Some coal for our esteamed Stokers...
Titanic required an enormous amount of coal for her voyage, and where else would it be stored than in enormous coal bunkers? The bunkers were located on either side of most of the watertight bulkheads between the Boiler Rooms, as well as above them, nestled between the hull and uptakes. They contained large numbers of frames and stiffeners to keep the structures strong and rigid, with cross-bracing between the bunker walls and watertight bulkheads. The upper bunkers had "trimming holes" in their floors so that coal could be moved into the lower bunkers. Coal was loaded via coaling doors in the hull through shafts to the upper bunkers, and it was accessed from the boiler room stokeholds (where the stokers worked) via vertical sliding doors at the base of the lower bunkers. The insides of the bunkers were painted with a specially robust paint to protect against the wear and tear of these areas, likely just black in color, making for very dark and imposing areas.
Our bunker recreation isn't perfect yet for Demo 401, but will be much better for the Alpha. It is, however, a fairly accurate representation of how an average bunker aboard Titanic looked, sans the massive amounts of coal, the levels of which have been greatly reduced to allow for exploration of the bunkers. Ladder locations are unknown and made-up here, but they would almost certainly be required for bunker access. The lighting situation for the bunkers is unknown and may not have even existed, so we opted for a large number of portable lights to better show the details of the bunkers, which would otherwise be mostly darkness.
During normal boiler room operation, it was the job of Trimmers to gather coal from the bunker doors and bring it to the Firemen (aka Stokers) for shoveling into the furnaces. Once the coal was burned to ash, the ash was shoveled out of the furnaces and disposed of via the ash ejectors or ash hoists, being dumped overboard or into barges. The Trimmers had to ensure the levels of coal in the bunkers were more or less even from side to side to prevent stability issues as coal was used up. This is likely why Titanic had a small list during her voyage, as coal had been shifted from one bunker to another to access and extinguish the small, smoldering coal fire that had been burning for some time.
Comments (11)
Isnt there still too much light in it? Verry different compared to some film and documentary scenes.
One coal bunker wouldn't cause a list tho, I don't think. Trim was maintained thru ballast tanks, the coal was just the icing on the cake. For the lighting, it's possible the electrics continued down there - Olympic Class weren't state-of-the-art (in engineering terms) but the electrics were. Anyway, my 95 yr old father was a Chief Engineer who apprenticed in the shipyards and I've asked him about both. I know he was later but there were still coal-fired tramps around and deffo old sea-dogs with stories, so we might get some gen. Apologies this is all one para, stupid tablet being pita!
Great job as ever, guys.
Wow! Never thought of them as being so cavernous! Just thought it was a large "container" to hold the coal. Often wondered how it was moved around and distributed, so the "trimmmers" move the coal and distribute it evenly around and within the bunkers? Wow..what a job
Getting it in there was the real pig of a job. Everyone has to pitch in with the sole exception of the Captain, and the entire ship would be filthy throughout afterwards. Everyone hated coaling, and Titanic would have been the absolute worst because the coal-strike meant they were taking from other vessels - Olympic sailed back from NY with her unused staterooms packed with coal. It's amazing to contemplate just how massive an operation the entire coaling/stoking thing was - and how filthy! - and they had to do it every single time they sailed. Incredible, isn't it?
Question are you guys going to one of the coal storage that was on fire in the ship cause it was a sercet that may help have cause the hull to buck when the iceberg hit.
So nice to see the never seen before parts of the famous vessel coming to life
I would think it would have been a design challenge to have fixed lighting in the bunkers with all that coal filling the spaces so you are probably right, there was likely no fixed lighting at all.
Ceiling lights maybe? The electrics ran all through the ship and I would've thought you'd need lights higher up to assess the entire bunker? The real issue would be keeping them clean enough to be of any use tho, cos coal dust was a mare. Ooooh, I love all these little rabbit-holes and ???
I'm so excited! These lesser-known areas are what I live for. I've been a deck plan/blueprint enthusiast for more than half my life. I already ready now that one day in the future, I'm going to waste an entire weekend with a tumbler of brandy as I explore every refrigerator and bathtub. The true majesty of the ship's size cannot be felt from pictures or blueprints. You guys have shown us the shine on the woods, the height of the ceilings, and the claustrophobic hallways. Keep up the amazing work and NEVER get discouraged when you must start from the ground up. As a writer, nothing is more frustrating than starting from the beginning - but the appreciation and the magic that comes from a well-seasoned roast is worth the taste.
Couldn’t have said it any better!