Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier

[daleyd]

when I worked on the hermes one of the officers told me ,pre fauklands, that he would rather be on that than any other ship as it was the only one in the navy that was armoured and a excocet would bounce off it ,his words. six months later...

The Falklands vintage Hermes was definitely not armoured - certainly would have been constructed of thicker steel than the Invincible that was also there but it’s unlikely an Exocet would have simply bounced off.

 

[Brad93]

I seem to remember reading that there were some warships made in the UK at one time (perhaps even based on a Royal Navy pattern) for a foreign navy where they paid extra to have the weld distortion removed as they valued the aesthetics.

Blimey

 

[Erie Fred]

I don't know much about boats.....However we have a shipyard here in Erie, "DonJon".

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

For some reason, the label doesn't come up on the google link, but I'm sure you can pick out the yard, and the drydock (door presently in place, and pumped out)

It was built in the early 1970's and made (2) of the 1000' ore freighters that stay on the Great ! Lakes.
Ones like "The Edmund Fitzgerald", but they didn't make that particular one.

DonJon took it over a few years ago, and I have talked with some employees there.

Most work is outside (and damn is it cold in the winter, the breeze coming from Cleveland in February)
Most workers are migrants and make $18 hour. Most of the hull is 3/4" thick.

That's all I got.

 

[Fastdruid]

The Falklands vintage Hermes was definitely not armoured - certainly would have been constructed of thicker steel than the Invincible that was also there but it’s unlikely an Exocet would have simply bounced off.

Hermes was built to merchant standards. Maybe they meant the older Ark Royal which being an Audacious class *was* armoured. Not much but still 1.5" minimum armour, increasing to 4.5" in places. Decommissioned of course 3 years before the Falklands war.

 

[James1979]

Blimey

They were never paid for, or we fell out with them, can’t remember what.

Either which way, they were still tied up alongside in Barrow last time I was there.

 

[addjunkie]

Biggest ship I've ever worked on was about 120m long, 8000 tons, the hull on that was less than 10mm if I remember, probably more like 8. A supply boat nudged us with a pointy bit once and popped a hole in it very easily. Luckily above the waterline.

Thats just a baby one, some of the ones I bobbed around on carried that much fuel! Though the steel wasn't that thick either, ship strength is all about the structure behind the plate. For example in a bulk carrier with an iceclass for bashing its way through the Great Lakes, or up to Seven Islands in winter to load iron ore the framing us much closer together in the forward sections. The plate also a bit thicker but not much.

Some of the Calmac vessels have been held back in dry dock to repair plate thinning. I wonder if that's a euphemism for 'There shouldn't be a hole there.'

Not always a hole, but usually corrosion, probably because it wasnt painted properly in the first place.

 

[Richiew]

I seem to remember reading that there were some warships made in the UK at one time (perhaps even based on a Royal Navy pattern) for a foreign navy where they paid extra to have the weld distortion removed as they valued the aesthetics.

 

[addjunkie]

View attachment 385249

Dont jest, but its not uncommon on big posh steel built yachts to fill before paint to get that nice smooth shine.

 

[Erie Fred]

View attachment 385249

I've seen that allot on brand new ships.
Thought that a rose bud tip and a water hose could shrink most all of them out pretty quickly.
However, maybe they don't want the skin to be stressed like that.

 

[Morrisman]

Thats just a baby one, some of the ones I bobbed around on carried that much fuel! Though the steel wasn't that thick either, ship strength is all about the structure behind the plate. For example in a bulk carrier with an iceclass for bashing its way through the Great Lakes, or up to Seven Islands in winter to load iron ore the framing us much closer together in the forward sections. The plate also a bit thicker but not much.

I once worked on a Russian built seismic boat, constructed during the cold war, the MV Baki, built to military spec, as were all Russian ships during that time.
The hull had the ribs 18" apart and all the fuel tanks were double skinned, mounted inboard of the hull. There was a hidden electrical system installed in locked up panels and trunking, which we were not allowed to access, for any reason. It wasn't even in the ships electrical schematics. It also had a massive external sea water sprinkler system, for washing atomic waste off the exterior......

We found a tunnel down in the bilge, 18" square, leading forward from the engine room. There was a light at the far end, but nobody could find out where it went, and none of us was brave enough to belly crawl in that tight space. Mysterious.

 

[daleyd]

. It also had a massive external sea water sprinkler system, for washing atomic waste off the exterior......

Pre- wetting - great fun testing those - especially somewhere hot

 

[Morrisman]

Dont jest, but it's not uncommon on big posh steel built yachts to fill before paint to get that nice smooth shine.

When I was working in a yacht marine in Singapore some American guy had bought a 60' steel work boat, big tubby thing, and he wanted it converted into a luxury motor cruiser. The upper hull and superstructure had to be faired in, which took inches of filler in some places, it was a mega task getting it sorted.
We laid epoxy filler, then marine ply, then the traditional teak planking on the decks.

I left the company before it was finished, never did see it in paint.

The boat yard, Yacht Solutions, was right next to the jetty in Loyang Offshore Supply Base. If you worked out of Singapore in the early nineties you would probably have seen it.

 

[addjunkie]

I once worked on a Russian built seismic boat, constructed during the cold war, the MV Baki, built to military spec, as were all Russian ships during that time.
The hull had the ribs 18" apart and all the fuel tanks were double skinned, mounted inboard of the hull. There was a hidden electrical system installed in locked up panels and trunking, which we were not allowed to access, for any reason. It wasn't even in the ships electrical schematics. It also had a massive external sea water sprinkler system, for washing atomic waste off the exterior......

We found a tunnel down in the bilge, 18" square, leading forward from the engine room. There was a light at the far end, but nobody could find out where it went, and none of us was brave enough to belly crawl in that tight space. Mysterious.

Probably wasnt originally built for civilian work, and then sold off. This one began life as a Russian floating dry dock for submarines. The middle bit was new, front and backend were from the submarine dry dock.

 

[cheb]

Some of the previous generation of Calmac ships were built as post apocalyptic command centres. Maybe not be the correct term but they had deck wash and NBC capabilities.

How Scotland and three CalMac ferries played a crucial part in nuclear planning

IN the event of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the west, key members of the British Government would have survived on ships specially…

www.heraldscotland.com

 

[addjunkie]

Some of the previous generation of Calmac ships were built as post apocalyptic command centres. Maybe not be the correct term but they had deck wash and NBC capabilities.

How Scotland and three CalMac ferries played a crucial part in nuclear planning

IN the event of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the west, key members of the British Government would have survived on ships specially…

www.heraldscotland.com

Whats happening with the new ones, now Nicola has quit, are they still in Fergusons

 

[cheb]

Yes, and as far as I can see quietly downgraded. There's more being made in Turkey now to replace these, ready in 2025 IIRC. It wouldn't surprise me if hull 802 is scrapped or sinks under mysterious circumstances. There must be a bilge pump that can fail.

What grates is that Fergusons could've have a cushy little ongoing business with Calmac ferries being the underpinning and any other contract on top as gravy.

 

[Aerohead]

Lots of work on offer if you like welding heavy plate, Poland would be my choice over Ukraine but both are hiring today!

 

[hotponyshoes]

I've seen a few sets of plans for aluminium boats and the thickness of the plates does not seem to scale up with the size of the boat like you would expect.

Seems to be more dependent on what the boat is designed to do, something that you can drive up onto the beach won't be the same as something that need to go on a trailer once a week etc..

I suppose it makes sense as a 1m2 area of sheet won't be exposed to any more pressure regardless of the boat size.

Do modern warships have the explosive plating like tanks? That's how they get away with using thinner steel on them I think?

I watched something recently on the building of a mega-tanker. They were using "extra thick" steel to reduce the risk of the oil cargo contaminating the environment and I think they said that was 30mm or so..

 

[Eric the chicken]

I don't know much about boats.....However we have a shipyard here in Erie, "DonJon".

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

For some reason, the label doesn't come up on the google link, but I'm sure you can pick out the yard, and the drydock (door presently in place, and pumped out)

It was built in the early 1970's and made (2) of the 1000' ore freighters that stay on the Great ! Lakes.
Ones like "The Edmund Fitzgerald", but they didn't make that particular one.

DonJon took it over a few years ago, and I have talked with some employees there.

Most work is outside (and damn is it cold in the winter, the breeze coming from Cleveland in February)
Most workers are migrants and make $18 hour. Most of the hull is 3/4" thick.

That's all I got.

Didn’t the “Edmund Fitzgerald “ disappear without trace?

 

[Erie Fred]

I doubt any of it was robot.

The verticals could of been done with a tractor travelling on a rail, running metal core/flux core wire with operator constantly monitoring and adjusting settings.

Down hand deckwelds would have been tractor but subarc rather than FCAW.

Inner skin/stiffeners/bulkheads etc would of all been hand welded.

Interesting how economics play, we have a company in nearby Pizzaborg called "Bug-O" that make all manner of welding tractors
that run a mig gun up/sideways, any where the track is stuck:

Bug-O Systems | Mechanized Solutions For Welding & Cutting

Bug-O Systems is a manufacturer of welding & cutting equipment. We provide operator-controlled mechanization and automation solutions for welding and cutting.

bugo.com

And this one in o-HI-o:

Welding Automation | Cutting Automation | Gullco International - Canada

Gullco International is a manufacturer of automated welding carriages | welding tractors | cutting carriages | custom welding systems and accessories.

www.gullco.com

and then we have these sub-arc machines for making large tanks, that ride along the top edge of the sheet.:

Girth Welders | Tank Fabrication | Bug-O Systems

Bug-O Systems offers Automatic Girth Welders for tank fabrication applications. They are convertible for both bottom up and top down construction.

bugo.com

And yet, this tank:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Was all hand welded by one welder, hanging from a Boesmans chair...weave, weave, weave.....has got to be a boring, boring job.