Steam chest

“ The most effectual way to restrain loss of steam when a chest or cover has broken, is to slack up the steam-pipe, and slip a piece of iron plate, lined with sheet-rubber, leather, canvas, or any other substance that will help to make a steam-tight joint, into the lower joint of the steam-pipe. ”

“ But you must be careful not to unsolder the cylinder from its standard or the parts of the gland. Blacken the piston rod in a candle flame to prevent solder adhering.
Steam Chest.—The walls of the steam chest are best made in one piece out of 1/2-inch brass by cutting out to the dimension given in Fig. 58. A sharp fret saw will remove the inside rectangle. Get both inside and outside surfaces as square as possible in all directions, and rub down the two contact faces on emery cloth supported by an old looking-glass. ”

“ That may be all very true, Master Fritz, if the steam were allowed to escape into the air; but it is only permitted to do that after it has done duty on board ship. It appears that steam is very elastic, and may be compressed like India-rubber, but has a tendency to resist the pressure and set itself free. Imagine, for example, a headstrong young man, for a long time kept in restraint by parental control, suddenly let loose, and allowed scope to follow the bent of his own inclinations. ”

“ The legs of this extraordinary mechanism were fully a yard apart, so as to avoid the danger of its upsetting, and at the same time, there was given more room for the play of the delicate machinery within. Long, sharp, spike-like projections adorned those toes of the immense feet, so that there was little danger of its slipping, while the length of the legs showed that, under favorable circumstances, the steam man must be capable of very great speed. ”

“ We must proceed a little farther on our backward course from the point where the power is applied, and in our analysis consider the steam as only the vehicle or carrier of the power; and examining the conditions, we find that water acted on by fire, while contained in a suitable vessel, after some time takes up certain properties which enable it to go forward and move the ponderous machinery of the boat. The water evidently here derives its new character of steam from the fire, and we have now reached the source of the movement of steam, and traced it to the fire. ”

“ The Hero's green feather-crested helmet gleamed with a nod. "Was there ever an instrument of war that had not its defence? Yea, we have the blue vapor to shatter steam particles—it is called the blue maxima. Thou wilt presently see some of our troops armed with it."
"But where does this steam come from? How is it generated?" These two were the first of a host of questions which trembled on Nelson's lips.
"The steam," replied the Atlantean, "comes from the earth. We compress it many times, then feed it into our retortii. Without the heat of Mother Earth and our flame suns we would all perish. ”

“ Such is a modern battle-ship—a “wonderful and complex instrument of warfare,” as Lieutenant Staunton has expressed it.
She is filled [he tells us] with powerful agencies, all obedient to the control of man—the creatures of his brain and the servants of his will. Steam in its simple application drives her main engines and many auxiliaries. Steam transformed into hydraulic power moves her steering-gear and turns her turrets. Steam converted into electrical energy produces her incandescent and search-lights, works small motors in remote places, and fires her guns when desired. ”

“ The ring forms part of a triangular frame to which is attached one arm of a lever that communicates the motion to the rod bearing the slide. Expansive working is often employed in conjunction with superheated steam, that is, steam heated out of contact with water, after it has been formed, so as to raise its temperature beyond that merely necessary to maintain it in the state of steam, and to confer upon it the properties of a perfect gas. ”

“ If a weight were hung to the other end of the rope it would be raised as the piston was forced down. In that way the air pressure did the work of lifting the weight, and the necessary vacuum was obtained by forming steam and then condensing it in the cylinder. This was a very primitive device, requiring several minutes for the engine to make one stroke, but it was the beginning of the practical use of steam as a motive power. ”

“ The trouble does not end here, for when the position is gained, the steam has to pass away, when it has gained sufficient strength to force its way back through the water and up the flow pipe, and this is an unpleasant experience. Exactly the same result is obtained if the rising main is screwed too far through the top of cylinder or the expansion too far through the top of tank—an air or steam chamber is formed in either case ”

“ The steam breath gradually grows and is exhaled with more vigor. Presently he belches up a barrel or so of water which falls back into his throat. Then in a minute come two or three such little spasms, when up lifts a rounded column two or three feet in diameter, rising higher and higher in exact perpendicularity 150 feet high. The jet breaks more or less as it rises into pointed sprays, which, when there is no wind blowing, fall with almost precise regularity about the up going column. ”

“ An effect of the same development—of the increasing size of the unit gun, and therefore of the decreasing number of units which a ship could carry—was the mounting of every big gun so as to command as large an arc of fire as possible.
As the final development we note that the steam engine, in endowing the warship with motions far more variable, certain and controlled than those of the sailing ship, called forth tactical ideas quite different, in many respects, from those which governed sea actions in the canvas period. The warship itself is the embodiment of tactical ideas. ”

“ In these unattractive circumstances the steam engine, most wonderful contrivance of the brain and hand of man, presented itself for embodiment in the navy, by the personnel of which it was regarded, not without reason, as an unmitigated evil. ”

“ Not the least wonder of our day is the improvement in the machinery of steam-vessels of all kinds.
The engineer’s department of a first-class cruiser or battle-ship is a bewildering and wonderful sight to one not accustomed to it. The complicated engines, with their numerous cylinders, which use the steam over and over, seem almost too delicate, and too like a fancy creation, to be capable of driving the propellers at such a rate as they do. ”

“ During the early part of the stroke, the energy of the steam piston must be stored up in the moving parts, to be given out when the steam pressure has been reduced through an early cut-off. With a short stroke and a large diameter of steam cylinder we are able to get steam economy or early cut-off and expansion without the complications of compounding. ”

“ A rapid deflection increases the amount of the deflection as well as the amount of the strain, as is seen in the cylinder cover of a Cornish pumping engine, into which the steam is suddenly admitted, and in which the momentum of the particles of the metal put into motion increases the deflection to an extent such as the mere pressure of the steam could not produce. ”

“ The modern engine, which now claims our attention, is the result of numerous successive improvements. The application of steam as a motive power was probably originally made by Hero, who, 150 B.C., constructed, or at least described, an Æolipile. This was a hollow sphere with hollow bent arms attached; when water placed inside the sphere was heated, and steam generated, it issued from the arms, and reacting on the air caused the sphere to rotate. A model of this, the primogenitor of the modern steam-engine, can be bought at many opticians’ shops for about one shilling. ”

“ In the meantime, science is seeking to surpass all its present achievements. The marine steam engine, of whatever type, will give way to the internal combustion engine of a type which will surpass all the existing machinery as surely as the best turbines are ahead of the old compound engines. The battleship of the future will have an armament surpassing in effective range and penetrative power anything at present afloat, and an armour as far in advance of the present steel armour as that is ahead of the compound armour it but lately supplanted. ”

“ Hearing a roaring sound on my left, I turned aside to learn the cause; and there was a steam spring, or rather a jet of steam, that rushed out of the mountain with a loud and constant roaring. The noise and escape of steam were incessant, the steam coming out in a slanting direction, at least twenty feet in a direct line. The noise it made was greater than that of one of our largest steamship engines “blowing off.” ”

“ If we wish to examine the mode of working of a complicated steam-engine, it will be of little avail for us to watch the machinery when the full blast of steam is turned on, and the rapid movements of levers, pinions, and slides baffle all attempts to follow them, and render hopeless every effort to trace their connection with one another. ”

“ It is a curious fact, that the rapid strokes of the steam-hammer evolved so much heat, that on many occasions the pile-head burst into flame during the process of driving. The elastic force of steam is the power that lifts the ram, the escape permitting its entire force to fall upon the head of the driving-block; while the steam above the piston on the upper part of the cylinder, acting as a buffer or recoil-spring, materially enhances the effect of the downward blow. ”

“ The steam-engine is the finest example of the mechanical art. A thousand parts make up the whole, all of which move together in harmony. The most violent storm never disorders them. The piston moves, the crank turns, the steam rises, and is condensed. It is nothing but the Marquis of Worcester's kettle boiling over, Papin's rod or piston, Watt's crank, improved by later inventors. ”

“ The contrivance is then towed astern of the ship from the quarters, sufficient scope being given to allow the spar to clear the counter as the vessel pitches or scends, the controlling being effected by means of steel hawsers attached to the other end of the spar, and led through outriggers to a steam winch.
Another kind of disaster which may overcome the steamship is that of fire. ”

“ Of the many efforts which were made at the end of the eighteenth century to apply steam power to the propulsion of ships a striking feature is their complete independence from each other and from the results of prior experience and research. Little information is available as to the results of various experiments which were known to be carried on in France at this time, and, with all respect, it is improbable that they contributed in any way to the subsequent evolution of the steam vessel. ”

“ From the Exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington.
Now that we have traced in outline the vain attempts at physical propulsion, let us turn to take a view of the evolution of that other invention whose advent alone delayed the practical utility of the paddle-wheel to boats. Who shall say how it was that steam came first to be regarded as a means of giving power? In certain parts of the world, where geysers and boiling springs existed, man must naturally have been struck by the elastic force which steam possessed. ”

“ Enough has been written to indicate in some detail the progress made in steam-ship construction. Wood was the material chiefly used until near the middle of the nineteenth century. Iron then began to take its place and the screw-propeller to supersede the paddle-wheel. Some iron screw steamers have already been mentioned, but this was inevitable, as no hard and fast line can be drawn across the history of invention and commercial [192] enterprise, to separate iron from wood and screw from paddle. ”

“ The chase, when each ship put forth all her powers, was just continued long enough to establish the superiority of these ships. They are moved by screw-propellers, and all the steam machinery in such large ships is placed beneath the water-line, [112] and below the reach of shot. The ships can steam at pleasure against wind and tide, and thus, really and not metaphorically “rule the waves,” and a steam fleet of eleven hundred guns, such as that we witnessed at Portsmouth, would go far to rule the world. ”

“ We cannot do otherwise than consider that the articles, Nos. 68, 98, and 100, refer to descriptions of the several parts of his remarkable steam engine. In No. 68, we have the two vessels, with two cocks, connected with a furnace, and so arranged that “one vessel of water being consumed, another begins to force and refil with cold water.” In No. 98, we have intimation of “the primum mobile,” forming the 3rd division of the particulars enumerated above; being some portion of the engine capable of every variety of movement. ”

“ The honour of being the first British steam iron warship belongs to the Trident, a paddle-steamer, launched from Ditchburn and Mare’s shipbuilding yard at Blackwall in December 1845. Her length was 280 feet, the length of engine-room 45 feet, her beam 31 feet 6 inches, her breadth over paddles 52 feet 6 inches, her depth of hold 18 feet, and she was of 900 tons burden, including machinery, coals, water, guns, and stores. Her displacement at launching was 385 tons; the engines of 330 horse-power had oscillating cylinders, and her boilers were of a tubular pattern. ”

“ Old ladies, not accustomed to the river, are always intensely nervous of steam launches. I remember going up once from Staines to Windsor—a stretch of water peculiarly rich in these mechanical monstrosities—with a party containing three ladies of this description. It was very exciting. At the first glimpse of every steam launch that came in view, they insisted on landing and sitting down on the bank until it was out of sight again. ”