History of the U.S.S. Leviathan, cruiser and transport forces, United States Atlantic fleet / Compiled from the ship's log and data gathered by the history committee on board the ship

by U.S.S. Leviathan History Committee

Gland Steam Turbine Supply

In order to further increase economy a radical change was made in the method of supplying the turbines with gland steam. As installed, all turbine glands required the use of live steam, which with turbines of such large dimensions, was quite an item. By a simple change in pipe leads and valves, the leak off from the H. P. ahead glands, which formerly led to the condenser, was piped to supply the glands of all astern turbines and the I. P. and L. P. ahead turbines, thus utilizing a three-inch line of steam which was formerly wasted in the condenser. It is believed that this vessel is the only vessel afloat that uses this system of gland steam.

The above concludes briefly a history of the major items of alterations and repairs in the engine rooms.

In the fire rooms, all boilers were opened up and thoroughly cleaned and all zincs removed. My attention was first attracted by several burned boilers and next by the elaborate system of automatic feeding of each individual boiler by means of floats, levers, valves, etc. This system was at once dismantled, removed from all boilers and scrapped. I then heard reports that the Germans had experienced great trouble with leaky tubes at the back ends of the boilers. Trams were at once made and accurate measurements taken on the expansion of the boiler between upper and lower drums on raising steam. This was found to be quite excessive and greatest between the back ends of the drums. After several experiments and deductions from results obtained, it was decided to remove the short circular internal feed in the front end of the steam drum and fit a standard Navy internal feed pipe running the entire length of the drum. This was done in all boilers and the expansion was reduced about eighty per cent. Since her commission we have never had to reroll a leaky boiler tube. From commissioning to Nov. 11, 1918, there has been a total of 7,198 boiler steaming days, or an average per boiler of 156.5 days of 3,756 hours. Great care was exercised in the cleanliness of the boilers and boiler water. No pits or corrosion have been found in any part of the boilers.

On the first trip overseas great difficulty was experienced in steaming, all boilers were in use and 144 revolutions per minute was about the maximum speed we could maintain for any length of time. There was an excessive amount of clinker formation covering the grate bars. On diagnosing this trouble and consulting standard works on combustion, air required per pound of fuel, etc., it was decided that the grate bars did not have sufficient air space. From computations made, a new grate bar was designed with an increase in air space over the old of thirty-five per cent. Our troubles in this line at once ceased, and our trip home was made at 151 revolutions per minute with forty-six boilers in use. Later we used thirty-eight to forty boilers for as high as 154 revolutions per minute.

We experienced a great deal of trouble with the side brick walls of the furnaces the first two trips, which required the renewal of about 4,000 bricks each voyage. On being notified that we would be required to start making quick turn-arounds on the next voyage, I realized that this could not be done with such an amount of brick work to be repaired. After many conferences while at sea, we finally decided to tear all the brick work out of one boiler and substitute cast iron liners, shaped to fit the drums and punched with holes for ventilation. This idea proved highly successful. All boilers were immediately fitted likewise and all operated successfully. Besides the elimination of the expense for the purchase of bricks and cement, the labor and time of cleaning furnaces was reduced ninety per cent. All that is necessary for cleaning and repairing furnace walls at the present time is one man and a corn broom.

The steaming efficiency has been greatly hampered at all times by the flow of water over the fire room floor plates, due to the faulty design of the German ash ejector. After many attempts to remedy this by altering the design, we were finally compelled to replace the hoppers with new hoppers of the See type.

There was at all times a great deal of trouble experienced in carrying over water from the boilers to the turbines. The water in the boilers was carried at the lowest level consistent with safety, but in spite of this the trouble still continued. On inspection of the main steam lines and boiler steam drums it was found that they were practically bare of lagging. All these lines and drums were immediately covered with two-inch of magnesia eighty-five per cent pure, and all water trouble was then eliminated. The water level in the boilers was also raised from two to four inches, thus giving a greater factor of safety here.

After several trips we noticed that the uptakes were excessively hot and also that at times torching occurred at the stack tops. This being a menace to the safety of the ship in the war zone, it had to be remedied. After examining the uptake, furnaces and path of gases we decided to alter the baffling. This was done by installing flame baffles at the base of the uptake in each boiler. It not only eliminated the torching, but also decreased the amount of soot formation about fifty per cent.

This includes all the major items of the fire rooms. A few general items follow:

An interesting phase of our overhaul was the method of conducting our dock trial, after all repairs and tests to individual main and auxiliary machinery had been completed. It was realized that it was out of the question to attempt to turn the engines over at a speed which could be called a fair trial, for the reason that there was no mooring that could possibly hold the ship at the dock. After lengthy conference with officers, it was decided to break the tail shaft couplings and jack the tail shaft aft about two inches to clear the line shafting. This was done on each shaft and we ran each engine individually for 4 hours up its designed speed 180 revolutions per minute, then in manœuvering combination to full speed, 119 revolutions per minute, then all four shafts in cruising combination up to 180 revolutions per minute. The dock trial proved a success from start to finish, no casualty of any kind occurring. In this connection, in order to get a test on the boilers, No. 1 fire room was used the first day of the trial, No. 2 the second day, No. 3 the third day, and No. 4 the fourth day.

During the period between August 15th and October 16th, I can safely say that the officers and men of the department averaged every day, Saturdays and Sundays, included, eighteen working hours below without complaint or murmur. It seemed to be a matter of great pride and determination with them. We had heard many reports that the Vaterland would never leave the dock, and many letters came threatening some officer or man in the department. Of the men and petty officers we were compelled to work with, I should say that twenty per cent of them had never been on board a ship previous to their reporting here. They were all recruits direct from recruiting rendezvous, with the exception of a few C. P. O.’s who came from the fleet. During all our overhaul and repair we had no plans to guide us, all lines and arrangements had to be traced out by the officer concerned, who submitted sketches to me. These sketches have been forwarded to the Bureau of Steam Engineering.

We found three logs made by the Germans on the Vaterland. These logs, I believe were forwarded to Washington, but to the best of my memory the speeds on these three trips averaged for the entire voyage 22.4, 21 and something over 20 knots, with an average coal consumption per day of about 1,100 tons, running up to about 1,157 for one voyage. The present consumption of this vessel at 20 knots is 816 tons per day east bound, and 720 west bound. West bound we use Welsh coal. We have never steamed at 22 knots for any period long enough to obtain a point.

Going to Liverpool on a trip during an emergency she maintained a speed of 181 revolutions per minute for a short period of time until a slow bell was received.

Since the war service of the vessel started until November 11, 1918, the Leviathan has never had an engineering casualty of any description, nor has the ship been delayed due to any cause in the engineering department.