The Belly of the Salty Ship

Controls for emergencies such as fire alarm

With a ship this size, simple maneuvers take a long time. We have been staying within a small area everyday to send down our casts, sampling with the CTD, the Go Flo, and "the Fish." This ship is quite unique in its propulsion, so much so that it was featured in the movie "King Kong" in 1976. It's monster props (thrusters) can turn a full 360°, allowing it to move sideways in the water to stay on a station for scientific purposes. This vessel was launched July 10, 1968 and will be retiring this year after only 3 more excursions. Therefore, this is my only opportunity to see firsthand the engines that power such a historical beast.

Engine control room

Override controls for thrusters

Caterpillar diesel engine generator fills the room;
ear protection required

Sue Swader, 3rd asst. engineer and Dane Wheaton, oiler
clean the filter--Look at all that krill! These zooplankton
fed off of the phytoplankton that we are studying. 

Space maximized by engineering

Sue Swader agreed to give me a tour today. As a graduate of the California Maritime Academy and a native Californian from Ventura, she feels at home at sea. Sue is the 3rd assistant engineer and will be moving up to 2nd assistant on the next cruise. Each position on the crew has specific jobs that they are responsible for; she's over the oilers and other ordinary seamen and aspires to continue moving up the sailor ladder. At 28, she's well on her way.

Electric-powered motor provides
a smoother, quieter ride

Her department is responsible for the massive engines and motors as well as the water intake and sewage system on board. It is hard to describe just how big and loud these marvels of engineering are to scale. The entire lower deck (floor) of the nearly 300 foot ship is fitted wall to wall with steel pipes and moving gears. Sue showed me the controls where she spends most of her time. It is very much like the controls on the bridge (pilot's house) which I will write a post on later. In case of emergency, there is a backup plan for a backup plan. For example: if the Captain lost abilities to control the ship, the engineers below could take the controls. If those controls went out as well, they could manually control the engines and props directly. This hasn't happened on the R/V Melville. In fact, these engines are so well maintained that they haven't had to work on them in transit before.

Electric motor connected to thruster

Two of four diesel engines, side by side

There are four diesel Caterpillars, three large and one smaller. When I say smaller, it is definitely relative. The Fleetwood RV that I drove last summer had 400 horsepower off of one Caterpillar diesel engine, powering the 50 plus feet of motorhome and Jeep Grand Cherokee in tow. These bad boys produce 1,385 horsepower. Each.

And, the coolest part is that these diesel Cats are just the generators for electricity. 

Krill filtered from the water inlet

Thrusters below the R/V Melville

The generators produce electricity by turning a turbine within. Electromagnets around a massive coil of copper wire produce enough electricity to power the ship's electricity like a small city with superfluous energy for the electric powered "Z-Drive" motors in the bow (front) of the ship. The only connection between the engine generators and the electric motors is the large wires carrying the current. The electric motors power the ginormous thrusters hanging below the ship. These have the functionality to turn 360°.

I'm amazed by the ingenuity of the vessel--and to think that it is being retired for a newer, more sophisticated machine.