Cathy S Posted 21 January , 2015 Share Posted 21 January , 2015 This question probably sounds very basic, but I'm after a clear simple definition. Were fireman on the Lusitania also called stokers and would an inexperienced stoker just shovel coal into a furnace. Also, did they power the whole ship, lights etc. Any help would be really appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 21 January , 2015 Share Posted 21 January , 2015 They were called firemen or stokers. On such a large ship there would have been maybe 80-100 of them ,working in gangs on shifts 24 hours a day while the ship was at sea,feeding the boilers with coal to produce the steam which fed all the ship's systems.An inexperienced stoker would be subsumed into his gang with others of greater experience and shown how to function. They were all the muscle which kept the ship going. Coal burned each day would be in the hundreds of tons,and as much as a thousand . Later: seen a crew list,there were 153 Firemen on board (10 were Leading Firemen). Various quotes for coal burned daily,up to 1100 tons ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy S Posted 21 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 21 January , 2015 Thank for that. It must have been really hard work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy S Posted 21 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 21 January , 2015 Trying to write a very small piece about a great uncle who died of be Lusitania, so any small bit of information is really appreciated. Thank you again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 So if a fire broke out, in someone's cabin for example, would these 'firemen' deal with that, or would there be another 'proper' fireman on board to deal with such events? Sorry, Cathy, not really relevant to your piece, just occurred to me whilst reading the thread... James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill24chev Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 So if a fire broke out, in someone's cabin for example, would these 'firemen' deal with that, or would there be another 'proper' fireman on board to deal with such events? Sorry, Cathy, not really relevant to your piece, just occurred to me whilst reading the thread... James "Fireman" in the Merchant Navy are not the fireman of the Sam/Barny Mc Grew type of fireman. They were employed in the boiler rooms and coal holds of the ship. Having said that I believe all crew members would have at least some basic fire fighting training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 Thanks, Bill; figured as much, but thought I'd ask... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 "Fireman" in the Merchant Navy are not the fireman of the Sam/Barny Mc Grew type of fireman. They were employed in the boiler rooms and coal holds of the ship. Having said that I believe all crew members would have at least some basic fire fighting training. You need to name them all,Captain Flack's men that is ! Drew,Drew,Barney McGrew,Cuthbert,Dibble and Grubb, There,I'm out of the closet and admit that I used to watch Trumpton on TV with my kids all those years ago. Some things never leave you ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 Cathy Here a crew list: http://www.rmslusitania.info/ Click on People on the orange list and select Crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 Was there also some sort of hierarchy in the engine rooms? Were firemen superior to trimmers? Were there senior trimmers? I know precious little about matters maritime! Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy S Posted 22 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 22 January , 2015 Thanks for all the help and the great link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 Was there also some sort of hierarchy in the engine rooms? Were firemen superior to trimmers? Were there senior trimmers? I know precious little about matters maritime! Bruce Bruce Trimmers were the movers of the coal from storage to the boiler feed stations. Trimmers were so called because they had the knowledge of moving the coal and keeping the ship in trim (evenly balanced) as they excavated. The Trimmers (100 on board for the final voyage) were likely to be controlled by the Ship's Engineering staff, but there were senior Firemen as Firemen shift leaders. I would say that there was also an input from the ship's Officers with regard to which coal came up next for burning,probably a daily decision based on ship's balance instruments (inclinometer) and bow and stern depth readings prior to sailing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kath Posted 22 January , 2015 Share Posted 22 January , 2015 Here's what happened on the Volturno. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Volturno_%281906%29 "Shortly afterwards part of the cargo exploded. Later the fire spread to the ship's coal bunkers, cutting off the fuel supply for the fire hose pumps. The crew attempted to fight the fire for about two hours,...." http://fireontheocean.com/about-ss-volturno/ "The British captain, Francis Inch, oversaw the initial fire fighting efforts, while others in the crew evacuated the passenger compartments and ushered everyone to the back of the ship. Shortly into the firefighting efforts, some of the cargo exploded, which may have killed as many as dozens more passengers and crew." Kath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeCeeCee Posted 23 January , 2015 Share Posted 23 January , 2015 You need to name them all,Captain Flack's men that is ! Drew,Drew,Barney McGrew,Cuthbert,Dibble and Grubb, There,I'm out of the closet and admit that I used to watch Trumpton on TV with my kids all those years ago. Some things never leave you ! Wikipedia has the 'Drews' as 'Pughs'. I always thought it was "Hugh, Pugh, Barney Magrew, etc " Anyway, were the Pughs father & son or brothers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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