Cruise Talk: Trivia for the Experts

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Topic: Trivia for the Experts

Ceefa's Mate
First Class Passenger
Member # 1857

posted 05-23-2001 05:18 PM

OK!........
Two quick questions occurred to me on our recent cruise, which I'm sure our 'experts' can answer!

1. - What is the function of the large bulge, just below the water line, on the bow of most modern cruise ships?

2. - Why are traditional portholes round?

Over to you lot!.............

Posts: 77 | From: Buckinghamshire, England | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged

NAL
First Class Passenger
Member # 1102

posted 05-23-2001 05:49 PM

The large "bulge".....its purpose is to
make a bigger hole on the water so there
is less resistance and therefore power is
conserved. It also acts as a stabilizer for
the pitching motion.....just how efficient
it is for helping the pitch I don't know.
Hope this helps. I don't know about the
portholes. I believe the first liner to
have a bulbous bow was NGL's Europa...'29.

Posts: 2243 | From: Watsontown, PA | Registered: Feb 2000 | IP: Logged

topgun
First Class Passenger
Member # 928

posted 05-23-2001 06:34 PM

I had always understood that the bulbous shaped bow was a Japanese invention used first on their Battleships during WW2.

Who's correct?

Posts: 759 | From: Burlington ont,canada Cruise center of North America | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

Thad
First Class Passenger
Member # 1224

posted 05-23-2001 07:29 PM

The Bremen and Europa definitely had bulbous bows, but the Japanese may have had them earlier, and refined them in WW2. As to the portholes, a circle punched in a steel plate is infinitely stronger than a square, as the cormers of a square act as stress points, and craking ofter occurs. That is why the windows on planes are still oval in shape, and not square.

Posts: 1967 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Apr 2000 | IP: Logged

Frank X. Prudent
First Class Passenger
Member # 1723

posted 05-24-2001 05:57 PM

You're right ,Thad; it's the same reason why in traditional marine design straight lines were an anathema. Unfortunately today straight lines equal saved money before the ship can make any---Too bad too bad!

Posts: 577 | From: Covington, Kentucky, U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 2000 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 05-24-2001 07:43 PM

I'm afraid I have not heard the correct answer regarding the bulbous bow. The bulbous bow is not designed to reduce pitch, rather it is designed to break up the water right at the bow and lift the wake to the surface of the water. As a ship passes through the water, a wake is created at the bow, which is the first point of impact between the ship and the surface of the ocean. If the ship has a sharp bow, it will slice through the water, and part of the wake will be drawn below the water. As this wake reaches the aft end of the ship, the spinning propellers will lose efficiency because there is a mixture of turbulant air and water below the waterline, caused initially from the wake of the bow cutting through the ocean. It is a hydrodynamic issue which simply makes the ship move through the water more efficiently. Ships without a bulbous bow like the Titanic and the Queen Mary, had a large bow wake, however the Normandie was known for her nearly non-existant wake. The first ships to have a bulbous bow are arguably the Shawnee and the Iroquois, designed by Naval architect, Theodore Ferris in 1927. The Europa and the Bremen had a bulbous bow in 1929 and of course in 1935, Russian-born Vladimir Yourkevitch designed the Normandie hull.

Portholes are round because they are stronger than square windows. Even with inch-thick glass in portholes on the Queen Mary, occassionally those glass portholes would get busted out because of rough ocean.

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

Beezo
First Class Passenger
Member # 1505

posted 05-24-2001 08:37 PM

Hey,
I heard the same thing that Barryboat said. I watched it on TLC. The men that were building the ship nick-name it "the sexiest part of the ship"

Brian

Posts: 865 | From: Massachusetts, USA | Registered: Aug 2000 | IP: Logged

Ceefa's Mate
First Class Passenger
Member # 1857

posted 05-25-2001 09:17 AM

Wow - Thanks for that Barryboat..........

Do'nt know much about ships then , do you!!! (Hee Hee!)

Posts: 77 | From: Buckinghamshire, England | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged

NAL
First Class Passenger
Member # 1102

posted 05-25-2001 04:51 PM

I stand corrected. Thank you.

Posts: 2243 | From: Watsontown, PA | Registered: Feb 2000 | IP: Logged

gohaze
First Class Passenger
Member # 586

posted 06-01-2001 10:33 PM

If I remember correctly it was the Europa that had her plates 'lapped' forward instead of aft as normal, as there was a theory that it would reduce drag.
....peter

Posts: 1909 | From: Vancouver.BC | Registered: Sep 99 | IP: Logged

geno-r
First Class Passenger
Member # 931

posted 06-02-2001 03:55 PM

Does the bloubous bow have a differnt cup size, depending on the size of the ship? or is bigger always better?

Posts: 549 | From: Mt. Pocono,Pa. Usa | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 06-02-2001 10:30 PM

I don't think SIZE is the issue, rather it's the intricacies of the SHAPE and it's hydrodynamic qualities that make a great Bulbous bow.

I'm not a fan of HUGE bulbous bows, especially on a ship designed for speed and the rigors of the Atlantic for example. I've heard QM2's bulbous bow is huge frok a side angle, but pretty slim from a frontal view. The bulbous bow on the Zenith was a negative when plowing through rough seas, because her bulb would slam into the sea as the ship's bow would come down from a high pitch, and the whole ship would shutter from the result. Part of it may also be the Zenith's ungodly flat bow...."What were the designers thinking"?

Posts: 1851 | From: Bloomington, Minnesota (Home to the Mall of America) | Registered: Mar 99 | IP: Logged

Fanatic
First Class Passenger
Member # 1427

posted 06-03-2001 08:19 AM

On the TLC cable channel last night, on a documentary regarding the construction of the new 100,000+ ton mega-cruise ships, they stated that the bulbous bow, especially the newer designs, creates an immense savings on the consumption of fuel. It simply creates a much larger "hole" for the ship to pass through, thus reducing drag.

And to go along with an earlier mention of the Queen Mary having even her portholes blown out in bad storms, the same thing happened on the Ile de France, when an enormous wave blew out the windows in the First Class Dining Room during the night, flooding the chamber to knee-height. The crew worked all night long cleaning it up, and when passengers came down the next morning the only thing they saw were plugs in the porthole frames. A few decks higher, the casement windows of one of the deluxe apartments were also blown out, flooding the suite. The woman who stayed there was uninjured, but the entire flat, plus all her belongings were soaked. Again, the crew worked all night long, moving her to the unoccupied apartment on the other side and cleaning everything she owned.

Fanatic

Posts: 98 | Registered: Jul 2000 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 06-03-2001 03:27 PM

I'm in danger of stating the obvious, but here goes: The above explains why even modern ships still have round port holes on the decks nearer the sea level. Picture windows apper only on the higher decks.

As for the 'thing' on the front, I thought that it was a symbol of fertility to Neptune?

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

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