Maritime Commission Design C1-B

Descriptions for MC-67 to 71 (Federal built)

General

The first of the C-1 cargo ships of the Maritime Commission's design to be completed was the Joseph Lykes which was delivered to the Lykes Bros.Steamship Company.Inc., New Orleans, La., by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, NJ.in October, 1940. The vessel is a C1-B full scantling design, with single-screw geared-turbine drive. To suit the special needs of the regular Lykes services from Gulf ports to United Kingdom and Mediterranean ports the Commission's C-1 design was modified in certain respects. As on the westward voyage, the vessel is usually in light condition, deep tanks are provided for ballasting the ship. The Forepeak tank is carried up to the second deck. No. 1 tank in No. 1 hold and Nos. 2 and 3 deep tanks iNo. 4 hold are equipped for carrying cargo oils. No. 4 deep tank in No. 5 hold is equipped for carrying fuel oil. The 'tween deck heights are 9 feet 6 inches clear under the beams and side cargo ports are eliminated. All winches are located on the main deck so arranged as to give a clear deck space Outside the king posts to permit the carrying of deck loads. Arrangements are made for trimming the ship or navigating canals and rivers and navigating equipment is installed on an upper bridge to give maximum visibility for such navigation. Telescopic masts are provided to meet Manchester Canal requirements. The hull is transversely framed, with a raked stem and cruiser stern and two complete steel decks, the main and second decks extending all fore and aft. A third deck, below the second deck, is fitted forward of the machinery space. Aft of the machinery space the third deck is formed by a flat carried across the vessel at the level of the tunnel top. The hull is subdivided by seven transverse watertight bulkheads, all being carried up to the main deck, forming a one compartment ship. Steel for the hull was supplied by the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, castings by the Penn Steel Castings Company and the B.irdsboro Steel Foundry & Machine Company, forgings by the Pennsylvania Forge Company. piping by the National Tube Company and wire rope by the American Steel and Wire Company. Columbian rope was used for the hawsers and Naco cast steel anchor chain for the ground tackle. The rudder is of the contra-guide type supplied by the Th. Goldschmidt Corporation.

Accommodations

Accommodations for the crew and passengers are located amidships. The ship's refrigerated and dry stores are placed on the second deck over the' machinery space. In addition to quarters for 18 in the deck department, 16 in the engine department and 9 in the stewards' department, or a total crew of 43, two owner's staterooms are provided on the cabin deck. A combined dining room and lounge for the officers and passengers is provided forward on the cabin deck. Mess rooms and lounges for the crew and petty officers are on the main deck, as are the hospital, laundry and galley. which is fitted with Edison electrical equipment. The joiner work and furnishings of the accommodations were handled by Hopeman Brothers. Bendix supplied tne general alarm and annunciator systems and tele-phones, Fred Vogel the hardware and draperies, W.& J. Sloan the rugs. Fred Buse the galley and laundry equipment, Crane the plumbing fixture; Shaw-Perkins the radiators and Dayton the non-watertight lighting fix-tures. The accommodations are heated and ventilated by two mechanical systems, one port and the other starboard, which receive filtered and preheated air from a common preheater thermostatically controlled. Mechanical ex-haust is provided for the toilel spaces and hospital. The ventilating fans were supplied by the Diehl Manufactur-ing Company and the air-conditioning equipment by the American Blower Corporation. The navigating equipment includes RCA radio equip-ment, a Sperry gyro-compass and gyro-pilot, a Sub-marine Signal Company fathometer, a Westinghouse searchlight and Bendix mechanical telegraphs. The pilot house windows were supplied by the Kearfott Engineer-ing Company, Inc. The life-saving equipment includes lifeboats and davits manufactured by the Welin Davit & Boat Corporation. The fire protection equipment on this ship supplied by Walter Kidde & Company, Inc.. consists of a Lux-Rich combined smoke-detecting and carbon dioxide fire-extinguishing system for the cargo compartments, car-penter shop and lamp and paint room. This system con-sists of a 22-line Rich cabinet and eighty-nine 50-pound capacity Lux carbon dioxide cylinders. For bilge flooding and protection of the machinery spaces, nineteen of the cylinders are arranged for remote manual control. A separate system, using one 50-pound capacity cylinder. with remote control, has been installed to protect the emergency generator room. Also, a 100-pound capacity hose rack assembly, arranged for local control, has been installed for the protection of the boiler room.

Cargo Handling

Five cargo holds are provided, three forward and two aft of the machinery space. Their bale cubic capacities are: No. 1. 65.385; No. 2, 117.36.5 No. 3, 113,355; No. 4, 103,130; and No. 5, 45,250. With a 'tween deck machine space of 13,500 cubic feet, the total hale cubic capacity of all holds is 458.285 cubic feet. Provision has been made to carry a maximum of 799 tons of cargo oil in the live deep tanks in Nos. 1 and 4 holds. The cargo holds are provided with mechanical ven-tilation to reduce cargo damage. Each hatch is provided with 5-ton booms with an outreach of 14 feet over the side of the ship when topped to an angle of 45 degrees. All hatches except Nos. 1 and 5. are double-ganged. The sixteen electrically driven cargo winches were supplied by the American Hoist & Derrick Company, which also supplied the windlass. Each winch is driven by a 45-horsepower Westinghouse motor, while the windlass is driven by a 60-horsepower motor. The steering gear, of the electro hydraulic single-ram type, was manufactured by the McKiernan-Terry Cor-poration, which also supplied the capstan. The steering gear is equipped with an hydraulic telemotor system and a Sperry electrical control system connecting to the steering gear pump control mechanism.

Propelling Machinery

Boilers

The steam requirements of the ship are supplied by two Foster-Wheeler marine steam generating units of the two-drum D-type. set in a single steel casing and located, as shown on the machinery plan. Each steam generator has a 42-inch steam drum, below which is a water drum 32-inches in diameter, the drums being connected by vertical rows of boiler The furnace is built al one side of this tube bank and all furnace surfaces are of water-cooled tubes -four sides and roof-the floor being composed of watertubes also, but covered with high temperature refractory. All water-wall tubes are 2-inches in diameter and the water circulation system includes headers at the bottoms of the walls supplied with water through the floor tubes from the water drum. The water-wall tubes extend upward water-wall tubes extend furnace and the steam drum through direct connection. Two Todd variable-capacity oil burners fire the furnaces and the gases leac´ving it flow across the first pass consisting of three 2-inch boiler tubes, set upon wide centers and constituting a screen, into the superheater chamber. A convection superheater of generous proportions is placed in a space provided between the steam and water drums, and the first and seconf banks of oiler tubes. The superheater elements are of seamless steel of the U-bend bare-tube type, 1 1/4-inches outside diameter, set horizontally and arranged for seldraining. Upon leaving the superheater the gases enter the second bank of oiler tubes toward the top, over a steel baffle, and flow downward to the water drums. There are thirteen rows of 1 1/4-inch boiler tubes in the last bank. The gases then turn vertically and pass upward through an economizer and tubular air preheater to the stack. The economizer is of the high-efficiency, lightweight marine type, composed of 2-inch seamless steel tubes covered with extended surface rings of aluminum arranged in three groups, between each of which are Vulcan mechanical soot blowers for keeping the surfaces clean. The aluminum rings provide nine times the heat absorbing surface of bare tubes and present strong resis-tance to corrosion and erosion. They are of the same alloy used so successfully by the Navy for several years. Final heat recovery is accomplished in an air preheater having horizontal tubes and fitted with four Vulcan mechanical soot blowers. There are two passes of air through the tubes which are easily accessible for internal inspection and cleaning. The insulation of furnaces and pressure parts of steam generators carrying such high pressure and temperature is exceedingly important both from the point of view of efficiency and comforl to the operators. The insulating requirements for the different portions of D-type units have been carefully developed and checked many times in connection with the construction of a large number of Federal ships and it has been found that in actual service, the heat losses through radiation are insignificant. In calculating heat balances for performance tests of marine steaming units it has been usual in the past to carry an item for radiation losses. With the present boilers these losses are so small that they may be disregarded as failing to constitute even a tangible percentage of the actual fuel consumption. The approximate overall dimensions of the two units as set in the ship are 32 feet long, 9 feet wide, 19 feet high at the steam drum and 12 feet high at the side of the furnace. The boilers, superheaters, economizers and air heaters were supplied by the Foster Wheeler Corporation. Each boiler has the following physical characteristics: Heating surface, boiler and water walls: 2329 square feet, Economizer surface : 1035 square feet, Air heater surface : 1075 square feet, Furnace volume : 485 cubic feet. The operating conditions are: Steam capacity, normal: 18,500 pounds per hour each Steam capacity, maximum 27,750 pounds per hour each, Design pressure: 525 pounds per square inch, Operating pressure at superheater outlet: 465 pounds per square inch, Final steam temperature: 765 degrees F. The boilers are operated by Mason-Neilan combustion control equipment. Sturtevant fans supply the forced-draft and Wager smoke indicators are fitted.

Boiler Feed Control System

An interesting and unusual feature of the machinery installation is the type of high-pressure feed system and boiler water level control used. Each boiler is provided with an individual variable-stroke triplex-plunger pump of Aldrich make, taking its suction from the direct contact feed heater and discharging through a two-circuit high-pressure feed-water heater directly to the economizer inlet. The boiler water level is controlled by a new design of level controller, developed jointly by Federal and Mason-Neilan engineers. The control regulates directly the stroke of the feed pump to maintain a constant boiler water level under all loads. With this control the usual feed regulator valve is eliminated, with consequent reduction of feed pump discharge pressure and power, of about 7 to 10 percent. On trials and in service on the first two ships of this class, the system has proved highly satisfactory in performance and simple to operate and maintain. The variable-stroke feed pump was developed by the Aldrich Pump Company to combine the efficiency and positive displacement action of the conventional reciprocating plunger pump with the capacity range of a centrifugal pump. The pump operates at constant speed, and variation of delivery is effected by changing the length of stroke through a stroke transformer, which is positioned by a hydraulic control cylinder. Oil is admitted to either side of the hydraulic-control cylinder by an air-operated pilot valve receiving its impulse directly from the thermostat feed control located on the upper boiler drum. The feed control consists of a finned radiating chamber mounted on the boiler drum and a bi-metallic thermostat inserted in this radiating chamber. The entire unit is mounted so that the normal water level is approximately at mid-height of the thermostatic chamber. In operation a change in water level causes a change in thermostat length, operating an air leak-off valve and changing the air pressure on the diaphragm operating the feed pump pilot valve.

Main Turbines

The main turbines, supplied by the De Laval Steam Turbine Company, are of the impulse type, arranged in two casings, that is, cross compound, and connected to the propeller shaft by double-reduction gearing of the single-casing double-helical type. Each high-speed gear is driven by a high-speed pinion connected to the respective shafts. The high-speed gears drive the low-speed pinions through quill shafts with flexible couplings located at the after ends of the low-speed pinions. The gears are mounted in single welded-steel gear casings. At the normal propeller speed of 90 revolutions per minute, the high-pressure turbine revolves at 5938 revolutions per minute, and the low-pressure turbine at 4518 revolutions per minute, the unit developing 4000 shaft horsepower when supplied with steam at 440 pounds gage and 740 degrees F. total temperature. With a sea speed of 14 knots and with some fouling of the bottom and adverse weather conditions, it is estimated that 3750 shaft horsepower will be required, the excess being for emergency conditions. The fuel consumption when generating 3750 shaft horsepower is estimated to be about 166 barrels per day of 15 API oil, giving a cruising radius of around 10,000 nautical miles from the 879 tons of oil which can be carried in the double-bottom tanks Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6. If all double-bottom and deep tanks, except No. 4 double-bottom tank, were piped for fuel oil, the cruising radius would be increased to approximately 15,700 nautical miles. An astern turbine capable of developing 40 percent of the forward power is mounted in the low-pressure turbine cylinder. The ahead turbine has eleven stages of impulse blading in the high-pressure unit, and seven stages in the low-pressure unit. All blading is of corrosion-resistant metal, heat-treated and positively anchored in the rotor and casing. The rotors are of forged steel, finish machined all over and accurately balanced in conformity with specifications of the American Bureau of Shipping and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. The nozzle rings, turbine casing and other parts in contact with high-temperature steam are of steel. The unit is fitted with three bleed connections and suitable bleeder valves to facilitate extraction of steam for feed heating. The casings are split along the horizontal centerline and are well supported to permit expansion without distortion. All pockets are drained to the condenser to forestall accumulation of water. In the exhaust end of the low-pressure casing is a deflector to prevent steam from the astern turbine impinging upon the last row of the ahead blades, and vice versa. There are proper lifting guides to allow the casing covers and rotors to be lifted out of the turbine. The double-reduction gear and condenser are mounted under the low-pressure turbine. The gear casings are of welded-steel construction, with the usual manhole and handholes. The gears are of welded construction with steel rims, and the pinions are heat-treated steel forgings. A Howarth thrust bearing is built into the gear case just ahead of the main gear. The propeller, furnished by the Cramp Brass & Iron Foundries Company, is a 4-bladed solid manganese bronze wheel, 17 feet 6 inches in diameter with a variable pitch, the pitch being 17.84 feet at seven-tenths of its radius. The line shafting was supplied by the Camden Forge Company, the sterntube by the Birdsboro Steel Foundry & Machine Company and the propeller shaft liners by the Shenango-Penn Mold Company.

Auxiliaries

The main condenser, built by the Foster Wheeler Corporation, has a cooling surface of 3650 square feet and is capable of handling 25,200 pounds of steam per hour and of maintaining a vacuum of 28.5 inches. The steel shell of the condenser is welded and is fitted with 3/4-inch aluminum brass alloy tubes 13 feet long. The condenser is fitted with a Foster Wheeler steam jet air ejector. The auxiliary condensers, of which there are two, each containing 520 square feet of cooling surface, have a capacity of 3080 pounds of steam per hour. The condensing surface consists of 5/8-inch aluminum brass alloy tubes 8 feet 6 inches long. The two auxiliary condensers are served by a single steam jet ejector. Both the condensers and steam jets were furnished by Foster Wheeler. The circulating pumps, made with bronze casings and monel shafts, were supplied by De Laval. The main circulating pump has a capacity of 6400 gallons per minute against a head of 25.8 feet; the auxiliary circulating pump has a capacity of 1600 gallons per minute against a head of 27 feet. The condensate pumps, also supplied by De Laval, are of the motor-driven, two-stage type with cast-iron casings and monel shafts and impellers. The main condensate pump has a capacity of 80 gallons per minute against a discharge pressure of 75 pounds per square inch with a 28.5-inch mercury suction. The auxiliary condensate pump has a capacity of 25 gallons per minute against a discharge pressure of 61 pounds per square inch with a 28.5-inch mercury suction. The arrangement of the condensate and feed system is such that the condensate pumps draw from the condenser hot well and discharge to the main air ejector inter-condenser and thence to the drain cooler, first-stage heater, main air ejector after-condenser, deaerating heater and to the feed pumps. The discharge from each feed pump goes through the third-stage heater and thus back to the boilers through the economizers. The auxiliary condensate is pumped to the auxiliary air ejector inter and after-'condensers and then continues with the main condensate and feed system. As a safety feature, each boiler is provided with an independent feed line so that the failure of either line will not interfere with the feed to the boiler by the other line. The refrigeration plant for the ship's stores is of the Carrier Freon-12 direct-expansion type with automatic control for each refrigerated compartment. The compressor, rated at 2 tons, is driven by a 5-horsepower motor. The heat exchangers, supplied by the Davis Engineering Corporation, include salt-water, contaminated-water and make-up feed evaporators, a distiller, fuel-oil, lubricating-oil and feedwater heaters and lubricating-oil and drain coolers. The lubricating-oil purifier was supplied by De Laval and the deaerating heater by Worthington. Additional equipment furnished by De Laval includes the following pumps: Motor-driven 2-stage fire pump with a capacity of 400 gallons per minute against a head of 127 pounds per square inch. Motor-driven bilge pump with a capacity of 425 gallons per minute against a head of 28 pounds per square inch. Motor-driven De Laval-IMO lubricating-oil service pump with a capacity of 175 gallons per minute of 200 to 500 SSU oil against 50 pounds per square inch with 15-inch mercury suction. De Laval-IMO portable cargo oil pumping unit with a capacity of 50 gallons per minute of 120 to 2000 SSU oil against 50 pounds per square inch with 5 pounds per square inch suction lift. Worthington supplied the auxiliary feed, evaporator feed, sanitary, fire and general service, bilge and ballast, lubricating-oil stand-by, cargo-oil, fuel-oil stand-by and drinking water and culinary pumps. Micro-Westco supplied the ice-water circulating, refrigerating condenser circulating and hot-water circulating pumps. The hand pump was supplied by Gould and the priming pump by Nash. Crane supplied the hot-water heater. The ship's service air compressor and the emergency air compressor were supplied by Worthington.

Electrical Plant

The electrical plant consists of two 250-kilowatt Crocker-Wheeler generator sets driven by De Laval geared turbines. They are of the 3-wire compound-wound type supplying direct-current at 120/240 volts. The turbines are designed to operate at full boiler pressure with a vacuum of 28.5 inches. The emergency generator consists of a 10-kilowatt Electro-Dynamic generator driven by a Hill Diesel engine. The main switchboard was supplied by the I. T. E. Circuit Breaker Company and the emergency switchboard by the Seaboard Electric Company. Philco supplied the storage batteries.