Another great video!! The plumbing work on these old ships is amazing. The pipefitters must have been contortionists!!! And all these DC motors used for speed control. The electricians must have been changing brushes ALL the time!!! Thanks!!!
I've been watching a few of your videos and your practical knowledge and dedication shines through . Seeing some of these systems brings back a few memories . Sadly we don't have many 20thc warships preserved so it's nice to see around Texas especially some of the hidden away places that aren't visited . Hope Texas emerges ready for many more years to keep practical history alive .
Thank you for your videos. Some people find this kind of dry, but I just enjoy watching them. Thank you for showing some of the vandalism damage that was done. You are so lucky, and I am so jealous of your opportunities to do these videos of this ship. One day, I'm hoping to enjoy a stroll across her decks and see a true piece of history.
This video was not long enough by far! I took it all in and it left me wanting more! Thank you for showing us the fresh water systems and explaining how they work. Always happy to learn more about this legendary ship.
I enjoy the content you bring. Thank you so much.😁 the video tours and information you bring is top notch. Very enjoyable. I sincerely hope a big chunk of the planned work is cleaning her insides up too. The amount of neglect in the compartments you shown in this video is alarming. She deserves better and I hope she gets it😁
I understand your sentiment, but please know that it is not neglect. There have been decades of managers and staffs who worked hard and for very little money to save her. Management of the ship has been privatized through a non-profit agency who has great plans and opportunities to raise funds that weren't previously available. However, correcting all that you see in these videos will take a lot of time, money and patience.
Well you can say thank you to the team that was able to get it to Galveston and I'm happy to say I was part of that team running the flotation equipment filling their compartments in the blister tanks
The subject of the video was the ship's evaporator systems, so it does not cover the tow. However, thank you to the team, including you, who helped get the ship safely to dry dock.
yet again a lovely video of the working parts of what makes a warship like Texas tick, please do more they are very educational because warships are not just guns .
The Soloshell was a very efficient idea. They made up to a 6 effect found on bigger ships (100k a day). I ran the other design made by Aquachem, no submerged tubes
I was going to ask if you think some of these spaces may be reopened to the public in the future, but I'm guessing not after hearing about the vandalism that took place in the past. Maybe there will be guided tours (similar to the hard hat tours) that will visit these spaces in the future after Texas is at her new home (wherever that may be) and open to the public once again.
Mechanical air (vacuum) pumps must have been the precursors to the DFT I ran while in Navy in the 70s. Deaerating feed tanks remove dissolved gases from boiler feedwater. The biggest thing was getting rid of the free oxygen to protect the steam system from corrosive. Damage control drills resolved around a ruptured tank, all the water would instantly flashing to steam. No pressure to contend with but the whole space would be close to 170 degrees in seconds and trying to breath water vapor at, well.
What a complex eay to produce fresh water. After twelve years in the Royal navy i can asure you that the system we used worked very well and was a lot simpler, it had a single chamber with four coils od copper pipe fed with saturated steam, the camber was filled to near the very top ten the heat created a pressure at the top where it forced the water out to leave about half the chamber full with leaves a vacuum, a,lowing the seawater to boil at a reduced temperature, dependant on the level the water could be made to boil at just the right temlerature to boil the water at the correct temperature that the water and the salt content would seperate leaving the salt in the bottom and the steam created would be drawn off and cooled to condence back into water, this was then checked using silver nitrate if clear of all salt it was then sent to either feed water tanks for the boilers or to storage tanks for fresh water for general use. There were two such evaporators on the ship which in fact could if needed supply enought fresh water to keep a small town in fresh water. Ever so ofter, they were shut down, the copper coils removed as descaled of any build up of salt or chalk using feric cloride, and then replaced into the evaporator.
Thank you for a wonderful video. I am surprised that both sets of the 1925 evaporators were placed in one compartment. It seems a severe violation of the principle of redundancy. Damage to that compartment would have crippled the ship.
I can only speculate, but there certainly had to be compromises that lead to the decision to place them together. The amount of equipment, piping and even crew required to operate and service the system would have been significantly larger if they were separate. One good thing, they were inside what was called the armored citadel that give pretty good protection. What is interesting to me is not the fact that they are together, but their position on the ship. Later ships, beginning with the Nevadas, had their evaporator systems far better protected by locating them deep within the ship on the 2nd platform and hold deck levels.
@@tomscotttheolderone364 Interestingly, even the 1920's vintage evaporators were much more advanced than the one on the SS JOHN W BROWN. This was installed during the ship's conversion into a limited capacity troopship in about 1943-- my understanding is that all-cargo Libertys had no evaporator-- and was a high-temperature unit that made a horrible racket, used prodigious amounts of superheated steam and which had to be opened every few days and the salt chipped off the steam coils with a chipping hammer. As a museum ship, we never had to use the thing, for which we were very happy.
@@Pamudder Yeah, it sounds like they were basically high temperature distillers that ran at much higher temperatures. They had the advantage of being simpler to build and operate. The bad news is that they had to be constantly descaled. One of the great advantages of evaporators is they run at temperatures that don't produce hard scale. Instead, they created softer buildups that could be scraped out without chiseling. That was a good thing since the tube nests were made of copper and were easily damaged. On top of that, there was a chronic shortage of the tubes, so they took very good care of them. I have seen memos saying that one reason they didn't replace them with newer, more efficient units during WWII is that the old ones were still producing at their maximum rated output. This suggests that engineering was very good about regularly and carefully servicing them.
They did have fresh water tanks. There was 40,000 gallons for the crew and about 200,000 gallons for the boilers. None of that would last very long without the 36,000 gallon per day production from the main evaporators and 12,000 gallons per day from the emergency evaporator
Interesting system. First thought seeing that old insulation: danger! mesothelioma zone. Famous actor Steve McQueen died from it when he was 50. He refitted ships in the war for the Navy. The confined space, poor ventilation and constant foot traffic during renovations constantly churning asbestos into the air.
McQueen was exposed before there was an understanding of the threat that asbestos made. Things have radically changed since then. There is no significant threat posed by what remains on board. It has all been encapsulated using accepted and approved coatings that are extremely tough and durable. If any damage occurs to it, the space in which is is located is closed and sealed, then licensed contractors either remove or repair it before it is reopened.
A little off topic, but are they still offering under the hull tours? I'm having trouble finding info about it. PS: Your vids about the ship's inner works is fascinating and enjoy learning more about the Texas.
They certainly are still running dry dock tours and plan to through the end of April. They are held on Sundays only since that is the only day of the week that yard crews aren't working on the ship. You can get details and schedules at this link. battleshiptexas.org/drydock/
Tom, you have produced some outstanding technical videos on the workings of this great ship. I have a question, how did they refuel her? All those small oil tanks, surely the oil king could have them fuel up from one location?
There were 92 tanks on board, but it was probably pretty rare that even half needed filling. You are right about there being a single location. While there were several deck fittings where fuel could be taken, they all fed to a relay tank on the third deck that was above the top of all fuel tanks. The relay tank piped oil to the fuel mains that ran most of the length of the ship on both sides by pumping it backwards using the booster/recirculate pumps in the boiler rooms. From there, individual feed valves that controlled fuel from each tank would be opened and fuel pumped in. They kept track of quantity in each tank through sounding lines that were pretty precise. Once filled, the next tank valve would be opened and the first closed. Pumping continued until they took the total approved amount of fuel on board.
@@tomscotttheolderone364 Thanks so much for the response. I am beginning to get a real feel for all the operational activities on the ship by watching your videos! Much appreciated!
A lecture on the latter plant can be found searching the web for "Distilling Plants US Navy Training Film MN-3706"". Not on YT. Thumb up for the walk here!
Proving yet again "old technology" is not the same as "bad technology." And frequently quite good. (Now if I could just convince some of my coworkers of this).
If the USN ever brings back one battleship, they sure would prefer the Texas over the Iowas, because of the great training videos that Tom already prepared for them.
Thanks, but I suspect that using my videos to train would result in crew only capable of pointing at something and saying, "Yep, that's an evaporator".
When we go into peace time like in the 1990s it would be cool if the US Navy let some of their sailors volunteer to strip, paint, and polish brass on some of these historical museum ships instead of having them waste their lifespan by sweeping parking lots. The US Army should be having Explosive ordinance disposal crew do a single tour in a peaceful country such as Laos and Vietnam to eliminate tragic reminders of the past before permitting deployment in a dangerous war zone where the soldiers could get shot or have bombs be remotely detonated. The US coast guard struggles to open up slots for new recruits because those who join the Coast Guard end up loving their service so much that they don't want to quit their jobs to do more lucrative jobs in the civilian sector.
Did Texas supply its own Boiler and drinking Water even when in Port, or was it trucked in? I imagine that when the ship was operational, there was constant scraping and painting in these rooms. Don't you wish you had 250 hands to do that now?
Shipyards had the ability to provide shore water, electricity and steam so that the ship could shut its systems down while being able to run lights, blowers, cooking, etc. You are right, there were typically 800 or more young sailors on board that had to be kept busy. Just 250 would be nice, along with a few hundred thousand bucks worth of paint, brushes and other supplies!
There were 4 fresh water tanks that stored about 40,000 gallons of potable water meant for crew consumption. There were 12 boiler reserve feed water and 8 emergency reserve feed water tanks that stored about 180,000,000 gallons of makeup feed water for the boilers. While it was fresh water, it was not meant for human consumption since it was typically treated to be very alkaline. That was done so that calcium compounds in the water would precipitate out where it could be blown out of the boiler water drums instead of form scale on the inside surfaces of the boiler tubes.
Thanks! No, I am not allowed on the ship while she is dry docked, nor do I want to be. I help give dry dock tours, but will not film any portion of those as a matter of content rights. What I am using for videos these days are pieces of videos, photos and graphics that I made over the last 3 years, prior to dry docking.
Super informative video as always, Tom! You even surprised me with the more modern auxiliary evaporator equipment. I didn't know that space even existed until now! Also, you mentioned that the 3-element diagram you showed was historic. Who was the creator of the diagram?
Tom has done an amazing job explaining a very complicated system in simple layman terms. Few gave any thought to making fresh water but without it they couldn't cook or even run the engines which are just 2 very essential needs of a ship. Hats off to the Sailors that kept the fresh water flowing during rough seas or under fire. People need to keep in mind that all that saltwater rusted steel like crazy.
I agree, but the result would new equipment that compromises the integrity of an historic artifact. Ultimately, it is much less expensive, less maintenance intensive and less intrusive to the ship to simply pipe water to it using a single water line.
@@tomscotttheolderone364 was there a dedicated sea chest for this system or was it shared with others? Regardless, that intake point is likely welded over at this point, right?
@@jamesbeaman6337 All equipment requiring water for supply, cooling or fire fighting had their own dedicated sea chests. As a result, there were approximately 50 chests and hull openings that have now been sealed.
I'm sorry Chief - your many videos selectively set a high bar for quality. In this one, while a picture (or video) might be worth a thousand words, there are many details, and if the viewer knows not at what they are looking, the words are lost. Such a shame about the vandalism. Oh, and your reputation precedes you, and I generally click "LIKE" as soon as I see your video pop up.
Thanks, I really appreciate the compliments, and I also understand about there not being enough details. The problem is this system is ridiculously complicated, which creates the challenge of trying to go into detail for enthusiasts while not running off casual visitors who make up the great majority of viewers. The result is I have to make value judgments that balance detail and length against being "watchable". Such is the reality of RU-vid.
The armory was located in a compartment on the main deck that is part of the superstructure. You will find it marked, "ARMORY" on the drawing in this attachment: battleshiptexas.info/images/Drawings/DeckPlans/1944/MainDk.html You can locate it in the starboard side of the superstructure, where the the center line is marked with frame numbers 63, 64 and 65. Unfortunately, there won't be any videos because nothing remains that indicated its purpose. Not only was it stripped bare when the ship was retired, the space has been re-tasked to be the main electrical room for modern power brought onto the ship. Small arms ammunition was stored in magazine A-34-M-S, located on the second platform, deep within the ship.
@@tomscotttheolderone364 Thank you. I have a Armory rack circular holds 80 1911's.... Holds 20 per level, 4 levels.. 1 lever per level locks in the 20 with one padlock. Base looks like could also hold some M1 Garands if converted... Looking to price, sell, ??? I was born in Jancito City 1951 and been to the ship 3 or 4 times. It is put away right now, maybe pictures later.
@@pbc1951 Thank you for the input. Please be aware that I do not allow the discussion or promotion of items to sell or purchase beyond what is sold by Battleship Texas Foundation.
18k per 3-effect, 36k from two 3-effects, or rather, 6-effect; in a day, if it ran properly. And how many people can drink all that freshwater? And if you limit the number of people to the size that run the Texas, how long will it take to use up all 36k worth of water? Also what's the measurement? Liters or gallons???
The unit of measurement gallons, as stated at 1:36 and at other points in the video. They are only described as two, triple effect evaporators and never considered 6-effect. This is because each of the units are made of 3 effects piped together to operate as a single unit. It was impossible to run them as 6 separate effects. However, if an effect failed, the evaporator could be quickly configured to eliminate it and operate at lower output as a 2-effect. They were not run to make 36,000 gallons that were consumed, then run again to make 36,000 more. Instead, they were run just enough to replenish water tanks. So, they may only have to produce a rate of 10,000 when usage was low, or run at full output when it was high. Water was used for far more than meeting the crew's needs. The vast majority was used to replenish what was lost in the ship's steam system. Even though it was a closed cycle, there was loss that had to be replaced. If we conservatively assume that the steam system lost 2% during operation, the evaporator's full output of 36,000 gallons per day would not be enough to keep up with the losses that occurred with the ship running at full speed. What kept the boilers from running dry was 200,000 gallons of make-up water stored for just that purpose. Water was drawn from those and the evaporators were used to keep the tanks topped off. The crew's needs were secondary to the needs of the steam system, but they were adequately cared for with a large fresh water tank that could meet their needs for a few days if not replenished.
The average American uses about 80-100 gallons per day. The crew compliment was about 1000. The ship gets water first, the rest goes to the crew. In reality, "sea showers" were the order of the day for a reason.
@@JoshuaTootell The crew size grew to 1,800 by the end of WWII, meaning that the full output of both evaporators would only permit 20 gal/day for the crew. So not only did they obviously consume less than that, it undoubtedly explains the need for the 12,000 gallon per day emergency evaporator installed in 1942.
While I have been on the dry dock a number of times, I haven't stood on the ship since she left San Jacinto. Regardless, I have never felt noticeable movement any time I have been on the ship over the last 23 years or when standing on the deck of the dry dock.
Are there any plans to rip out the un-lagged piping an valves made of copper and the spare armatures out of the ship to sell as scrap. That stuff is worth a pretty large fortune if volunteer labor is used. I know that seems unrealistic in allot of way, but the disassembly could take place on board and the working spaces are already there. Chain hoist and industrial size buckets are most likely already there also. I have moved machines in and out of ships like lathes and milling machines and it is surprising how easy it is to move thing around with the minimal of equipment since the structure is capable of supporting the hoisting equipment.
No, that will not happen. All of that is an integral part of what is a very large and complex historic artifact. Removing it would forever alter the ship and compromise its historic fabric.
