In this episode we're climbing up an escape trunk from the engine room as if there were an emergency down there. To support this channel and the museum, go to: www.battleship...
@Justin T If nothing else, he might like to see if an Iowa-class "Turret Monster" has more differences or similarities to the Abrams and Bradley variety that he is used to. :,-)
“Halon would prevent the fire from getting oxygen - Well I also like oxygen” Greatest line. I always knew there would be escape routes but never thought to look them up. I’m really glad I found this.
Thankfully, it's to an extend anti-catalytic, specifically to the free radical combustion process in flames. Humans employ an oxygen carrier to bring atmospheric oxygen to enzymatically mediated oxidation reactions. No free-radical chain reaction that could be interrupted.
@@namibjDerEchte Sadly though, halon != oxygen. When there is a fire there is already a shortage of oxygen and a surplus of smoke and other non-breathable gasses. If you then pump in halon to put out the fire, that just pushes out more of the oxygen. It's not "breathing in halon" that kills you, it "not breathing enough oxygen because half the room is halon and smoke" that kills you. A halon system is safe as along as you can escape the room easily, in a couple of munutes. This is not a problem in an office or a computer room,, but it's near impossible in an already dark room in a ship with smoke and halon-fog, doors that require cheaterbars to open them.
@@namibjDerEchte it doesn't suffocate you chemically, but it does displace oxygen as mentioned in the video, and it also produces aa number of toxic and acidic decay products. so between choking on a low oxygen atmosphere and being in a gas chamber, it's recomended you make a hasty exit and go see the ship's doctor.
@@diegoviniciomejiaquesada4754 Drach and Ryan have made a number of videos together. Drach and Dr. Clarke also have made a number of videos together. I have seen Jingles in a few, but I think he was just lending his voice for plot telling, not historical commentary. Pretty sure he was in the Jutland Video Drach made.
@@roceye Interesting how that works isn't it? If our interests lead us to both watch the same video, there's decent odds that interest might lead us both to watch another video and so on down the line.
For a while my GQ station on the Newport News was at the throttles of #1 engine. The Des Moines cruisers were built with combined engineering spaces (engine room and fire room together). For emergency exit I would have needed to go down one level to the bottom of the escape trunk and back up three or four decks in the trunk. We had a couple of more senior POs who were a little rotund and as a skinny 19 year old I set my goal to get up the trunk before those guys jammed the route. Thankfully we never had to use the escape trunk for real but we did use the route a couple of times during drills. I remember going through the scuttle once while wearing an OBA. It was a very tight fit even for my 130 pound frame.
hahaha that was my first thought when he poked his head out of the top of that truck, "I guess the navy back in the 40's, through 90's didn't have quite the incidence of obesity that the general American public does now."
I remember a certain PO1 on my first ship ('98) who couldn't fit through a scuttle, due to his weight. The number of CPO's like that was quite...large.
As a former Machinist mate on a carrier I was always down in the engine room. We had escape trunks that went up to just below the hanger bay. ended up either in medical or the mess decks then we went up one more ladder to get up and out. But that was a very long climb with several hatches to open on the way. We engineering types all had it in the back of our minds that if the ship was hit below the water line and our engine room started to fill that it was just our time. We knew what we were getting into and we all knew the chances of getting out were fairly slim for us. The trunks were more for a peace of mind.
We had the 1200psi Main Line blow on our Knox class FF. Fortunately the lead PO sensed that something was wrong and had the control room evacuate up the emergency scuttle just before the steam pipe blew. We were "Stuck" in Subic Bay for a month while they removed all the Asbestos that went everywhere and replace the pipes.
It's amazing how you can come to know a something like the machinery spaces so well. You may not immediately be able to say what is wrong but you know something is and in the case of your PO, wrong enough to order his men to evacuate the area preventing multiple causalities.
@@Melanie16040 the same can happen when you recognize the noises that normally come from your car. Learn what your car sounds like it could save your life. When I worked in it I knew it all the equipment sounded like when it was running in the room. If something was missing or different I would hear it. I would also check all the status panels in the room the other supervisors didn't on the other shifts but I did. I literally walked around the entire computer room twice a day and glanced around repeatedly during the day looking for red lights LOL! You also get used to humidity levels and temperatures in a computer room. With the amount of air conditioning we had there should be no warm spots. That's a real great way to tell that an air conditioner is about to die! The house I live in now has well and believe it or not I can hear the harmonic from the well 40 ft from the house in 120 ft deep in the pipes when I use water. It's kind of weird. I used to build and repair computers for people also as a side job. From experience on my regular job and working with them I could hear things like fans that were starting to go bad hard drives that were starting to make a funny sound power supplies that had a funny smell. Yeah us computer geeks have Spidey senses!
When I was going through DC training one of the instructors I had was on the Samuel b Roberts when she took a mine hit to the engine room. He could not get to the escape trunk because the entrance was crushed so he went out the regular entrance/exit. He was lucky, snipes don’t have the best chance of survival when things go south.
USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) was built at the shipyard I worked at, Bath Iron Works. Granted, that was 20yrs before my time, but many of the "old timers" would speak with great pride about building her and repairing the mine damage. The fact that she didn't split entirely in two pieces and founder is a testament to the quality craftsmanship of those incredibly skilled tradesman. A tradition that lives on at BIW to this day. BATH BUILT IS BEST BUILT! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Served on the Roberts for a bit 01-03 A-Div and I don't recall any escape training until I went to subschool toward the end of 03,and even then it was pretty perfunctory, combating fire and flooding though, went into pretty good detail on that....
I was on the moosbrugger until she decommissioned in 2000 and then I was in the Vicksburg until 2005. Both out of mayport. I was in mp division and escape trunks were covered as part of egress training. Sorry for the confusion.
@@pauld6967 I recall a placard on a ship museum [possibly Battleship Massachusetts] listing damage control goals First was "never underestimate the amount of damage your ship can sustain and still function".
Oh my the tank is on fire! wrong channel? But really. on my 3rd day on USS Speigel Grove, lsd32. Had to get 3decks to weather deck blindfolded. I did it. I didn't get it until a guy started a fire in the wardroom galley. Smoked-out the officers quarters. Could have killed many.
Ryan: Just an FYI from a Gunners Mate who became a Professional Fire Fighter after his 4 years of service. A Tripple F ( Aquious Film Forming Foam ) makes water lighter than oil. Oil floats on water. So it in effect floats and forms a thin layer of water over the oil. Denying Oxygen. There is a famous Training film of an oil fire in Texas where a fire fighter runs through the pool and each step where he disturbed the AFFF flares up almost burning him and then you see the footsteps close up and extinguish the flames.
I do want to say and also thank you Ryan for going through all these hatches, tubes etc that you do! You make it very interesting videos more so than I've seen on any others videos of a similar topic! Thank you for all that you do!
For a untrained civilian contractor, the escape trunk is not an enjoyable climb. I was working on a piece of equipment that had components in both the engine rooms and CCS when they opened the reduction gear, you do not cross an open reduction gear on a gas turbine powered ship. I had to exit by the escape trunk, I think my fingerprints are permanently engraved in the ladder.
It's amazing how expensive reduction gears are... Gotta take every precaution to ensure nothing gets in to damage them. Curious, why would your fingerprints be permanently engraved on the ladder?
@@Melanie16040 he was gripping the ladder because he was a little uncomfortable being on it. The idea of gravity drawing him down the ladder and into a space that was dangerous just kind of made him hold on to it tighter.
@@Melanie16040 I really don't enjoy ladders, I almost got wiped off of the stick, radar mast, once when the man above me slipped and came down between the ladder and me. I believe I have engraved my fingerprints in a few merchant ship ladders going up the stick as well.
Having read all the comments no one has mentioned how hot it is in the boiler room and therefore the escape trunk. I served on the USS Luce DLG7 (DDG38) 3/1/2 years as a Boilertech and lucky enough to be stationed as Repair 5 for GQ all that time. I spent GQ on the mess deck, and most of my training for it was firefighting. So I only had the escape training for the boilerroom once (in getmo) And I will never forget it. Outside air temp 98 boiler temperature 800+ we did our watches huddled under the air vents and rushing through our routine work to get back to the vents. So you have an escape tunnel which is sealed in that atmosphere. The hatch dogs are hot, the escape tunnel is over 150* and every metal surface is hotter. So under these conditions doing our post refit qualification, we do an emergency shutdown of the boilers and run for the escape tunnel. I burn my hands on the dogs to the hatch, then I burn them again on the rungs up the hatch gasping for air that is not even full of smoke or rushing steam you could expect from a real emergency. I get to the top hatch burning the hands some more and my little 130 lb body could not even move the wheel to open it the next man in line squeezes next to me and together we get it open and squeeze out. Making me happy once again I was a phone talker on the mess deck during GQ. It is always hot in the boiler room so I expect that the escape trunk is always hot, just better than the alternative.
Capsizing being so fatal to crew and also the ship is the reason that post WW1 U.S. combat ships had full beam fire and engine spaces with no centerline bulkhead to split them unlike other nations. Even flooding of the largest spaces on the ships would prevent capsizing which would make a ship sink even faster. And with later U.S. boiler design and turbines staggering the fire and engine rooms meant propulsion was nearly as resilient as splitting the compartments.
I'm reminded of my training/DC quals on board Lexington (AVT-16) shortly after my arrival there in 1984. It was explained to me by my Chief on Day 1 that my future liberty depended on meeting certain DC training deadlines, the very first being escaping from OA Div berthing (O-2 level starboard, just aft of the island and forward of the mid-ship expansion joint) under simulated fire/lights-out conditions, blindfolded (a blacked-out OBA) to the outside of the ship (60 seconds to the expansion joint and 90 seconds to flight deck catwalk via aircraft elevator machinery room); this had to be signed off within my first week aboard. And it wouldn't have looked very good for the AG1 LPO to have his liberty pulled (in Pensacola, yet), so you know I got her done!
Hi Ryan, I really enjoy your tours and talks. I have been to both the New Jersey and the Wisconsin now. Both times I just left with a feeling of shock and awe at the sheer power of these ships and the brave men who manned them. I was a professional video editor in Hollywood for over 20 years and besides maybe pulling a comb through your hair once in a while, I want to compliment you on becoming a better on camera personality through the years. You are becoming a polished presenter relaxed and more at home in front of the camera which is no small task. Soon you'll be hosting a fireside chat in a smoking jacket recanting history's greats sea battles with intro music as the camera dollys in. What ships they are. I also am a ham radio operator but when I visited the New Jersey the radio room was not in operation. Best to you, Tod in Vegas. :)
Thanks for covering this very necessary but very overlooked feature. I'd feel great pride being assigned to a battleship, but I'd feel total elation knowing that I could quickly get out of a room that didn't want me inside of it.
I didn't work in the engineering spaces but I went back into them every evening while on patrol to deliver the POD. While submerged, we had one single way in and out of the engineering spaces to the rest of the boat. Starting just forward of the reactor compartment heading aft into the engineering spaces you would enter the reactor compartment tunnel through the always closed WTD from Auxiliary Machinery Space #1 (AMR1). Walking aft through the tunnel you would exit through another always closed WTD into AMR2. Continuing through AMR2 you would pass through the usually open WTD into the actual engine room and the furthest aft compartment of the boat. AMR2 and the Engine Room were both two levels high, so within those spaces there was more than one way to move vertically from deck to deck. While surfaced there was a second way out, which would be through the aft escape trunk forward in the Engine Room to the outside world.
It’s really convenient that there are spaces in the battleship that aren’t dependent on paint to prevent rust. The ship is too big for a non-profit to keep completely painted in impeccable condition, so it’s nice that you’re able to let some spaces go without necessarily damaging the metal.
A) Glad that he survived the war and passed along the story. B) On a lighter note, we could consider this to be Civil War Part 2. U.S.S. WASHINGTON, BB-56, was a *North* Carolina class battleship and U.S.S. Indiana, BB-58, was a *South* Dakota class battleship.
I personally blame Washington for not anticipating that Indiana would go in the complete opposite direction they reported at a higher speed than reported directly into her path...
6:10 Halon is actually not some oxygen removing death gas. It works as a fire suppressant by preventing a chemical reaction between the three sides of the fire triangle. In the early 90's it was found to be a possible Ozone depletant and while it was not outright banned it's use and distribution began to be phased out. The myth about "pulls the oxygen out of the air" started to be circulated to social engineer a fear of the agent and further limit its use. I still see some old halon extinguishers every now and then on the towboats I ride. Also, yes just like any other non-breathable-air in high enough concentrations it can suffocate you just like a CO2 fixed system will.
I was an EM on the USS Nimitz. Depending on what watch station I was on there were different ways out. In the switchgear we had our own escape scuttle and in the MMR and RAR they had scuttles similar to what was shown here, but i remember them being bigger and having angle iron for ladders.
This video conveys the deadly serious business of naval warfare. You’ve done the future a service. More videos teaching the stark dangers to every last man on New Jersey is a good idea. War is hell. Naval engineering is super cool. Sometimes we forget the ugly task & purpose of it all.
It’s actually USS William D. Porter (DD-579) that you’re talking about. USS Porter (DD-800) was another fletcher class destroyer commissioned later in the war that had a normal, relatively uneventful career. Apparently they decided to name 2 ships of the same class after 2 guys with the same last name for some reason.
Halon is scary stuff. We had a shot put into one of our spaces by accident when people were in there. Hatches were closed, but they managed to get out in time. It was OK to escape from main boxes, but it was completely dependant on what had happened and where you were. The escape trunks on T45 Destroyers are horrible little spaces, and are long, nasty climbs. Older ships maybe not so easy to get out though.
i wonder what Ryan will think if i tell him that Big J is now included in the game Azur Lane, because the whole community was hyped for an Iowa class battleship. AL did one time had an event onboard the battleship Iowa
@@chernobyl68 : Jefferies tubes also tend to be places where low ranking crew are most likely to die from getting sucked out into space or attacked by various predatory creatures.
Isn't it fun saying Aqueous Film Forming Foam? I've been a Firefighter for 20 years and I still haven't gotten tired of that one. Especially trying to say it really fast. Lol
I wish I could donate to new Jersey and Texas but with the turmoil my life is in, all I can do is watch, like, and subscribe. (No one to share with anymore) But its the thought that counts haha.
You know I could swear Ryan is wearing a "utilities" shirt seems fitting, but maybe a set of the coveralls might be more appropriate seeing all the lovely tight and spotless places he squeezes through lol
From a army vet i would like to say you surely know how lucky you are to be in the position you are that your job is to help preserve such a beautiful peace of American might. I would give about anything to spend 24 hrs just look a evey square inch of that ship!!!! And my humble thanks for taking care of one of its greatest peaces of our great country!! THANK YOU ! ! ! !
AFFF is lighter then water so it floats on top cutting off oxygen to the fuel that floats on top of the water and burns and to lower the fuels temperature. I was a firefighter on the USS Kitty Hawk.
GREAT video Ryan!!! I seen those hatches on the Missouri and wondered how a man would get through it, seamed a little small. I also pictured a tube, like the main guns, really nice to see the whole thing.
Ryan, at the end of the video, was that the DC emergency power couplings on the bulkhead ? That is how power was moved around a damaged area much like running an "extension cord" in a house. Kudos to the camera operator taking paint chips to the face. They held their post in the face of adversity.
Those were Casualty Power systems, yes. For reference, heres a video about it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yeiiHAJUurE.html What you saw was actually Ryans second climb up there. The first time when he opened the scuttle there was such a gust of air I jumped back assuming Ryan fell. By round 2 I was prepared.
Interesting. I can't imagine what it must be like trying to get out of the engineering spaces on an air craft carrier (CVN). If you were still alive, it was easy to get out of the boiler room on a gearing class destroyer. Two short ladders and you were on the main deck. Barry
MM3 USS Independence CV62.. 3 Main aft port scuttle hatch went from the lower deck all the way to the second deck, about 20 feet in it went from vertical to about 30 degrees and opened into the Officers Mess.. Interesting drill , Lights out and make it out, we opened the hatch under a table during the Dinner Hour.. The officers cleared the table and moved it away asking if we were ok. they were unaware of the drill but could here the space alarm below ,, we politely explained our drill, apologized for the disruption of their meal and were excused..
Escape trunk becomes a chimney in a fire if both doors are open so close the bottom before opening the top. The story I was told was a seaman open the hatch and only 3 of 8 made it out, the rest burned
What would really be great too is if Ryan would touch things around him and tell us what they are instead of just standing there because what he says is interesting but equally interesting is everything in those rooms he stands in! Thank you Ryan for finally telling us what the yellow squared lights are we see throughout the ship. Now we know those were there when the ship was built and not when it became a museum.Ryan what are all the papers on the wall inside the escape tube about and what do they say?
Another great example of the difference between the gorgeous, pristine tour route, and a low-priority non-public area on the museum ship. I have never seen bulkheads and decks as lovingly cleaned and painted as aboard USS NEW JERSEY. On real ships, stuff is more likely to look like the inside of that escape trunk, or at least not be perfectly white. Question: What are all the documents displayed in the escape trunk?
On the USS Curts FFG-38, the SONAR equipment room, all the way forward and all the way down (not nearly as far as New Jersey), was my general quarters station. I remember having to paint the escape trunk for that space. It wasn't much fun, but I did find an awesome place to take a nap!
You forgot the most important part... Once you make it to the deck, you have two (one choice if she's sinking quickly) choices.... A life raft, or over the side.... Over the side you want to jump over the side cross your legs and hit the water with your knees unlocked.... You might still break a leg or legs (think debris in the water you can land on), but your pelvis and lower organs will (probably) be intact.... Can we see the life raft procedure/locations? I don't expect you to show the over the side maneuver but..... explaining it might give people some clarification?
I served on CV-61 Ranger during the 1980's in No 1 Main Machinery Room. Ranger's engineering spaces combined the boilers and engines into one space and there were two escape trunks. One, was located on the starboard side and was accessed from the lower level, the other was on the port side and accessed through the control room. Both led up to the 2nd deck (which was right below the hanger deck).
Ryan did you go back after shooting the video and lubricate all the things, like that hatch, that U found needing lube? I bet U did, as it would be sensible to do, and I myself would, if I were wanting to maintain and preserve something. Now there is another idea for a video!... "how to lube and grease doors and hatches and other things on the ship!"
Being an Airedale in the Navy. I stayed mostly above the waterline. Only when assigned to ship's S2 stores Div. as an E2 did I venture close to the waterline. Of course we taking aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk CV 63.
The follow up question would be about life jackets and rafts. Where were they stored, and were there enough? You wouldn't want them destroyed by the first few enemy shots.
@@Galactipod Ships are kind weird when they sink. In very deep water they often right themselves before hitting the bottom. Probably because most of the compartments have flooded, adjusting the center of gravity back to something like normal.
I wonder why they even bothered to paint certain spaces that had zinc coatings? But then, I know the Navy (and Coast Guard) painted EVERYTHING to keep us busy.. Lol
Gene Hackman got all those poor people out of that upside down cruiseship in the movie The Poseidon Adventure (except Shelly Winters, she was too fat), And…, he did it by going through the bottom of the ship !! Whata man!!!
Very interesting , my father was an Engineering Officer on a Command Attack Transport during WWII and while different I assume the situation was similar
12:02 was that the sound of the lavier mic being disconnected and the transmitter box subsequently falling because how you pulled yourself out? Kinda comical if so
If my memory serves Halon is heavier than air and thus displaces breathable air toward the top of the space. It does the same in your lungs should you breath it in. Doc once told me first aid for Halon inhalation was to stand on your head till you exhale all the Halon out of you lungs. Probably the worse way to suffocate that I've heard of on board a ship. On the Perry class I served on most of our escape trunks exit to the main deck with one exit on the deck above the bottom most space. We were a fairly small ship so not many decks above the lowest/ machine spaces.
Halon interrupts the chemical chain reaction of a fire, and displaces the air as well; Carbon Dioxide solely displaces air (which is why you have to seal the space) either way its bad for you
How do you get out if you're injured, you have broken arm or leg. Climbing a latter!get to the top and....need to open a Hatch 1 handed while holding on to the ladder with your broken hands.
I worked in the Engine Room for many years, but whether we could get out or even wanted to, depended on how deep we were at the time or if we were under ice. Fortunately, never had to think of this for real!
I was on a carrier, the USS Ranger, seven peopled died in 2 seperate engine room fires. In once instance several people were found dead at the bottom of the escape trunk. I guess they were overcame by the smoke.
Ford found out the hard way how bad galvanized steel and paint get along in the 70's the body guys would sand it off and repaint to sidestep the issue of paint sticking i know a ship does not have that luxury
If anyone else saw the title and thought I want an escape room set on an old ship check our zero escape, titanic sister ship it has a cool boiler room level