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[tonyH]

Hi All,

This question started life elsewhere, so, if you've already seen it...........

What are the two bits hanging from the back end of an 1896 cruiser. In plan view they look like a ring with three lifebelts hanging off. As you can see, they look like half a barrel with the three rings so, what were they for?

Early Carley Floats? Hot Tubs? Early 'Big Bananas' for towing behind for l'amusementof the crew?
The ship in question spent most of her time in the Caribbean so?

I've no idea and I don't like putting bits on models without knowing what and why they're there so........any ideas?


Tony

[tobyker]

They look as if they swing down on those davits. Are they to hoist the man overboard inboard? Due to the shape of the hull it would be very difficult to climb up - and indeed if she spent time in the caribbean bathing parties might have been the order of the day.

[knoby]

I have no idea, but to me they look like some kind of diving bell for looking at reefs.

[tonyH]

What look like sacks are just the lines holding the lifebelts at the outsde edges when they lie on the water. I've done a small sketch as attached. The davit is just ahead of the stern gallery and there is no access to the main hull except through the captains 'salon ' which would certainly have been out of bounds to the common matelot. They also sit directly above the line of the screws so would have been very tricky unless at anchor.

I presume that this is how they would lie.


Just to add further to the style at the time, the crew of 400 had 7 galleys and a bakery on board.

 

[tobyker]

I should think so too. Fresh croissants every morning for 400, and a couple of madeleines for every man at elevenses -  I'm surprised one bakery was enough.

[tonyH]

Apart from the emphasis on the catering, the ship mirrors French hotels in other ways, for example, the Commandant gets a bathroom with a bath and loo while Number One gets a bathroom with a shower and a loo. Et pour les autres not a lot and 2 decks down!

[John W E]

hi there

When I first looked at this, I thought it was some form of breeches buoy; but, I wonder, could it be some form of device for lowering well-to-do people into and out of service boats?    I tend to think its something to do with breeches buoyo..

aye boyo

John

[tonyH]

Pantalons Buoy c'est possible mais...............

I have my doubts about it though because of the location, being so close to the stern where one would have to climb over the gallery rail to get in and because there are 4 good sets of steps further forrard. Also, 3 life rings attached seems a bit belt-and-braces.

Seriously though John, I've attached a copy of the deck plan which, assuming it's not too microscopic, may help.


If you click on the thumbnail you'll get the full hull length.

I've certainly never seen anything like them.

Tony

[BarryM]

Good Moaning,

C'est incroyable mais vraiment that these baskets are the experimental work of one Napoleon Eggleswick the product of the loins of an anonymous Breton fisherman blown into Grimsby for refuge who found it in the arms of one Gladys Eggleswick, gasworks fettler and Pipe Smoker of the Year.

The young Napoleon grew up to be an intrepid inventor and entered a competition run by the Francais Admiralty to find new ways to carry fresh food on board.  His idea? - Fish farms to be towed alongside each warship containing salmon for the Officers and sardines for the lower ranks. 

In experimental form, as shown in your plans, the idea showed some promise albeit the salmon kept eating the sprats causing some muttering from the Lower Ranks, swiftly silenced by a sound flogging all round. However, as the full-size trials demonstrated, 100ft diameter baskets had detrimental effects on steering and increased drag to the extent that fuel consumption doubled.  Efforts to carry more fuel by filling the cabins of the Lower ranks with fuel led to the Great Nutty Slack Mutiny of '98 and the idea was shelved.

Napoleon went home to Grimsby to open a free-range gherkin mine and when this failed was last heard of as a deckchair attendant on Wigan Pier.   

(Source - Cleethorpes Bugle and Inquirer Archive)

[Bryan Young]

Dear Barry. I'm delighted to se that I'm not the only idiot on this forum who succumbs to flights of fantasy.
Must be an age thing.
Many moons ago ("moons" as in "ages", rather than sticking a bare bum out of a bus window), I wrote a "note" to the MoD. Not at the time realising that the humour gene had been permanently erased from their collective heads.
As with all fantasies and with a bit of semi-sensible reasoning, I had an "idea".
Shuttling around the oceans and collecting up little frigates that needed constant re-fuelling, I thought perhaps a very large re-fuelling ship could do another job.
Why not design a "mother ship" fitted with 4 sets of large davits to accommodate 4 of these titchy little hungry ships? That way we could save a fortune on fuel, the frigate crews would have a "play area", visit each other (so obviating expensive helo trips back and forth) and get put into the water only when they were needed to go out and rattle somebodys' gums.
I still think the idea has some merit. Equally, I may be as daft as you. BY.

[BarryM]

Bryan,

A splendid idea. Of course the power demands of the davits needed to lift a fully loaded frigate inboard would need consideration. Perhaps doubling the generating capacity would do it .... but then you would need the extra fuel and the place to store it which would mean increasing the size of the ship which would mean bigger engines which would mean more fuel .... and haven't we been here before? 

Regards

Barry M

PS. So I can now claim the reward for fingering the Whitley Bay Flasher??   

[tonyH]

Formidables mes braves!

Is it not possible that le Breton Eggleswick was the same who sold Horrenblor the lobsters where the water had to be changed 2 or 3 times a day and les panniers flottant were the answer simple.

In similar vein, surely one could remove the need for heavyweight davits by having opening doors in a supertanker a la Bond film and just moor the frigates inside?

Occams Razor is the way to go

[BarryM]

Ah but creating an in-ship dock will require additional shell stiffening which means extra weight and extra weight requires additional displacement to compensate. Additional displacement needs more fuel to propel it though the water and........... Do you get the feeling there is a sort of theme here?

Barry M

PS. Regarding my previous PS, in retrospect I feel that I could have phrased it better. 

[Bryan Young]

Barry, don't worry yourself. As I said, it's probably just an age thing.
However, regarding the power demands for lifting the frigates. For a start, the frigates could be made smaller and lighter as they wouldn't need to be ice-strengthened, or more robustly built. Anyway, the RN could probably utilise some of their redundant admirals and so on to man-power some geared winches. But as usual I think it's you who is missing the point. There would be no need to hoist the little darlings up to deck level. Why not just have docking "cut-outs" in the mother ships hull and just slide them in? Fuel capacity shouldn't be a problem either. A single "OL" class tanker could keep all our remaining frigates mobile for yonks...I imagine more fuel was used getting to and from R/V positions than was passed over. And an "OL" was only 660ft long. I'm envisaging something closer to 1000ft long here....and the capacity is "in the girth"/draught is it not. Why not go the whole hog and make mother at least semi-submesible? The possibilities are endless.
PS. Isent you an e-mail ages ago with reference to dirty boilersuits...did you get it? Regards. Bryan.

[pugwash]

Right Bryan, Come clean, what have you been sprinkling on your cornflakes or is it the sea air at Whitley Bay??

Geoff

[Bryan Young]

Right Bryan, Come clean, what have you been sprinkling on your cornflakes or is it the sea air at Whitley Bay??

Geoff

As always, Geoff, just trying to bring a bit of levity to the procedings. Sea air at Whitley Bay? Ha! The way things are at the moment don't even think of going to the lake on Sunday....unless you have a decent radar and compass in your car. Can hardly see the bottom end of the back garden at the moment, and it's even thicker fog on the sea front. Bryan.