Firemen, trimmers, and stokers.

[yperman]

Could an old sweat kindly explain the differences between RN firemen, trimmers and stokers please? Many thanks, Yperman

[horatio2]

In very broad terms, all the same 'trade' . Firemen and trimmers = Mercantile Marine; Stokers = RN and RNR; Trimmers = RNR Auxilary Patrol (trawlers and drifters) equivalent of RNR stokers.

Precise employment depended on whether coal or oil.

While "Fireman" was not an RN or RNR trade, it seems to have been widely used in the Maltese RNR where the great majority of ratings were either firemen or seamen..

Edited 14 June , 2022 by horatio2
Maltese RNR

[rolt968]

I was once told (I can't remember the reliabilty of the source) that in the Merchant Service a fireman worked in the boiler room and a trimmer worked in the stokehold.

RM

[MikB]

I heard somewhere that stokers shovelled coal into the boilers, and trimmers supplied coal from the bunkers to the stokers, taking care to maintain weight distribution - thus the ship's trim - and prevent dangerous cascades/avalanches. Each job would have associated skills. 

Maybe a fireman had both skills and supervised groups of both (if, as above, the job title was current), but that's just a guess.

[Frank_East]

Firemen and Stokers were of the same occupation apart from service (MN and RN respectively.) whose core role was to raise steam and regulate steam output according to demand.

However coal gravity flow from bunkers tends to stick. The trimmer's role would  be to ensure that bunker coal blockages and hang ups on the bunker sides were cleared to maintain coal flow in order maintain requested steam generation. Coal also absorbs oxygen which can cause the generation of fires with the release of carbon monoxide, a danger to humans which stresses the importance of ensuring  that coal should not be stagnant in a bunker.

As said maintenance of the ship's trim was a important consideration while coaling up and the trimmers would be prominent in ensuring that the bunker contents were even and level as not to affect trim.  

[rolt968]

9 hours ago, MikB said:

I heard somewhere that stokers shovelled coal into the boilers, and trimmers supplied coal from the bunkers to the stokers, taking care to maintain weight distribution - thus the ship's trim - and prevent dangerous cascades/avalanches. Each job would have associated skills. 

Maybe a fireman had both skills and supervised groups of both (if, as above, the job title was current), but that's just a guess.

 

3 hours ago, Frank_East said:

Firemen and Stokers were of the same occupation apart from service (MN and RN respectively.) whose core role was to raise steam and regulate steam output according to demand.

However coal gravity flow from bunkers tends to stick. The trimmer's role would  be to ensure that bunker coal blockages and hang ups on the bunker sides were cleared to maintain coal flow in order maintain requested steam generation. Coal also absorbs oxygen which can cause the generation of fires with the release of carbon monoxide, a danger to humans which stresses the importance of ensuring  that coal should not be stagnant in a bunker.

As said maintenance of the ship's trim was a important consideration while coaling up and the trimmers would be prominent in ensuring that the bunker contents were even and level as not to affect trim.  

Thank you both. My memory was not playing tricks. I can remember the person who told me explaining about maintaining trim and coal flow. (I wish I could remember who told me!)

RM

[Keith_history_buff]

I have read elsewhere that on a Mercantile Marine vessel, the donkeyman was the most senior rating in the engine room, alternatively known as Chief Engineman, typically an older man, whose equivalent in the RN would approximate to a CERA.

[yperman]

18 hours ago, Keith_history_buff said:

I have read elsewhere that on a Mercantile Marine vessel, the donkeyman 

19 hours ago, rolt968 said:

 

Thank you both. My memory was not playing tricks. 

23 hours ago, Frank_East said:

Firemen and Stokers were of the same occupation apart from service (MN and RN respectively.) whose core role was to raise steam and regulate steam 

On 14/06/2022 at 11:38, MikB said:

I heard somewhere that stokers shovelled coal into the boilers, and trimmers supplied coal from the bunkers to the stokers, taking care to maintain weight distribution - thus the ship's trim - and prevent dangerous cascades/avalanches. Each job would have associated skills. 

Maybe a fireman had both skills and supervised groups of both (if, as above, the job title was current), but that's just a guess.

 

 

 

Thank you all very much. I asked this question because the log of HMS City of London (aux cruiser North Atlantic ) records 5 Stokers joined 2-10-18 and 23 firemen joined 9-10-18. The rating I am interested in described himself as a "trimmer" Question answered. Thank you all Yperman