[einstein]

Big U

[694.1]

Wonder what a resto would cost?

[salem1912]

You can walk the deck.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9182...7i13312!8i6656
Down river is the USS JFK and across river is the USS New Jersey. Cool shot of a Jet Airliner looks like it is going to land on the JFK(caught on the satellite image)

[Nobuddy]

I heard she is absolutely covered with asbestos in all interior spaces.

[dataway]

Sometimes I wonder why people that have bazillions of dollars ... like Gates, Bezos etc. ... don't see things like this and say ... Yeah, I can spare a couple million out of my billions to restore that ... you know, just cause it would never get done otherwise.

[einstein]

Originally Posted by Nobuddy

I heard she is absolutely covered with asbestos in all interior spaces.

She was towed from Newport News VA to Turkey, where all the asbestos was supposedly removed. She was then towed back to the US to where she sits today.

Hull design was kept secret by the military. Ship was built to double as a speedy troop transport, and had no construction material in her that would burn.

Still holds the record for fastest Atlantic crossing.

[lugnutx2]

Originally Posted by dataway

Sometimes I wonder why people that have bazillions of dollars ... like Gates, Bezos etc. ... don't see things like this and say ... Yeah, I can spare a couple million out of my billions to restore that ... you know, just cause it would never get done otherwise.

Money is the drug of the mega rich, they can't get enough, they're always in competition with next richest above them, unfortunately for them, they haven't figured out that $$$$ gets you nowhere in the end.

[hurryinhoosier62]

70 year old technology would be incredibly difficult to restore, at best. All of these liners were essentially "one off", hand built vessels; they were the pinnacle of technology at the time of their construction. Today, they are dinosaurs. Can any of you tell us where you can procure #4 bunker oil? The last ship is U.S. Navy service that used bunker oil is being towed to Texas for scrapping. Nearly all vessels sailing in commercial service today use diesel engines to generate power, not bunker oil to generate high pressure steam. The high pressure steam used in the United States' turbines? How many people outside of U.S. Navy veterans and serving active duty know anything about it? Even if she were converted into a museum ship it would take millions of dollars every year just to maintain her hull and water tight integrity.

[59safaricat]

Originally Posted by lugnutx2

Money is the drug of the mega rich, they can't get enough, they're always in competition with next richest above them, unfortunately for them, they haven't figured out that $$$$ gets you nowhere in the end.

Agreed. You don't take it with you when you die, nor any of your possessions.

[428goat]

I heard that the top speed is still classified.?

[Bob Dillon]

Needs an appointment with the ship knackers in Liberia. VERY old, now useless technology,

[Nobuddy]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Can any of you tell us where you can procure #4 bunker oil? The last ship is U.S. Navy service that used bunker oil is being towed to Texas for scrapping. Nearly all vessels sailing in commercial service today use diesel engines to generate power, not bunker oil to generate high pressure steam.

I think you are wrong about all that except the high pressure steam. Heavy fuel oil which is about like tar is used in the diesel engines of ocean going cargo vessels. I believe it is commonly called Bunker C or Fuel Oil #6. So fuel would not be an issue.

But I'm sure there is no possibility of her ever being used for anything but some kind of attraction or redevelopment project. And if that happens, I hope they don't F it up like they did the Queen Mary by gutting all the mechanical spaces.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by Nobuddy

I think you are wrong about all that except the high pressure steam. Heavy fuel oil which is about like tar is used in the diesel engines of ocean going cargo vessels. I believe it is commonly called Bunker C or Fuel Oil #6. So fuel would not be an issue.

But I'm sure there is no possibility of her ever being used for anything but some kind of attraction or redevelopment project. And if that happens, I hope they don't F it up like they did the Queen Mary by gutting all the mechanical spaces.

Sorry, but I have rebuilt the fuel injectors for marine diesels; they use #2 diesel. Bulk oil is nearly inert until it is heated and sprayed into a boiler. My Uncle Bill was a Machinist Mate (boiler tech) on USS Midway. He could tell you some hair raising stories about incidents they had aboard ship.

[Nobuddy]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Sorry, but I have rebuilt the fuel injectors for marine diesels; they use #2 diesel. Bulk oil is nearly inert until it is heated and sprayed into a boiler.

Well sure but there is still a hell of lot of number 4 and 6 heavy fuel oil sold for marine cargo ships. It is also heated before injection into a diesel engine. I know there is a lot of effort to move them to other fuels.

[dataway]

Just read an article that says presently worldwide usage of Bunker Oil is about 8 million barrels ... A DAY. So apparently you can still get it. Still used in many parts of the world for cargo vessels.

[einstein]

Is oil really an important topic for a ship that hasn't moved under her own power for 50+ years, and clearly never will again?

Her design and history struck me as interesting, thanks to a dear friend who studied hull design and ocean engineering.

If she ever gets turned into something useful again, great. If not, she'll be turned to appliances or rust there until she sinks.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by Nobuddy

Well sure but there is still a hell of lot of number 4 and 6 heavy fuel oil sold for marine cargo ships. It is also heated before injection into a diesel engine. I know there is a lot of effort to move them to other fuels.

I'm very familiar with ALCO and EMD marine diesels (4,500hp and 6,000hp). One of the companies I worked for had a contract to overhaul the injectors out of those engines. The injectors are massive: 2 feet long and six inches around. The test stand to set up the nozzle springs was six feet tall with an actuator handle that was three feet long. it took that much leverage to "pop" the nozzles on these things. All of these engines were installed on river and ocean going tows. Never have worked on the Wartzulla(?) diesels in ocean going cargo ships, but would love to be in the engine room when one cranks over; 16,000 hp @ 900 rpm!

[mzbk2l]

EMD 645s and ALCO 251Cs? Those are what I cut my teeth on.

Colt-Pielstick 2.5s a little later, but not as much fun; we never had to work on them.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by mzbk2l

EMD 645s and ALCO 251Cs? Those are what I cut my teeth on.

Colt-Pielstick 2.5s a little later, but not as much fun; we never had to work on them.

Yes, they were, Mike. The Ohio River handles more barge traffic than even the Mississippi. Ingraham was our largest customer for ALCO and EMD fuel injectors.

[Sirrotica]

FWIW, here's the definition of bunker oil, I had an idea of what it was, but wanted to know for sure:

Bunker oil is residual fuel oil of high viscosity commonly used in marine and stationary steam power plants. It requires preheating to 220 - 260 °F (104 - 127 °C). In comparison with other petroleum products, bunker oil is extremely crude and highly polluting.

Bunker oil is less useful than other types of oil because it is so viscous that it must be heated with a special heating system before use and it contains relatively high amounts of pollutants, particularly sulfur, which forms sulfur dioxide upon combustion.

Heavier petroleum products like diesel and lubricating oil precipitate out more slowly, and bunker oil is literally the bottom of the barrel; the only thing denser than bunker fuel is the residue which is mixed with tar for paving roads and sealing roofs.

Although bunker oil is extremely cheap, many oil spills have involved bunker oils, leading some environmental organizations to call for a ban on the substance. Because it is so dense, it is extremely difficult to clean up and it easily coats animals and shorelines.

It's always going to be around, because it comes off the bottom of a cracking tower when they distill crude oil (bottom of the barrel product). The viscosity is so high that the thick mixture needs to be heated just to be liquid enough to be pumped. I would imagine that it has very high BTUs per unit as most crude products do, the thicker viscosity they are, the more BTUs they have.