SS Vespasian

History
United Kingdom
Name:|

* 1887: Eastern Prince
* 1908: Vespasian

Namesake:|  1908: Vespasian
Owner:|

* 1887: Prince SS Co
* 1899: Prince Line
* 1908: Watson & Watson
* 1908: Vespasian SS Co
* 1913: Cairns & Noble

Operator:|

* 1887: James Knott
* 1908: Parsons MST Co

Port of registry:|  Newcastle upon Tyne
Route:|  1908: Newcastle – Rotterdam
Builder:|  Short Brothers, Pallion
Yard number:|  172
Launched:|  17 September 1887
Refit:|  overhauled & re-engined 1908
Identification:|

* UK official number 92869
* code letters KPLB

Fate:|  Scrapped 1914
General characteristics
Type:|  Collier
Tonnage:|

* 1887: 2,147 GRT, 1,408 NRT
* 1892: 2,147 GRT, 1,378 NRT

Displacement:|  4,350 tons
Length:|  292.6 ft (89.2 m)
Beam:|  39.0 ft (11.9 m)
Depth:|  18.9 ft (5.8 m)
Installed power:|

* 1887: 228 NHP
* 1908: 200 IHP

Propulsion:|

* single screw
* 1887: triple-expansion steam engine
* 1908: steam turbines

Notes:|  turbines salvaged for Lord Byron

SS Vespasian was a steel-hulled cargo steamship that was built in Sunderland in 1887 as Eastern Prince, renamed Vespasian in 1908 and scrapped in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1914. In 1908 the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company converted her to steam turbine propulsion. She is notable as the first ship in the World whose turbines drove her propeller by reduction gearing instead of direct drive.

## Contents

* 1 Eastern Prince 1887–1908
* 2 Marine turbine flexiblity and efficiency
* 3 Vespasian 1908–14
* 4 Fate
* 5 References
* 6 Bibliography

## Eastern Prince 1887–1908

Short Brothers of Sunderland built Eastern Prince in Pallion, Sunderland, launching her on 17 September 1887. Her registered length was 292.6 ft (89.2 m), her beam was 39.0 ft (11.9 m) and her depth was 18.9 ft (5.8 m). Her tonnages were 2,147 GRT and 1,408 NRT.[1] She had a clipper bow and clipper stern, two masts and one funnel. As built, Eastern Prince had a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine built by George Clark of Southwick.[2]

Eastern Prince was built for the Prince Steam Shipping Company, which was managed by James Knott of Newcastle. In 1892 her net register tonnage was revised to 1,378.[3] In 1899 her ownership was transferred to Prince Line, under the same management. In 1908 Wilson and Wilson of Newcastle bought her, but in the same year sold her on to the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company.[2]

## Marine turbine flexiblity and efficiency

All of the steam turbine ships, including Turbinia (1894), HMS Viper (1899), TS King Edward (1901), RMS Victorian (1904), RMS Carmania (1905) and RMS Lusitania (1906) had direct drive from their turbines to their propellers. This meant that their propellers ran at turbine speed, which was much faster than the speed of reciprocating marine steam engines.

Direct-drive turbine ships used more coal and water than steamships with reciprocating engines, and they were suitable only for services in which they could sustain speeds of 16 knots (30 km/h) or more. In the early 20th century all cargo ships and most passenger ships sailed at less than 16 knots (30 km/h).[4] Parsons sought a way for turbines to propel slower ships efficiently.

In 1897 a 22-foot (6.7 m) steam launch was built with a single turbine driving twin propellers via helical reduction gearing. Her turbine ran at 20,000 rpm and the reduction gear ratio was 14 to 1.[5] But it was not until 1908 that Parsons scaled up the concept to be applied to a ship.

## Vespasian 1908–14

The Parsons company renamed the ship Vespasian, thoroughly overhauled her, and tested her triple-expansion engine for coal and water consumption. Parsons replaced the engine with twin steam turbines that drove her propeller shaft by reduction gearing. She kept the same boilers, propeller and propeller shaft.[5]

Parsons found that the turbine used 15 percent less coal than the triple-expansion engine. Parsons then altered her propeller, which increased the fuel saving to 22 percent.[6] The turbines also used less water than her triple-expansion engine.[7] The turbines ran at 1,400 rpm, and drove her propeller shaft at 70 rpm[6] via single-reduction gearing.[8]

The Parsons company ran Vespasian as a collier, carrying coal from Newcastle to Rotterdam. By 1911 she had covered 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) in all weathers and delivered 90,000 tons of coal.[9]

## Fate

In 1913 Cairns & Noble bought Vespasian for her turbines. Vespasian was scrapped in Newcastle in the first half of 1914.[2] William Doxford & Sons installed the turbines in the cargo ship Lord Byron, which was launched in 1916 and completed in 1917. The turbines survived until 1931, when Lord Byron was re-engined with a triple-expansion engine.[10]

## References

1. ↑ Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen (1888). Mercantile Navy List. Board of Trade. p. 58. https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?&name=Eastern Prince&steamsail=Steam&submit=Enter&year=1888. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Eastern Prince". Wear Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. http://www.sunderlandships.com/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=103436&vessel=EASTERN+PRINCE.
3. ↑ Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen (1892). Mercantile Navy List. Board of Trade. p. 86. https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?&name=Eastern Prince&steamsail=Steam&submit=Enter&year=1892. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
4. ↑ Parsons 1911, p. 42.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Parsons 1911, p. 48.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Parsons 1911, p. 49.
7. ↑ Parsons 1911, p. 51.
8. ↑ Parsons 1911, p. 52.
9. ↑ Parsons 1911, pp. 52–53.
10. ↑ "Lord Byron". Wear Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. http://www.sunderlandships.com/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=101301&vessel=LORD+BYRON.

## Bibliography

* Neal, William George, ed (October 1, 1887). "Launches and Trial Runs". The Marine Engineer (London) 9 (7): 251. https://archive.org/details/marineengineera07unkngoog/page/n280/mode/1up. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
* Parsons, Charles A (1911). The Steam Turbine. The Rede Lecture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Steam_Turbine.
* Parsons, Charles A. (April 1910). "The Application of the Marine Steam Turbine and Mechanical Gearing to Merchant Ships". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect (London: The Marine Engineer) 32: 340–344. https://archive.org/details/marineengineer32londuoft/page/340/mode/2up. Retrieved March 8, 2021.

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