Friday, April 11, 2025

SHIPPING REPORTER KEELHAULED

As a  result of  researching   books and  notebooks which once belonged to a  marine  engineer   with a  link to  an  American  Marine  in  l942, found in a  Townsville garage sale ,  our  waterfront  roundsman  could  get  a  job   building  Australian  billionaire   Clive  Palmer's  replica  of  the Titanic.

Why? Because   the  notebooks  contain a  wealth  of  diagrams and involved  formulae  related  to  ship  construction and  performance  of  various  parts .

Ships construction , important  measurements  is  the  heading  in a section  which contains  handwritten  information that covers the  thickness of steel needed in the framing of  a  vessel , its  floors  and  other  parts , vital for  Titanic ll.  As expected, rivets also  get  a  mention .

Dealing  with keels , it  goes into  considerable  detail .   In respect of  the bilge  keel , it must consist of two  centre girders  to resist  rolling .  A duct keel   must   be   scalloped .

Laws  of  perfect gases  is another  subject covered in   depth , including a  number which   Palmer could use  in  his   election  campaign  on the stormy  bounding main, seeing he is the skipper of the Trumpet of  Patriots windjammer ,  inspired  by Donald Trump who is fast  turning  America  into  the  Wreck  of  the  Hesperus . 

Other  topics  include  combustion,  steam , turbines, nozzle  velocity,  air compressors , entropy and  reversed  Carnot. 

(Titanic. Palmer. Trump.)