QE2 Story Forum
The QE2's Story (in-service) => The QE2 herself => Technical Matters => Topic started by: Bob C. on Sep 08, 2010, 06:32 PM
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I have always been fascinated by QE2 and intrigued about her various openings below the waterline. There are many aside form the obvious - bow thrusters and stabilizers. A few photos from around the boards show a few of the openings such as the photo here:
http://pudzeoch.smugmug.com/gallery/3620601_j9Agk#292811519_k48rZ
and the video of her launch found on this forum page:
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,2344.0.html
Does anyone have drawings or schematics that show how many openings there are what what they are for?
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Does anyone know if the QE2 ever had a "plimsol line" painted on the hull at the waterline?
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Does anyone know if the QE2 ever had a "plimsol line" painted on the hull at the waterline?
Good question. I cannot ever remember seeing one, though it's not to say she didn't.
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I thought a Plimsol Line was a legal requirement?
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Skilly56 refers to draft measurements here
Post#24 https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1894.msg22569.html#msg22569
This photograph isn't the Plimsoll marking as shown in wikipedia -
however, do you think it's the same thing, done differently on QE2?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/prondis_in_kenya/3342704800/in/set-72157610969303408/
Thanks to the photographer.
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Perhaps Plimsol Lines are only for cargo ships?
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https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1040.0.html
Hi everybody,
The QE2 certainly did have her plimsoll markings on the hull just above the waterline, some information is contained in the ol discussion in the link above.
It would have been hard to see in a lot of ports as so close to the water the dock would have obscured it from view.
A lot of the launching fotos online and in books show it though....
As for the draught marks you refer to Rosie, they are not the same thing but an additional requirement.
Cheers! 8)
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I have always been fascinated by QE2 and intrigued about her various openings below the waterline. There are many aside form the obvious - bow thrusters and stabilizers. A few photos from around the boards show a few of the openings such as the photo here:
http://pudzeoch.smugmug.com/gallery/3620601_j9Agk#292811519_k48rZ
and the vidoe of her launch found on this forum page:
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,2344.0.html
Does anyone have drawings or schematics that show how many openings there are what what they are for?
OK, getting back to my original question, anybody have information on the various ports, vents, drains and other openings below the WL?
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Bob
'Fraid there's little time here to search properly at the moment for information - just a few images.
Are these any use?
http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/diad/article.php?title=244&year=1969&article=d.244.36
and possibly there may be relevant information in the images posted when she was in dry dock, Dubai - last summer....
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,872.0.html
and possibly here on flickr.com - (results of search: QE2 dry dock)
https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=QE2+dry+dock&m=text
(hope this page is accessible)
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Here's a sneaky peek of one of the fins, as well as a look in a seachest.
There's plenty down there to see, lots more than you'd imagine....
Wikipedia: Sea Chest (Nautical) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_chest_(nautical))
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Thanks Imonlygoingforone! This is exactly the sort of stuff I am looking for. You mentioned a photo of one of the fins, is it still coming? do you have any other photos below the waterline? Where did these come from?
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Fascinating to see that...my dad's in the marine antifouling industry, building units to prevent zebra mussel infestation...so I've heard plenty about seachests!
Does anyone know what the treatment method for raw water would have been on QE2, especially to deal with such things as zebra mussels?
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Does anyone know what the treatment method for raw water would have been on QE2, especially to deal with such things as zebra mussels?
The discussion on drinking water continues here :
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,2424.0.html
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Anyone seen anything similar to this on the QE2's hull at the waterline
http://www.deepcreekyachtclub.com/WebPage/PlimsollMark.html
Perhaps Plimsol Lines are only for cargo ships?
We should have done...
Nautical Fact of the day, from the Daily Programme of 19 September 2008 (at anchor off Bar Harbor, Maine) :
PLIMSOLL MARK
During one of our stops in port, many of you may have noticed a mark painted on the ship's side at about midships, near the sea level. That mark is called Plimsoll Mark and it indicates the draught levels to which a ship may be loaded for varying conditions of season and location. The Plimsoll Mark can show up to six loading levels (tropical fresh water, fresh water, tropical sea water, summer sea water, winter sea water and winter North Atlantic for vessels shorter than 100 metres). This mark is accompanied by another, consisting of a circle bisected by a horizontal line with letters which indicate the registration society (i.e. "LR" is for "Lloyd's Register", whereas "RI" is the code for the "Registro Navale Italiano"). The horizontal line on the registration mark indicates the summer freeboard.
I must admit that I never thought of finding it when we were in port -- and so, I never consciously saw it, nor did I take a picture of it... :-[
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Mussels were a pain.
On a regular basis, especially during Soton drydocks, we would spend countless hours cleaning condensers....those are the things the salt water goes through to cool something. There were many of them. Main engines, alternators, air conditioning, drinking water cooling, you name it. But every time we left the drydock in Sotion with all systems functioning...we went over a mussel bed and sucked up all those baby mussels!. Oh well here we go again...eventually with the help of ...i think the uni of soton...we installed mussel killing injection systems.
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An interesting comment was made in reply #21 in the "QE2 Portholes" board that said:
"There is really only one riveted strip on the QE2 body, where the steel hull meets the aluminium superstructure.
I beg to differ.
I think you will find that the bilge keels were rivetted to the hull."
Can anyone validate this? I've never seen evidence of rivets in the photos I've seen of the bilge keels.
Here's the link to the portholes board: https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,2219.msg38691.html#msg38691
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A fellow Floridian doesnt trust me!
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Sorry Rod, I have the utmost respect for a fellow Floridian and mariner. However, one of the guidelines I live by is Ronald Reagan's quote of "trust but verify" ;)
This topic will at least give me an excuse to research bilge keel photos and look for rivets. I've always wondered how that component was/is integrated into the hull.
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I was surprised to see rivets below the waterline during my one and only time with QE2 in drydock: 1994 in Hamburg. The sensation and amazement of crawling under her while she was in a floating drydock remains with me today. I took pictures but not a professional so the top picture shows a line of rivets while the bottom one is zoomed in on them.
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Fascinating pictures, Michael! Now I wonder what those rivets were for...
And what are the openings in the hull?
Seeing her in dry dock must have been an amazing experience for all those who had that privilege...
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Fascinating pictures, Michael! Now I wonder what those rivets were for...
And what are the openings in the hull?
Seeing her in dry dock must have been an amazing experience for all those who had that privilege...
Isabelle....square or rectangular holes in the hull are usually sea water inlets...cooling water of some kind, sanitary water, fire pump etc...round holes are usually outlets from the same kinds of things....Then you had the sewage ejectors of course.
Being under the ship in drydock was truly an amazing feeling/sight.
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Imagine all that weight above your head..not to mention the very unique view.
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If I remember correctly, about 40' of the bilge keel was ripped off at one point. Maybe the reef in Nassau...you know the one that suddenly moved?
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Not forgetting the enormous damage suffered in August 1992 when she ran aground.
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Come on Bob...am I right...don't forget a lobster dinner rides on this!
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Whoa! When did a lobster dinner get introduced here?
The first linked video here, https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,2344.msg25689.html#msg25689, shows the bilge keels a few times at 3m 15s, 6m 33s and 9m 11s; however, nothing is crystal clear definitive. The 6:33 shot is the best of the three and I can make out what looks to be a thick bead of weld along where the bilge keel intersects with the hull on the outboard side.
Still looking for photos.
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Photos above for you Bob
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I mentioned the damage sustained in 1992. When QE2 was drydocked in Boston this is what the damage assessment discovered:
• Pieces of granite rock embedded in the hull cracks.
• The hull was dented for a length of about 300-feet and, in several places, there were small cracks a few inches thick.
• On the starboard side of the keel plate was a 21.34 (70-feet) fracture between frames 175 and 206 and a 5.49 metres (18-feet) fracture between frames 172 and 178.
• Five smaller fractures, 0.41 metres – 1.62 metres (16 – 24 feet) were found forward of the major fractures on the keel plate between frames 207 and 220.
• Two areas of damage were found on the starboard side to the bottom strakes ‘B’ (frames 210 – 236), ‘C’ (frames 141 – 221) and ‘D’ (frames 178 – 203).
• The bottom of the shell plating, together with the internal structure, was upset, deformed and damaged.
• One area of damage was found on the portside with ‘D’ strake at frames 178 – 193 being upset approximately 7 – 1 centimetres (3 – 4 inches) together with the attendant internal structural framing.
• The port bilge keel was heavily deformed over approximately 6.1 metres (20-feet between frames 151 and 163.
• There was evidence of paint scrapes due to contact starting at the bulbous bow and extending aft over a length of 400 feet aft and covering a width of 80 feet over the keel and either side of it and consisted of indents – some up to 240 feet in length and 14 inches deep – gouges and fractures. Paint scrapes and minor indents were noted on both sides as high as about two-feet above the keel plates (vertical measurement). The paint scrapes gradually transitioned into shallow upsets in the plate and then into large fractures on the flat keel.
• Twenty inner bottom tanks – mostly empty or carrying fresh water – had been damaged to some extent although one, No 10, an empty fuel tank, was the only tank to have leaked a small amount of oil residue at the time. The fractures in way of some of the indents were from 10 to 70 feet long and a 32 foot length of the port bilge keel had been severely damaged during the grounding.
• Internally some of the transverse floors and longitudinals (both structurally important upright ‘walls’ the comprise a ships cellular double bottom) were damaged by bucking and only in No 3 cargo hold was the deck bulging inboard, possible as a result of the flooding.
The fractures and damage ended abruptly just forward of amidships at approximately frame 172.
Rumours that the keel had been bent proved to be unfounded.
A thorough internal examination was undertaken and, fortunately, there was no damage to the stern, the propellers or the steering equipment.
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Thank you, Michael, for this comprehensive list.
It is astonishing that QE2 survived this damage, was repaired and continued on her way. She must have been a very precious asset for her owners to have taken on these repairs and expenses.
Sounds like it was a miracle that no one working below decks was injured in the event...
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Doesnt want to buy the surf and turf for the site does he?
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Thank you, Michael, for this comprehensive list.
It is astonishing that QE2 survived this damage, was repaired and continued on her way. She must have been a very precious asset for her owners to have taken on these repairs and expenses.
Sounds like it was a miracle that no one working below decks was injured in the event...
Yes, thanks Michael, awesome information which I have never read in such detail elsewhere.
If QE2 had not been re-engined at huge expense, this incident would in all likelihood have spelt the end for her. Don't you think? The fact that they had already poured an enormous investment in her to see her through the next 20 years, meant it was economically viable to repair her.
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I was surprised to see rivets below the waterline during my one and only time with QE2 in drydock: 1994 in Hamburg. The sensation and amazement of crawling under her while she was in a floating drydock remains with me today. I took pictures but not a professional so the top picture shows a line of rivets while the bottom one is zoomed in on them.
What if 'Hotel QE2' was the first preserved liner to be done so out of the water - so that you could go underneath - it would also make it easy to appreciate her lovely lines, and the below water technology etc.
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Photos above for you Bob
I see the riveted line in the hull in the 2 photos above but we are talking about the bilge keels being rivented onto the hull. I have yet to see evidence of rivets but have seen what appears to be a weld bead as stated in my previous reply.
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What if 'Hotel QE2' was the first preserved liner to be done so out of the water - so that you could go underneath - it would also make it easy to appreciate her lovely lines, and the below water technology etc.
At the risk of going off-topic, this is an interesting idea. Although I would include some sort of effect to mimic a waterline such as with lighting or streamers. Perhaps the ship could be lifted a bit higher than a standard keel block height to accomodate upright walking for taller visitors. Perhaps a lift and stairway can be extended down to and through the bottom of the hull.
I'm betting this would be a big draw for curiosity seekers. I'd definitely go down there.
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What if 'Hotel QE2' was the first preserved liner to be done so out of the water - so that you could go underneath - it would also make it easy to appreciate her lovely lines, and the below water technology etc.
Interesting idea Rob, tihis would create a spectacular and awesome site for visitors.
Steve S.
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I don't know how to read the technical aspects of plans but have been going through the ones I have for the double bottom to see if I can find evidence of rivetting and I see the bilge seams were riveted. Here is how they were:
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No doubt that the bilge seals were riveted as seen in the above photos; however, I'm talking about the bilge keels on the port and stbd sides. I think we are on the same page but do you have any photos or drawings of the bilge keels?
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At the risk of going off-topic, this is an interesting idea. Although I would include some sort of effect to mimic a waterline such as with lighting or streamers. Perhaps the ship could be lifted a bit higher than a standard keel block height to accomodate upright walking for taller visitors. Perhaps a lift and stairway can be extended down to and through the bottom of the hull.
I'm betting this would be a big draw for curiosity seekers. I'd definitely go down there.
IIRC, the SS Great Britain in Bristol (UK), sits on a glass 'sea', giving the appearance she is floating even though she is in dry dock. Haven't been there for a while now but also seem to recall that it is possible to descend beneath the waterline for a wander round.
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We are never going to get these 2 pound lobbies delivered to our houses!
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Interesting idea Rob, tihis would create a spectacular and awesome site for visitors.
Steve S.
I have thought of this as well, after seeing Queen Mary esentially landlocked in her berth in Long Beach (from Myle's Photos anyway). It truly would be impressive to be able to walk around and under the ship.
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some added pics
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Some amazing pictures there.
Thanks to all involved!