QE2’s engines were enormous! Find out why!

Рет қаралды 15,959

Күн бұрын

QE2 was one of the fastest, most powerful passenger ships ever built. QE2 was launched in 1969 and measured over 293m long, and 70,000 gross tons. The QE2's top speed was over 32 knots - which is almost 60 km/h.
With such a big ship moving at such fast speeds, you might wonder what kind of engines QE2 had? Let’s visit QE2’s engine room, to see what made this ship so fast!
➡ Merch: chrisframeofficial.teemill.com/
➡ QE2 Facts: www.chriscunard.com/qe2/
➡ Podcast: www.thebigcruisepodcast.com/
Fact References:
➡ The QE2 Story ISBN: 9780752450940 (2009 / Chris Frame & Rachelle Cross)
➡ QE2 Technical Infirmatioin Sheet (2008 / Cunard)
➡ Rob Lightbody's Website: www.roblightbody.com/qe2-1987...
➡ Sam Warwick's QE2: www.qe2.org.uk/
Image References:
All images used are Ⓒ Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross unless otherwise noted. Opening image of QE2 is Ⓒ Alex Lucas.
Other image references:
➡ QE2 in Bremerhaven Refit: bit.ly/3uqIjy7 CC BY SA 3.0 "Dashers" / Paul Dashwood
➡ QE2 no Funnel: bit.ly/3Uz2RPN CC BY SA 3.0 "Dashers" / Paul Dashwood
➡ Steam Turbines: bit.ly/3uyVOvH CC BY SA 3.0 "Dashers" / Paul Dashwood
➡ QE2 Propeller: Pamela "Go Cats" McIntosh: bit.ly/3F8jI67
➡ Southampton Aerial: bit.ly/3iAtSVH "Meznaric" CC BY SA 4.0
Chapters:
00:00 One of the fastest ships ever built
00:44 Steam turbine vs. diesels
01:18 Why Cruise Ships have smaller engines
01:37 Re-engineering an ocean liner
02:14 Engine room layout
02:22 How the engines drive the ship
03:15 World's Largest Propulsion Motors
03:54 How did QE2 slow down?
04:51 Advanced energy re-capture boilers
05:28 Last time the engines were used
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Learn More:
🚢 My Cunard History Website: www.chriscunard.com/
📚 Buy my books: www.chrisframe.com.au/books
👕 Buy cruise merch: chrisframeofficial.Teemill.com/
🎶 Listen to The Big Cruise Podcast: www.thebigcruisepodcast.com/
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Tags:
#QE2 #Cunard #cruisenews #cruiseship #oceanliner #maritimehistory #deiselengines #engineroom #ship #cruise #engineroomtour
About this video:
QE2 had two powerplants during her 40-year career. The ship was built in the 1960s with a steam turbine plant. This was replaced in a massive refit during the 1980s with a diesel powerplant.
QE2 was always a fast ship. But the steam turbines that she started her service career with, were unreliable. There just wasn’t enough redundancy.
A new diesel powerplant made QE2 even more powerful than before. In fact, she achieved a maximum speed of 34 knots during her 1987 sea trials, which makes her the fastest modern merchant ship!
QE2’s engine rooms had been designed for big, round, steam turbine engines. The new powerplant contained nine, medium speed MAN B&W diesel electric engines. Each one of these nine-cylinder engines was about the size of a London Double Decker bus.
The new layout had four engines in the forward room and five in the aft. This allowed for an amazing view from above.
In older ships, reciprocating or turbine engines directly drove the propellers. QE2’s diesels didn’t. Instead, they created electricity. Each engine could produce 10.5MW of power. Times that by 9 engines and you get 94.5MW - enough to power Southampton, well in 1987 at least.
Around 9MW went to supply hotel services. This powered all the lights, lifts, kitchens, cabins and so on. When QE2 was docked, just one of the nine engines could supply the 9MW of hotel service power, though in reality they’d keep more than one fired up for redundancy.
Most of QE2’s power was used to drive the ship, using two giant propulsion motors. Built by GEC England, each propulsion motor was about the size of two double decker busses, and weighed 400 tons! They were rated at 44MW, making them the most powerful marine motors ever built at the time. There were two motors - one for each propeller shaft.
QE2’s propeller shafts were 70m long, and each connected to five bladed variable pitch propellers. The propeller shafts ran at 72rpm when entering and exiting ports, and 144rpm the rest of the time, regardless of the speed required.
The variable pitch propeller blades meant that speed was controlled by the angle set on the blades. This meant QE2 could quickly increase and decrease speed. The most interesting part was when they needed to go in reverse. This was achieved not by running the propeller shaft backwards, but by adjusting the propeller pitch, and gave QE2 a stopping distance of 3 minutes, 38 seconds when cruising at over 30 knots!
QE2 also had two bow thrusters, used to help manoeuvre the ship in port. They had their own drive motors, and electricity for these was also provided by the diesels.
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Other:
✅ MAN B&W Engines
✅ MAN Diesel Electric Engine
✅ Cruise ship engine room
✅ Ocean liner engine room

Пікірлер: 70

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

What's the fastest speed you've seen on a cruise? Mine was 30.5 knots on QE2 during her farewell World Cruise - EPIC! Actually, we were going over 30 knots when I toured the engine room - the noise, heat and power was unbelievable! A moment I'll never forget!

@GardeningLadybug Жыл бұрын

30 knots on QE2 for me too!!

@RCKodak Жыл бұрын

That wood have been amazing!!

@dl11950 Жыл бұрын

I recall seeing 28 knots or so when QM2 was sprinting to a medivac helicopter rendezvous - this would only have been for an hour or two, not an entire crossing.

@slickmcintyre8396 Жыл бұрын

I was aboard during sea trials in 87 after the new engines were installed. The engines were throttled up and the ship almost shook itself apart. We lost a propeller, or at least part of one and other damage to props later during a cruise. The top theoretical speed was rarely achieved. It just wasn't feasible.

@del2reb Жыл бұрын

During my stay on the QE2, if the navigation display is right, we sailed 34 knots, that was after we hit 90+ foot wave in the middle of altlantic. We slowed first to a crawling 5 knots for several hours, after we passed that turbulence, we speed up to catch the lost distance that we should have traveled. We were able to cross the atlantic still in 5 day time , delayed only of around 6hours more or less. Normally we're docked by 7am, we're able to make it at around 1pm of the 5th day of crossing. That was the time of hurricane HUGO if I were not mistaken.

@WojciechWachniewski-st1zm 11 ай бұрын

She was launched on Sep. 20 1967. In May of 1969 she was put to service.

@selkiemaine Жыл бұрын

My favorite ship - I made a transatlantic passage on her in '85, just before she was re-engined. We hit fog leaving Southampton, and, after the fog cleared, had to crank on an extra knot or two of speed for a day to maintain schedule. I remember a noticeable increase in smoke - you could see the trail right back to the horizon. I also remember they warned of increased vibration, so, needless to day, I spent most of the day in the aftmost part of the ship! I don't recall how fast we were going on that day - if I had go guess, 30-31 knots. The last truly graceful passenger vessel, and I'm so incredibly grateful I was able to share briefly in that history.

@greenman6141 10 ай бұрын

I did a transatlantic passage on the QE2 in the early 70s. From Le Havre to NYC. It was still in its original form, which was much more handsome. They also expected people to be real travelers. There was a kennel on the deck, so passengers didn't need to leave their beloved pets behind if they were moving to a new continent. You could take your car too. It was a very civilized way to move your life from one continent to the next. The ship was not changed over for mass tourism either. No cafeterias. Proper restaurants. You selected from a menu and you were served at your table, which was assigned for the journey. They did lay on a lot of entertainment, which I could care less about, but it wasn't like being on a floating theme park, fortunately, and they weren't pushing products and booze sales at all opportunities. And no tiresome loud music piped around. If you're on the ocean, it's nice to hear the ocean. And feel it.

@ChrisFrameOfficial 10 ай бұрын

Must have been amazing to see QE2 in her early career!

@greenman6141 10 ай бұрын

@@ChrisFrameOfficial I'm glad to have the memories. I didn't have much of a frame of reference at the time which would have enabled me to see how she was different from the great Belle Epoque or Deco liners. I come from a nautical/naval family so I just enjoyed roving around looking at things. It was beautiful but with modern styling. For no particular reason I recall that the casino was tiny. In retrospect I like that, as it was a further mark that it wasn't an operation to shake every last cent out of captive passengers. It was a ocean liner not a floating shopping mall. My parents travelled internationally a lot when they were younger, pre 1960, and they always went by ship. They are still rather amused that their children found it so interesting. My mother commented that ship travel palled for her when she realized how much time all the passengers had to spend looking out for the huge hairy spiders that hid in the banana bunches during loading, but once aboard, got out and enjoyed the sea air while roaming everywhere about the ship. She also said that hammerhead sharks followed the boats everywhere, eating the garbage, even through the Panama canal.

@del2reb Жыл бұрын

I am a proud crew (hotel dept) from late 1987 to her last voyage to dubai, 2008!

@kevwatson7965 Жыл бұрын

Great Video, Ive been a board her at Circuler Key in 1998, my Uncle was an Electrical Engineering Officer, i got to see the same control room....

@nialltd Жыл бұрын

Hi was ur uncle ciaran ward from Ireland

@miracabral Жыл бұрын

That was such an informative video Chris! wow I didn’t know she could stop in just 3 minutes at 30 knots (that’s insanely fast for her size and speed)! I just fell (more) in love with the QE2 again! Thank you Chris :)

@RCKodak Жыл бұрын

This is the video we’ve all been waiting for !!!

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Glad to have delivered 😊

@db4239 Жыл бұрын

Excellent video, especially like your pic of "BOX 3/Pastry & Caviar", miss those Cunard days!

@electric7487 Жыл бұрын

Those engines are MAN B&W 9L58/64 engines, with a 58cm bore and 64cm stroke. Each ran at 400 RPM and produced 11790 kW overall.

@GardeningLadybug Жыл бұрын

Such an amazing powerhouse

@EmmaCruises Жыл бұрын

Blimey! I had no idea they'd take off the funnel to change it over. That's bonkers!!

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

It had the added benefit of her getting a much bigger, more impressive funnel after the refit too. It now had 9 exhaust pipes rather than the original 3 from the old boilers.

@stephencarey5074 Жыл бұрын

I seem to remember it was the first time 3d CAD had been used. The yard drew out the vertical trunking and also the largest part that needed to be lowered into the space. For the engineroom it was the diesel bed plates, whereas for the motor room it was the shaft motors. They found that they could animate the passage of these items down the trunking without cutting holes in the hull, (actually quite common) which speeded up the conversion. I think the funnel was removed to give space for lifting out the old boilers and arranging the new uptakes as Chris says. The funnel is light gauge and easy enough to remove. The old boiler uptakes would have been removed at the same time. I've done conversions where parts can be lowered through quite small openings and erected down below.

@johnplod8984 Жыл бұрын

Terrific video - informative Great ship

@scabbycatcat4202 8 ай бұрын

It is curious that the original QE did not attempt the Blue Riband which was currently held by her runningmate the QM. I was fortunate to do an interview with the late Capt. Robin Woodall of the QE2. I asked him who decides if a ship is to go out for a record crossing ? He gave the rather boring and predictable reply that the service speed of the QE2 was 28.5 kts and that is what Captains stick to .....with a very interesting exception. At the end of one Eastbound crossing in 1990 the QE2 was to rendezvous with the Royal Yacht Britannia and the Queen was to have lunch onboard. B4 she left New York , Capt. Woodall summoned the chief engineer to his cabin. He explained that the QE2 had an " appointment " that he did not wish to be late for . He demanded that QE2 went flat out as soon as they passed Ambrose lightship. It was this crossing that she did indeed make her record crossing averaging 30plus knots. Not as fast as Queen Marys Blue Ribband speed ( 31.69Kts ) but still very respectable as one of the fastest ships on the seas.

@allinmyhead Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris, hope you are well. Interesting video. Cheers.

@cruises_only_thanks Жыл бұрын

Now that's a ship!

@CuriousEarthMan Жыл бұрын

Very informative and interesting! Thank you!

@BradRae188 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris very informative and interesting 👍👏👌

@michaelrennie4589 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris...Most interesting view !!

@intestinalworm1202 Жыл бұрын

My dad had a photo (from newspaper) - he was a plater/welder at John Brown’s shipyard - all the workers had their group photo taken as part of the launch of the QEII - don’t know where the photo is now (front page of newspaper). He had so, so many stories - might share some later!

@johnplod8984 Жыл бұрын

Very informative indeed !

@user-vu1rt6fd5s Жыл бұрын

Pursuit of betterment 💗

@Dave_Sisson Жыл бұрын

Great stuff, but I'm not sure I'd agree that QE2 was the fastest passenger ship. Incat catamaran ferries are built in Hobart, are up to 12,000 Gross Tons and operate at between 36 and 55 knots. On delivery runs to Europe a couple of them even won the Blue Ribband / Hales Trophy. Something that size and with that range surely qualifies as a ship?

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Hey Dave. I probably should have been more specific. QE2 is (was) in the class registry category (to get her passenger certificate) that covers cruise ships (even though she’s a liner) After SS. United States smashed all of the speed records in 1952 no cruise ship / liner has been able to eclipse her. My definition of “modern” relates to QE2’s service life being well within most of our lifetimes. Interestingly United States remains the last holder of the westbound Blue Riband, though some of these Cats have won the eastbound crossing. I’d probably call 12,000 tons a ship too, TBH - though Ferry and Ship do have unique definitions given their design and specifications 🤷‍♂️

@Dave_Sisson Жыл бұрын

@@ChrisFrameOfficial Thanks for the response. It's amazing that SS. US still holds the westbound Ribband 70 years later. Those Incat catamarans that won the eastbound Ribband in the 1990s were only about 5,000 GT, considerably smaller than the larger ones the company builds these days.

@RM-lj8bv Жыл бұрын

I worked onboard 87 and 88 including the world cruise and transatlantic crossings and I can tell you the new engines were so noisey and gave the crew cabins a lot of vibration.

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

I heard them myself too especially when standing in the engine room in 2008 going 30 knots on our way to Singapore. They roared!!

@slickmcintyre8396 Жыл бұрын

@@ChrisFrameOfficial I too served aboard after the diesel engines were installed. The noise and vibration was a disaster. Crew were eventually moved to passenger cabins for WHS reasons and passenger volume reduced as a result. The engineers came aboard to try and fix the issues - largely unsuccessfully. The top speed had to be permanently reduced with a consequential longer journey time. You will know the transatlantic crossing was extended from 5 to 6 nights to mitigate the impact of the engines. It's a pity you didn't mention these details. You gave it good go though. Cheers.

@gaynor247 Жыл бұрын

I think the Queen Mary 2 reached about 22 knots when we were on her. It seemed really fast to us, having only ever been on cruise ships before. Can't imagine 30 knots 😲

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

30 knots feels different - very fast and the ship gets a sense of purpose about it that is kind of hard to describe. I was lucky to travel at 30 knots aboard QM2 back in 2007 when we did a transpacific crossing. Gas turbine operation was cheaper back then. Thanks again for your support Gaynor I really appreciate it.

@gaynor247 Жыл бұрын

No problem to watch any of your videos ( three times 😉) they're all so interesting. Keep up the good work!

@hoofhearted3567 Жыл бұрын

Surely it was the cost of bunker fuel, rather than the reliability of the turbine plant, which drove the conversion to diesel electric?

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Certainly the new engines were much more fuel efficient than the steam plant - but QE2’s boilers were so unreliable with no redundancy that the constant delays, cancelations, break downs etc was untenable. So it was a combination- the unreliability led to a solution being sought. But then when the feasibility showed the fuel saving they made the decision to go with the MAN plant.

@hoofhearted3567 Жыл бұрын

@@ChrisFrameOfficial Ah, thanks for that. I didn’t realise it was the boilers which were unreliable. Cheers. 🛠⚓️

@JohnHosty Жыл бұрын

Ahem, controllable pitch propellers, nearly all propellers are variable pitch !

@R_McGeddon117 Жыл бұрын

Most propellers are fixed pitched. Controllable pitch is an entirely different setup

@andrewjharrison1 Жыл бұрын

Great informative video about QE2. Do you think as she still has her engines they could ever do special sea voyages now again, or is she now not seaworthy due to being out of action for 15 years or so?

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Hi Andrew, I suppose it could be possible to restart the engines, but they’d require a monumental amount of maintenance just to get them ready to attempt to be started. As all the systems are “dead” now and the ship runs on shoreside power I think it would be a very challenging task. If they ever did restart an engine tho, the ship wouldn’t get very far, as in 2018 they removed her propellers and sealed over the bow thruster doors. So my guess is the only way she ever moves again is under tug control.

@andrewjharrison1 Жыл бұрын

@@ChrisFrameOfficial Hi Chris, thanks for kindly replying to my message. I didn’t realise that the QE2 had had the propellers removed. That clarifies that the ship is now to remain permanently moored. I do think it’s a shame that these lovely liners are not able to do some sea journeys for special occasions. But I guess the cost to keep them seaworthy for only odd journeys would be far too expensive. I really enjoy your videos that you post about QM2. A beautiful ship and the only operational ocean liner in the world. I would love to travel on it someday.

@R_McGeddon117 Жыл бұрын

It wasn't the turbines that plagued the original set up but the Foster Wheeler boilers which were a disaster when even after her builders trials the boiler tubes had to be replaced

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. She also has major issues with her starboard turbine requiring the low pressure unit to be rebuilt after the Falklands campaign at great cost. No redundancy in the boilers and towards the end there, unreliable turbines.

@GlamorousTitanic21 Жыл бұрын

This is a very well put-together video. However, the QE2 is not the fastest passenger ship. That title goes to the SS United States, which on its sea trials hit a speed of 38.32 knots, almost 45 mph! Though she usually traveled no more than 35 knots while in active service.

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind comment. You’re absolutely right. I added “modern” into the script referring to QE2’s 1987- speed, and the ship’s service life being within recent memory. QE2 was the fastest in service from the 70s through to 2008 and with her diesel engines was faster than during her steam turbine career. Nothing beats SS. United States which still holds the Blue Riband for the westbound crossing to this day 🎉

@kiwited123 Жыл бұрын

What was the power delivered by the QE2 Steam Turbines? I worked on a container ship, SS Benalder that had twin steam turbines that produced 88000 shaft horse power and could do over 30 knots, (She re engined later on with diesel)

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

I believe QE2’s were 110,000 shp. There’s an interesting discussion board that talks all things QE2 here: www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php?topic=146.0

@stephencarey5074 Жыл бұрын

Good vid. Just one point, those propellers are controllable pitch, not variable pitch. Variable pitch propellers are so called because the pitch varies between the root and tip ; the blades don't move. VP are the standard propellers for most ships. You can see fixed pitch on the likes of ss Great Britain in Bristol, and those windmills on American farms.

@ChrisFrameOfficial Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the information. I’ve always known the QE2 design as Variable pitch and it’s also referred to that way in many Cunard documents so it’s interesting to hear this additional info. I visited Great Britain in Bristol - superb experience.

@stephencarey5074 Жыл бұрын

@@ChrisFrameOfficial It's a common mistake in literature but marine engineers and naval architects know the difference. When you think about it, the individual blades on the controllable pitch propellers have variable pitch between root and tip. Variable pitch propellers however are not controllable as they are one with the hub. It's confusing because even manufacturers state variable and controllable as the same thing, and also that variable pitch (without being controllable) is fixed pitch! It's about time they sorted themselves out; it's always been a problem! I wouldn't bother editing your vid though - if manufacturers confuse the terms, the average punter won't notice...

@michaelhughes3074 10 ай бұрын

She's up there with queen mary as far as beautiful goes 😊

@dima343. 11 ай бұрын

Diesel powered QE2 - it's what RMMV Oceanic could be... Modern and ultra-fast, capturing blue ribband for White Star Line again...Okay, enough dreaming.