QE2 Portholes - low down/underwater

[Twynkle]

If the 'hole' on the starboard side was for viewing the props, cavitation and their condition etc - wouldn't there be one on both sides of the hull?

Bruce Peter et al's QE2 - Britain's Greatest Liner - under Power and propulsion - p65, foot of first column,
'Sea water was taken in through two raked 900mm (3ft) diameter intake pipes, passing through the ships double bottom, beneath the engine room....'
There's no picture of these 'inlet' pipes, I wonder where they might be situated?

Rob - do you know whether there's a cutaway diagram of the lower half of QE2's hull from bow to stern?

[highlander0108]

Are there more of the 2003 drydock photos?  I'd love to see them and most likely everyone else would too.  Post a link if one exists - thanks!

I have a couple saved, but I apparently did not save the link.  It was on a site that had crew members posting their stories and photos.  I have an interesting one of the props I'll post separately.

Ken

[Peter Mugridge]

No, they only put a viewing porthole on the one side.

[cunardqueen]

Forgive me, But with the viewing porthole, would you actually be able to see anything worth while?

[Beardy Rich]

I can't be certain, but looking at the photo of the underwater 'porthole' it looks as though you would have viewed the propellor from the steering gear compartment. From memory, this was on 7 deck as far aft as you could get. I seem to remember gaining access from 6 deck aft, up the crew stair to 5 deck then along and down to 7 deck.
As with the bow thruster compartment, this compartment was kept locked.

[highlander0108]

While not a washing machine view, here's some video of our 5 deck porthole view on a calm day; one of the few days the deadlight was allowed to be opened, on the Farewell to the UK cruise.  You really get the sense of speed at this level and we were making 22 knots at best.  I can't tell you how long I just sat there staring out the porthole!

[Cunarder Man]

Taken on the World Cruise 2002 somewhere in the Indian Ocean - the side of the ship became so warm in such waters that individual air conditioners had been fitted in the cabins. They made such a noise, but that didn't matter - we were on the QE2!

[jdl]

While not a washing machine view, here's some video of our 5 deck porthole view on a calm day; one of the few days the deadlight was allowed to be opened, on the Farewell to the UK cruise.  You really get the sense of speed at this level and we were making 22 knots at best.  I can't tell you how long I just sat there staring out the porthole!

Thanks for posting, what a relaxing, beautiful view - looks like you had at least one day of decent (or acceptable!) weather!

jdl

[Rod]

The first set of Grimm wheels worked well they say. We broke at least 2 blades off in NY harbor. They extended way past the bottom of the hull.
What most people do not realize is that the Grimm wheels are not powered. They are just free to rotate with the the movement of the water around them.

As far as the full speed backwards business, this is a requirement from the DoT. They time the length of time it takes to go from MAX full ahead.....to the vessel actually moving astern. Then they keep it going to see how fast it will actually go and see if the vessel will sink or fall apart. This is all in the name of safety. Same as the hard left hard right etc etc...all done on sea trials for a "new" vessel...After re-engining QE2 was considered a new vessel.

[Stephen Ballantine]

Likewise, I can’t imagine the “porthole” above the starboard prop would allow any useful observations. At sea, it would be pitch black down there and a propellor moving at those speeds wouldn’t be observable, surely?
Looks more like a discharge or intake to me. And why only on one side?
Question,. What’s a Grimm Wheel and it’s use, please?

[Peter Mugridge]

Grimm Wheel = a kind of experimental high-efficiency propellor system, but it didn't really work.  There's a topic on here somewhere about them.  I'll have a look later and link it, unless someone else beats me to it.

[Rod]

http://marinewiki.org/index.php/Vane_Wheels

And what does Wiki give us??
 A Rob Lightbody picture. Way to go Rob!!