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Boiler Area
The boiler are is a rather intriguing area because it might lead to the answering of a number of questions. The two Boilers lay side-by-side atop of a pile of brick all of which appear to be fire brick. This seems to make sense because in those days the boilers were made of fire brick. In addition, just to the stern of the boiler ends there is debris that appears to be furnace doors (note the right and diagonal angled edges in the debris at the bottom of the Stern End Of Boilers picture). Each Boiler is 24 feet long, 40 inches in diameter and have five internal flame tubes. Although both boilers are intact one of them appears to have a blowout area. This area is about half the circumference of the boiler and about three to four foot in length. The external boiler blowout area appears to be fractured along fairly straight lines. If it is a blowout area it begs the question, did it happen before or after sinking. If after the sinking then it would be safe to assume the ship was under power at or near the time of sinking. This information could reduce the work involved in researching the site. Assistance identifying or explaining any of these items or answering the Questions listed below would be greatly appreciated.Statistics:
Boiler Count
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Synopsis: The boilers are sitting on top of a pile of bricks, are right next to each and are still sitting in parallel as they were prior to the ships sinking. With the exception of the blowout area found in the port boiler they appear to be virtually intact. The mounting points for the steam tubes are clearly visible on the top of each boiler. The steam tubes themselves are found immediately to the starboard of the boilers. The brick found under and around the boilers all appear to be fire brick. Note the square edge seen in the foreground of the Stern End Boiler Picture. It is one of the furnace doors as seen in the Furnace-Boiler Diagram. Type Of Ship: It is obvious by these two boilers that this ship wreck was powered by steam. The fact that there are two boilers each with seven flame tubes supports the fact that this boat over all length is in the 100 to 150 foot range. Cargo: Nothing in this area to suggest its cargo. It has been suggested that the ship was carrying brick to Ft Jefferson. The only brick found on the site are under or very near these boilers. In addition the brick found appear to be used and are fire brick. Keeping in mind that the furnaces on these types of ships are made of or lined by fire brick we believe that these brick were most likely part of the ships furnace and not the cargo. Sinking Date: So far nothing in this area has helped to determine the sinking date. If we could determine the earliest day that a brick manufacturer used a particular stamp could greatly reduce the possible sinking date range. Otherwise, the area appears to be substantially deteriorated with only super structure steel remaining, thus indicating its been submerged for quite some time. Cause Of Sinking: Nothing in this area has helped to determine the cause of sinking. The apparent blowout area(s) in the port boiler is suspect. It could be surmised that the ship suffered a possible boiler blow out which resulted in the demise. How It Sank: This areas current condition supports the idea it sank to the bottom mostly in tact and in an upright position. We cannot come up with a upside-down scenario that results in the boilers being on top of the furnaces fire brick. We do not find brick lying on top or between the boilers. Nor you we find any in the blowout areas. This would be highly unlikely if the furnace and it's brick were to have collapsed on top of the boilers. In addition the steam tubes attachment points are found on top of the boilers and lying in tact near by. 1. Can we identify the engine size, type and manufacturer of the boilers? 2. Is it a blowout that is seen in the Boiler Blow Out Area picture? 3. If it is a boiler blowout can we determine if it happened before or after sinking? 4. Were the boilers heated by brick furnaces constructed of the brick similar to the ones in Bricks Area ? 5. What are the Needle Valve and Plunger Valve found near the boilers? |
