Tom Marfiak
What is the heart of the ship? For many, it is their work space, their computer system, and their weapons that give it the true cutting edge. For the engineers of the Cold War navy, it was and always will be their plant. Filling the ship from just aft of the forward missile magazines to just forward of the after gun mount, the steam plant provided the energy and power that gave life to the ship. First, there were the boilers, each as big as a small house, converting water to steam at great pressure to drive the steam turbines that turned the shafts that drove the ship. Two boilers drove each turbine set. Each turbine converted its great energy through massive reduction gears to drive the shaft spinning each propeller. In the center, the rudder provided, at speeds over seven knots, sufficient thrust to direct the hull in the desired direction. Then there were the turbine generators that provided power to give life to every electrically powered system throughout the ship. In addition, a host of auxiliary systems provided refrigeration, ice cubes, hot water and power to boat davits, guns and anchor windlass systems. No aspect of the ship’s life was untouched.
Life for a steam ship started with a Zippo lighter. Once preparations for light off had been completed, and the watch stationed, a torch would be lighted in the fire room far below the combat systems. About four feet long, once flaming, it would be inserted into the boiler front, a valve would be opened, fuel introduced, and a flame ignite. From that first beginning, energy would begin to build, slowly at first, until steam pressure gauges began to reflect the incredible power of 1200 pounds per square inch of steam. At that pressure, an eight thousand ton cruiser could be propelled forward at over thirty knots. And at that pressure, the slightest leak, invisible to the naked eye, could kill a man outright. It was an unforgiving domain.
The men who drove these ships were from all ranks of America. They were talented and resourceful. They were a team, and they pulled together to keep the great ship, their ship, moving through all circumstances, from the sea, and from within. There were over a hundred men in the department—from skilled machinery repairmen who could make a part on a lathe within an evening, to boiler technicians who knew every nuance of the great beast they served. They were often the unsung heroes who made their ships the pride of the fleet.
Their job, their mission, was three fold. First, to provide propulsive power that enabled the ship to move with the battle group. Those needs could surge from moment to moment, but with a twist of the throttle in engineering control, usually the forward engine room, the ship would leap forward with the increased speed of its great screws. Many feet in diameter, cast of bronze, they were fixed in pitch, but not in revolutions. Between the two engine sets, they provided over eighty thousand horsepower to drive the hull through the great seas.
Next, they had the never ending and vital mission of providing electrical power to both ships systems and combat systems. The former required sixty cycle electricity, from the powerful ships service turbo generators, also powered by steam. They literally kept the lights burning, the galley on line, the bridge operating and the plant running. The combat systems required a power of a different sort, at 400 cycles per second. Without that power, the gyros ceased to function and the combat systems went dark. There were no denials or excuses. It was either there or not. You could fight or you could be a target.
Finally, there was water. Each boiler, and there were four if the plant was fully up and running, used a prodigious amount of water every day. Distilling plants, or evaporators, produced water for the plant and for the needs of the crew, over four hundred men. In addition, there had to be water to wash down the ship, clean the aircraft, do the laundry, and cook the food. Water was an important commodity for all steam ships. Each day, the commanding officer would receive a “Fuel and Water Report.” If there were a problem with either, the Engineering Officer, or CHENG, for Chief Engineer, had better have an answer, and a plan.
One story will suffice to make this lesson whole. It will be, no doubt, felt by many who served in these great warships over the years. USS Biddle was westward bound, south through the Aegean, after a successful visit to the Black Sea and Romania in the year 1979. Homeric seas broke over us as we made our way steadily west through the darkening night. The bow threw spray high on either side. But below, everything was light and bright, the turbines spinning within their bright white casings. I awoke early in the morning, the phone ringing in my ear. The captain said, “We’re losing the load. Something is wrong. You had better get down to Main Control.”
For an Engineering Officer, there is no more dire circumstance than losing the load. It means that, in short, the lights are going out! There will be no electricity, no plant, no combat system no propulsion. Your ship, the ship for which you are responsible, will be dead in the water, wallowing like a dead whale. Under the circumstances, I was in the forward engine room in seconds, in time to see the steam gauges tumble south, while the all important gauge, indicating inches of vacuum, vital to the efficient transfer of energy, headed to zero.
In a few minutes it became clear what had happened. A casualty to a forward steam plant boiler, and there were two on the line, one forward and one aft, with the plant connected, led the engineering officer of the watch to authorize the cross connection of the plant so that the after boiler could provide steam to both sets of propulsion turbines. That would have been normally a routine operation, except in this instance, a key valve had not been completely shut. It might have been a communications error, or it might have been a case of sheer physical strength—the valves were not small, nor easily accessible. In any case, the order having been given to connect the two plants, the steam from the plant on line went quickly into the plant shutting down. The great gray hull came to a stop in the crashing seas of the Mediterranean.
I found myself in the after engine room, surrounded by steam from the plant as relief valves lifted and battle lanterns glowed. The skipper, Captain Ryan, asked me if we could get her going again and I assured him we could. He went back up the ladder whence he had come, and we began rebuilding the plant, and the steam pressure, by the book. The good news was, of course, that a steam plant does not give up all its energy at once. Provided the boiler valves are closed, as ours were, the pressure remains trapped within the boiler at a fairly high level and will remain there for some time. We still had nearly 1000 psi of steam pressure. What we needed was electricity.
These ships were built with a large diesel generator. Normally used for inport service where power from shore might not be available, they could also function as an emergency generator. That is exactly what we needed now! The first attempt to start the generator failed, so did the second and the third. We were down to our last shot of air pressure. It was do or die. I gathered the senior engineering chiefs around in the after engine room. Between them, they had over a hundred years of experience.. “Go back there and start the generator”, I said, “it’s our last chance.” A few minutes later, the diesel growled to life, only this time, it kept going, and growing in strength. Master Chief Greeley and his crew had come through. The solenoid valve that had been knocked out of alignment through the night’s battle with the seas had been coaxed into compliance; we had a spark of life.
Two hours later, the plant was up and humming. Breakfast was being served in the galley and in the wardroom, the coffee was hot and stewards were making omelets. The seas outside the bridge windows revealed a streaking gray sea, but the wind had died and there was, in the promise of rising barometer, the promise of a better day to come.
Hard Charger! 