Cruise Talk: Liner Trivia from France: Electric propulsion.

Cruise Talk

Cruise News

Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.

>>> Reader Reviews
>>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery
>>> Join Our Cruise Club.

Latest News...Disney Cruise Line announced today that the honorary role of "godparent" for its new ship, the Disney Treasure, will be held by The Walt Disney Company cast, crew, Imagineers and employees around the world. The profound declaration is a heartfelt tribute to the more than 200,000 dreamers and doers who make every Disney entertainment, vacation and at-home experience possible. Disney Cruise Line is proud to celebrate...

Latest News...Carnival Cruise Line is adding to its line-up of 2026/27 deployment with sailings from New York City on Carnival Venezia, and more Long Beach sailings on Carnival Firenze and Carnival Radiance. “Our two Carnival Fun Italian Style ships offer great options from the east and west coasts, conveniently connecting New York and Long Beach to popular destinations, while delivering unique experiences on board...

Latest News...Vacationers are in for more ways to make memories across Royal Caribbean’s latest combination of tropical and Northeast 2026-27 getaways. The lineup of 12 Royal Caribbean ships rounds out a variety of adventures across Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the Northeast for every type of family and vacationer to get away any time of year. Crown & Anchor Society loyalty members...

More Cruise News...

my profile | register | search | faq | forum home

»	Cruise Talk » Ocean Liners and Classic Cruise Ships » Liner Trivia from France: Electric propulsion.

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: Liner Trivia from France: Electric propulsion.

Vaccaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 465

posted 04-25-1999 09:20 AM

Here's a new question to finish the week.
It's for liners afficionados to alternate with modern cruise ships.
What was the first important (above 15000t) liner to be fitted with electric propulsion (like NORMANDIE) in the twenties?
Perhaps this i a question for Barryboat.
Bye.

Posts: 1193 | From: France ...where the greatest liners ever are born, ...by far! | Registered: Feb 99

ROBYGEN
First Class Passenger
Member # 381

posted 04-25-1999 02:12 PM

Hello everybody!
Absolutely I don't know the right answer.
I love only 50's up ships.
Now the ball is for Barryboat!!! Or someone else, but it seems we are only four to play.
It's a pity!
Bye.
Robygen.

Posts: 22 | From: Genoa, Italy | Registered: Mar 99

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 04-28-1999 12:40 PM

Got the answer.... Turbo-electric propulsion was pioneered after WWI by the US Navy and was put into a number of ships: California, Pennsylvania, President Hoover, President Coolidge, Oriente, Morro Castle, Virginia. I don't know if these are the ships you were thinking about. Good trivia question though.

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

Vaccaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 465

posted 04-28-1999 03:05 PM

Hello Barryboat.
That question wasn't very easy althought quite interesting because the turbo-electric propulsion was a great progress and nowadays, with the actual technologies, it's the most used propulsion for new cruise ships.(including Azipod propulsion).
Barryboat, i think the ships you've told are under 15000t (for instance, MORRO CASTLE, burnt in 1934, was 11500t) even if some of them were built before the liner i spoke about.
The good answer is the VICEROY OF INDIA. (19600t).
She was a P&O liner launched the 09.15.1928 for the line London-Bombay in 16 days.
Anyway, it was a nice try and we all are waittng for your new question!
Bye!

Posts: 1193 | From: France ...where the greatest liners ever are born, ...by far! | Registered: Feb 99

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 04-28-1999 11:11 PM

You're right - I missed that part of your question regarding tonnage. oh well. By the way, I just wondered if you know about the Bridge cam on the Grand Princess - live footage from the bridge of the Grand Princess is fun to watch. I love to see where the ship is each day. Great to see the ship at sea! www.Princess.com look for bridge cam. Let me know what you think.

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

Vaccaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 465

posted 04-29-1999 06:18 AM

Hello Barryboat and every body.
Yes i know the bridgecam of GRAND PRINCESS since two or three weeks.
It's a good idea and i visit it almost each days.
It's a pity this idea is rare yet. For instance, PAUL GAUGIN has a bridge cam (towards front and not towards rear like G.P.) but not available on the web yet.
It would be nice to visit polinesian itinaries like Tahiti, Bora Bora, Rangiroa...
NORWAY has a front bridge cam too (i've saw it in her internal TV last year in Mediterranean Sea) and i suppose this is the case of many other ships. Perhaps these cams will be soon available on the web too. (companies must buy a broadcasting satellite chanel)
Bye.

Posts: 1193 | From: France ...where the greatest liners ever are born, ...by far! | Registered: Feb 99

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 04-29-1999 04:03 PM

Normandie? Please provide more details on its propulsion system!

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

Vaccaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 465

posted 04-29-1999 06:38 PM

When the building of NORMANDIE was planed, the question concerning the type of machinery to adopt was asked.
Make again the system of "direct attack" of shafts by turbines (very expensive solution and prohibitive height and bulk)? Or make again a transmission throught a reduction gear (like others big liners)?
Finally, turbo-electric propulsion, ever experinced aboard small liners (under 30000 hp) was choosen. Instead of driving screws directly or throught a reduction gear, turbines drives alternators or alternating-current generators. This current feeds electric motors wich drives screws.
Advantages are: -to be able to make turn turbines and screws each at their optimal efficiency. -a great manoeuvring smoothness because power is the same at reverse or forward. (Nowadays, propellers with turning blades (CPP) are not necessary aboard turbo-electric ships because you can reverse power very easyly).
Concerning NORMANDIE, Alsthom (now a group of factories owners of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique), built the engine machinery.
193 t of copper (24 cubic meters) were used.
The power of the four turbo-alternators was 150000 kw. The four synchronous electrical propulsion motors were 6.5m high, 8m lenght and 6m wide each. The power during trials was decidedly above 160000 hp. NORMANDIE had six turbo-dynamos (2200 kw each) for electrical needs (lighting, navigation, kitchen...). The electrical supply panel was 27m lenght and 5m high!
In the boilers (to feed turbines with vapor), the pessure was 28kg/cm² and vapor temperature was 350°c.
The maximum speed during trials was 31.954kts.
Bye!

Posts: 1193 | From: France ...where the greatest liners ever are born, ...by far! | Registered: Feb 99

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 04-29-1999 06:49 PM

Malcolm, Normandie was arguably the most fantastic ocean liner ever constructed. She was vast, powerful, luxurious, glamorous, Fast, fancy...nearly any positive adjective you can immagine. She had 29 water-tube boilers each weighing 99 tons and four auxilary Scotch boilers at 49 tons each. These boilers produced the steam for her turbines which powered her electric motors, which turned her four propeller shafts. Her power plant was called "Turbo-electric". These powerful engines could push her 80,000+ton mass through the water at speeds which exceeded 30 knots! With her unique bulbous bow, The Normandie had a minimal wake even at high speeds. It was said that the amount of electricity generated from her powerplan could light up the entire city of Boston. William Frances Gibbs, the famous naval architect who created the ss United States, marveled at the Normandie's engines and took many notes, because he was planning on building a super ship someday. Hope this info is helpful for you.

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

Vaccaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 465

posted 04-30-1999 04:56 AM

Barryboat, i see you're a connoisseur!

Posts: 1193 | From: France ...where the greatest liners ever are born, ...by far! | Registered: Feb 99

Joe at PwC
First Class Passenger
Member # 225

posted 04-30-1999 04:05 PM

Ah, the Normandie. Pity all that's left are a few pictures. THAT was a ship!

I think I read somewhere that the bow area of the Big U was actually inspired by that of the Normandie.

Posts: 385 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!

Barryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 33

posted 05-02-1999 12:35 AM

Actually there are still remnants from the Normandie that we can still see and touch - Baudry's statue "La Normandie" which stood at the top of the stairs leading into the smoking room is currently displayed at the entrance to a show lounge in the Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami. I saw the Imposing statue several times during my visits to Miami - it's huge, over seven feet tall! When I touched it - I was touching a piece of the Normandie and I felt very nastalgic. I was the one who went to the Hotel manager and suggested that a plaque be placed near the statue so people knew where it came from - I even gave the Hotel manager the text he could use when making a plaque. Now when you go the hotel in Miami and see the "La Normandie" statue, you will see a plaque - nearly word-for-word what I suggested in 1982 - describing the history of it. Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Brooklyn, New York has some articles from the Normandie, including the large bronze medallions that were on the big doors as you would enter the dinning room. The Normandie's wheel is on display at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York. There are many remnants from Normandie that were scattered all over the world. Vaccaro, Yes I love to study the history of the great liners. I moved to California to attend college, mostly because the Queen Mary was only 25 minutes away. I know every inch of Queen Mary in Long Beach and give a great tour of the below decks which are not open to the public - I've gotten in trouble a few times because I was giving my friends tours of the old boiler room areas and cargo holds. I had lot's of fun hiding from security guards, because I knew every little nook and cranny. I can tell you anything you want to know about Queen Mary past and present. OOPs got carried away - bye for now.

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

Joe at PwC
First Class Passenger
Member # 225

posted 05-03-1999 03:45 PM

I envy you!

I've already told my wife that if we're ever in California, we've got to go to Long Beach and visit the Queen Mary. That would be a dream come true.

Like you, I've become a student of liner history, although I can't say that I've read MANY books on the subject as yet. And I had forgotten about the doors and statue from the Normandie. Thanks for the reminder.

Posts: 385 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!

All times are ET (US)

Ultimate Bulletin Board^TM 6.1.0.3

VACATION & CRUISE SPECIALS

Check out these great deals from CruisePage.com

Royal Caribbean - Bahamas Getaway from $129 per person

Description: Experience the beautiful ports of Nassau and Royal Caribbean's private island - CocoCay on a 3-night Weekend Getaway to the Bahamas. Absorb everything island life has to offer as you snorkel with the stingrays, parasail above the serene blue waters and walk the endless white sand beaches. From Miami.

Carnival - 4-Day Bahamas from $229 per person

Description: Enjoy a wonderful 3 Day cruise to the fun-loving playground of Nassau, Bahamas. Discover Nassau, the capital city as well as the cultural, commercial and financial heart of the Bahamas. Meet the Atlantic Southern Stingrays, the guardians of Blackbeard's treasure.

NCL - Bermuda - 7 Day from $499 per person

Description: What a charming little chain of islands. Walk on pink sand beaches. Swim and snorkel in turquoise seas. Take in the historical sights. They're stoically British and very quaint. Or explore the coral reefs. You can get to them by boat or propelled by fins. You pick. Freestyle Cruising doesn't tell you where to go or what to do. Sure, you can plan ahead, or decide once onboard. After all, it's your vacation. There are no deadlines or must do's.

Holland America - Eastern Caribbean from From $599 per person

Description: White sand, black sand, talcum soft or shell strewn, the beaches of the Eastern Caribbean invite you to swim, snorkel or simply relax. For shoppers, there's duty-free St. Thomas, the Straw Market in Nassau, French perfume and Dutch chocolates on St. Maarten. For history buffs, the fascinating fusion of Caribbean, Latin and European cultures. For everyone, a day spent on HAL's award winning private island Half Moon Cay.

Celebrity - 7-Night Western Mediterranean from $549 per person

Description: For centuries people have traveled to Europe to see magnificent ruins, art treasures and natural wonders. And the best way to do so is by cruise ship. Think of it - you pack and unpack only once. No wasted time searching for hotels and negotiating train stations. Instead, you arrive at romantic ports of call relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on the world.

Holland America - Alaska from From $499 per person

Description: Sail between Vancouver and Seward, departing Sundays on the ms Statendam or ms Volendam and enjoy towering mountains, actively calving glaciers and pristine wildlife habitat. Glacier Bay and College Fjord offer two completely different glacier-viewing experiences.

More Vacation & Cruise Specials...