The general arrangement of piping was designed so that it was possible to pump from any flooded compartment by two independent systems of 10­inch mains having cross connections between them. These were controlled from above by rods and wheels led to the level of the bulkhead deck. By these it was possible to isolate any flooded space, together with any suctions in it. If any of these should happen accidentally to be left open, and consequently out of reach, it could be shut off from the main by the wheel on the bulkhead deck. This arrangement was specially submitted to the Board of Trade and approved by them.
The double bottom of the vessel was divided by 17 transverse water­tight divisions, including those bounding the fore and aft peaks, and again subdivided by a center fore­and­aft bulkhead, and two longitudinal bulkheads, into 46 compartments. Fourteen of these compartments had 8­inch suctions, 23 had 6­inch suctions, and 3 had 5­inch suctions connected to the 10­inch ballast main suction; 6 compartments were used exclusively for fresh water.
The following bilge suctions were provided for dealing with water, above the double bottom, viz., in No. 1 hold two 3 1/2­inch suctions, No. 2 hold two 3 1/2­inch and 2 3­inch suctions, bunker hold, two 3 1/2­inch and two 3­inch suctions.
The valves in connection with the forward bilge and ballast suctions were placed in the firemen's passage, the water­tight pipe tunnel extending from No. 6 boiler room to the after end of No. 1 hold. In this tunnel, in addition to two 3­inch bilge suctions, one at each end, there was a special 3 1/2­inch suction with valve rod led up to the lower deck above the load line, so as always to have been accessible should the tunnel be flooded accidentally.
In No. 6 boiler room there were three 3 1/2­inch, one 4 1/2­inch, and two 3­inch suctions.
In No. 5 boiler room there were three 3 1/2­inch, one 5­inch, and two 3­inch suctions.
In No. 4 boiler room there were three 3 1/2­inch, one 4 1/2­inch, and two 3­inch suctions.
In No. 3 boiler room there were three 3 1/2­inch, one 5­inch, and two 3­inch suctions.
In No. 2 boiler room there were three 3 1/2­inch, one 5­inch, and two 3­inch suctions.
In No. 1 boiler room there were two 3 1/2­inch, one 5­inch, and two 3­inch suctions.
In the reciprocating engine room there were two 3 1/2­inch, six 3­inch, two 18­inch, and two 5­inch suctions.
In the turbine engine room there were two 3 1/2­inch, three 3­inch, two 18­inch, two 5­inch and one 4­inch suctions.
In the electric engine room there were four 3 1/2­inch suctions.
In the storerooms above the electric engine room there was one 3­inch suction.
In the forward tunnel compartment there were two 3 1/2­inch suctions.
In the water­tight flat over the tunnel compartment there were two 3­inch suctions.
In the tunnel after compartment there were two 3 1/2­inch suctions.
In the water­tight flat over the tunnel after compartment there were two 3­inch suctions.
ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION.
Main generating sets. ­ There were four engines and dynamos, each having a capacity of 400 kilowatts at 100 volts, and consisting of a vertical three­crank compound­forced lubrication inclosed engine of sufficient power to drive the electrical plant.
The engines were direct­coupled to their respective dynamos.
These four main sets were situated in a separate water­tight compartment about 63 feet long by 24 feet high, adjoining the after end of the turbine room at the level of the inner bottom.
Steam to the electric engines was supplied from two separate lengths of steam pipes, connecting on the port side to the five single­ended boilers in compartment No. 1 and two in compartment No. 2, and on the starboard side to the auxiliary steam pipe which derived steam from the five single­ended boilers in No. 1 compartment, two in No. 2, and two in No. 4. By connections at the engine room forward bulkhead steam could be taken from any boiler in the ship.
Auxiliary generating sets. ­ In addition to the four main generating sets, there were two 30­kilowatt engines and dynamos situated on a platform in the turbine engine room casing on saloon deck level, 20 feet above the water line. They were the same general type as the main sets.
These auxiliary emergency sets were connected to the boilers by means of a separate steam pipe running along the working passage above E deck, with branches from three boiler rooms, Nos. 2, 3, and 5 so that should the main sets be temporarily out of action the auxiliary sets could provide current for such lights and power appliances as would be required in the event of an emergency.
Electric Lighting. ­ The total number of incandescent lights was 10,000, ranging from 16 to 100 candlepower, the majority being of Tantallum type, except in the cargo spaces and for the portable fittings, where carbon lamps were provided. Special dimming lamps of small amount of light were provided in the first­class rooms.
Electric heating and power and mechanical ventilation. ­ Altogether 562 electric heaters and 153 electric motors were installed throughout the vessel, including six 50­hundredweight and two 30­hundredweight cranes, four 3­ton cargo winches, and four 15­hundredweight boat winches.
There were also four electric passenger lifts, three forward of the first­class main entrance and one in the second­class forward entrance, each to carry 12 persons.
Telephones. ­ Loud speaking telephones of navy pattern were fitted for communication between the following:
Wheelhouse on the navigating bridge and the forecastle.
Wheelhouse on the navigating bridge and the lookout station on the crow's nest.
Wheelhouse on the navigating bridge and the engine room.
Wheelhouse on the navigating bridge and the poop.
Chief engineer's cabin and the engine room.
Engine room and Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 stokeholds.
These were operated both from the ship's lighting circuit, through a motor generator, and alternatively by a stand­by battery, which by means of an automatic switch could be introduced in the circuit should the main supply fail.
There was also a separate telephone system for intercommunication between a number of the chief officials and service rooms, through a 50­line exchange switchboard.
A number of the pantries and galleys were also in direct telephonic communication.
Wireless telegraphy. ­ The wireless telegraphy system was worked by a Marconi 5­kilowatt motor generator. The house for the Marconi instruments was situated on the boat deck close to the bridge. There were four parallel aerial wires extended between the masts, fastened to light booms; from the aerials the connecting wires were led to the instruments in the house. There were two complete sets of apparatus, one for the transmitting and one for receiving messages, the former being placed in a sound­proof chamber in one corner of the wireless house.
There was also an independent storage battery and coil, in event of the failure of the current supply, which came from the ship's dynamos.
Submarine signaling. ­ The Submarine Signal Co.'s apparatus was provided for receiving signals from the submarine bells. Small tanks containing the microphones were placed on the inside of the hull of the vessel on the port and starboard sides below the water level, and were connected by wires to receivers situated in the navigating room on the port side of the officer's deck house.
Various. ­ The whistles were electrically actuated on the Willett­Bruce system. The boiler­room telegraphs, stoking indicators, rudder indicators, clocks and thermostats were also electrical. The water­tight doors were released by electric magnets.
Emergency circuit. ­ A separate and distinct installation was fitted in all parts of the vessel, deriving current from the two 30­kilowatt sets above mentioned, so that in the event of the current from the main dynamos being unavailable an independent supply was obtainable. Connected to the emergency circuit were above 500 incandescent lamps fitted throughout all passenger, crew, and machinery compartments, at the end of passages, and near stairways, also on the boat deck, to enable anyone to find their way from one part of the ship to the other.
The following were also connected to the emergency circuit by means of change­over switches: Five arc lamps, seven cargo and gangway lanterns, Marconi apparatus, mast, side, and stern lights, and all lights on bridge, including those for the captain's, navigating, and chart rooms, wheelhouse, telegraphs and Morse signaling lanterns, and four electrically­driven boat winches. These latter, situated on the boat deck, were each capable of lifting a load of 15 hundredweight at a speed of 100 feet per minute.
Ventilating. ­ There were 12 electrically­driven fans for supplying air to the stokeholds, 6 electrically­driven fans for engine and turbine room ventilation. There were fans for engine and boiler rooms.
MACHINERY.
Description. ­ The propelling machinery was of the combination type, having two sets of reciprocating engines driving the wing propellers and a low­pressure turbine working the center propeller. Steam was supplied by 24 double­ended boilers and 5 single­ended boilers, arranged for a working pressure of 215 pounds per square inch. The turbine was placed in a separate compartment aft of the reciprocating­engine room and divided from it by a water­tight bulkhead. The main condensers, with their circulating pumps and air pumps, were placed in the turbine room. The boilers were arranged in six water­tight compartments, the single­ended boilers being placed in the one nearest the main engines, the whole being built under board of trade survey for passenger certificate.
Reciprocating engines. ­ The reciprocating engines were of the four­crank triple­expansion type. Each set had four inverted, direct­acting cylinders, the high pressure having a diameter of 54 inches, the intermediate pressure of 84 inches, and each of the two low­pressure cylinders of 97 inches, all with a stroke of 6 feet 3 inches. The valves of the high pressure and intermediate cylinders were of the piston type, and the low­pressure cylinder had double­ported slide valves fitted with Stephenson link motion. Each engine was reversed by a Brown type of direct­acting steam and hydraulic engine. There was also a separate steam­driven high­pressure pump fitted for operating either or both of the reversing engines. This alternative arrangement was a stand­by in case of breakdown of the steampipes to these engines.
Turbine. ­ The low­pressure turbine was of the Parsons reaction type, direct coupled to the center line of shafting and arranged for driving in the ahead direction only. It exhausted to the two condensers, placed one on each side of it. A shut­off valve was fitted in each of the eduction pipes leading to the condensers. An emergency governor was fitted and arranged to shut off steam to the turbine and simultaneously change over the exhaust from the reciprocating engines to the condensers should the speed of the turbine become excessive through the breaking of a shaft or other accident.
Boilers. ­ All the boilers were 15 feet 9 inches in diameter, the 24 double­ended boilers being 20 feet long, and the single­ended 11 feet 9 inches long. Each double­ended boiler had six and each single­ended boiler three furnaces, with a total heating surface of 144,142 square feet and a grate surface of 3,466 square feet. The boilers were constructed in accordance with the rules of the board of trade for a working pressure of 215 pounds per square inch. They were arranged for working under natural draft, assisted by fans, which blew air into the open stokehold.
Auxiliary steam pipes. ­ The five single­ended boilers and those in boiler rooms Nos. 2 and 4 had separate steam connections to the pipe supplying steam for working the auxiliary machinery, and the five single­ended boilers and the two port boilers in boiler room No. 2 had separate steam connections to the pipe supplying steam for working the electric­light engines. A cross connection was also made between the main and auxiliary pipes in the reciprocating­engine room, so that the auxiliaries could be worked from any boiler in the ship. Steam pipes also were led separately from three of the boiler rooms (Nos. 2, 3, 5) above the water­tight bulkheads and along the working passage to the emergency electric­light engines placed above the load line in the turbine room. Pipes were also led from this steam supply to the pumps in the engine room, which were connected to the bilges throughout the ship.
Main steam pipes. ­ There were two main lines of steam pipes led to the engine room, with shut­off valves at three of the bulkheads. Besides the shut­off valves at the engine­room bulkhead, a quick­acting emergency valve was fitted on each main steam pipe, so that the steam could at once be shut off in case of rupture of the main pipe.
Condensing plant and pumps. ­ There were two main condensers, having a combined cooling surface of 50,550 square feet, designed to work under a vacuum of 28 inches with cooling water at 60-degrees F. The condensers were pear shaped in section, and built of mild steel plates.
Four gun­metal centrifugal pumps were fitted for circulating water through the condensers. Each pump had suction and discharge pipes of 29­inch bore, and was driven by a compound engine. Besides the main sea suctions, two of the pumps had direct bilge suctions from the turbine room and the other two from the reciprocating­engine room. The bilge suctions were 18 inches diameter. Four of Weir's "Dual" air pumps were fitted, two to each condenser, and discharged to two feed tanks placed in the turbine engine room.
Bilge and ballast pumps. ­ The ship was also fitted with the following pumps: Five ballast and bilge pumps, each capable of discharging 250 tons of water per hour; three bilge pumps, each of 150 tons per hour capacity.
