has been put down to many deaths. There are some cases where the body has burned to nothing but things around it are untouched. It has been researched and theories from alcohol abuse to smoking have been put forward. Alcohol is the main factor in most apparently. Plus when you consider the human body is full of gasses and water I suppose the theory could and does happen.
Regards
Graham
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Why dont people do what they say nowadays http://www.freewebs.com/hms-kellington/
http://www.freewebs.com/graham7760/index.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/hmsroyaloak/
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Mar/17/2004, 10:10 am
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wills
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Re: The fire aboard
yes grahm i do believe it was in the great lakes area however like i said i am not sure about the name but i remember that ships name for some reason.
yes i also read about spontanious combustion as well . it just happens . weird huh.
well anyways,
wills
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Suicide is a permenant solution to a temporay problem........
Whatever obstacles control,
Go on, true heart,
thou'lt reach the goal.
http://com4.runboard.com/bthetitanicshack
wills~~~~~
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Mar/18/2004, 1:43 am
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Lights
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Re: The fire aboard
I'm definite that it happened, but I honestly think that the effect was negligible...had TITANIC not sunk, the bulkhead in question would have eventually been replaced and no one would have thought anything more about it...I think that it is probably something common which got magnified out of proportion in light of the disaster.
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"What I remember about that night- what I will remember as long as I live- is the people crying out to each other as the stern began to plunge down. I heard people crying, 'I love you.'"
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Apr/6/2004, 6:18 pm
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Teamtunafish
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Re: The fire aboard
It always surprised me that Titanic had bunkers with corners - the reason silos are built the way they are is to make sure wheat dust doesn't ignite the way coal dust would have in this situation.
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Apr/6/2004, 9:51 pm
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