Were QE2s propellers the most powerful in the world?

[Rob Lightbody]

Because QE2 was very powerful, but only had 2 propellers, I would like to know what ship has had more powerful propellers (a) ever and (b) now.

65000 shp and 44MW each are the numbers to beat.

[Thomas Hypher]

QE2 had (has? even though they are deadweight now) the most powerful electric motors each of any ship. However I suspect other ships (the US nuclear aircraft carriers and maybe SS US) carry more SHP per shaft or a similar SHP per shaft to QE2. I have seen that 50,000 SHP or so used to be the limit per shaft back in the days of QM and Normandie (hence quadruple shafts to distribute the power), whether that has drastically changed since then (to a much higher number) I don't know.

[Michael Gallagher]

QE2 was always the most powerful and fastest twin-screw ship ever built.

As for fastest (but not faster than QE2) wasn't it Oriana of 1995 and then Royal Olympic's Olympic Voyager / Olympic Explorer?

[June Ingram]

Many thanks, Michael !

[Thomas Hypher]

QE2 was always the most powerful and fastest twin-screw ship ever built.

As for fastest (but not faster than QE2) wasn't it Oriana of 1995 and then Royal Olympic's Olympic Voyager / Olympic Explorer?

I think that's correct Michael. Olympic Voyager and Explorer could go 28 knots although they can't (as both are around but under different names and operators) handle bad weather as famously proven for both. Having said that, I have been told that the current Oriana touched 30 knots on trials and was/is able to sustain 26 knots or so.

[Lachlan]

I knew some pilots who handled SS Oriana (the 1959 Oriana) and who referred to her as a 'hotrod' because of her speed and handling capabilities. The information that I have indicates that the original Oriana achieved 30.64 knots on trials and had a service speed of 27.5 knots.
The 1995 Oriana achieved 26.2 knots on trials and has a service speed on 24 knots, at least according to Wikipedia.

[skilly56]

In the early 1970s, Sea-Land Containers built a series (8, I think) of high speed container ships called SL-7s. These vessels weren't large - only carried 1880 of Sea-Lands 35 ft containers, but could also carry both 20 and 40 footers as well.
These ships supposedly had a designed service speed of 33 knots, which they all accomplished with ease.
They were steam turbine propulsion, twin screw, and burnt between 670 and 760 tons of fuel per day.
The boilers were very high pressure, and highly technical as well.

Then the fuel crisis hit, and in the early 1980s, the US navy suddenly wanted some high speed logistic support ships, so Sea-Land happily off loaded them to the US navy. These ships have been the first-on-scene of numerous international confrontations since they were bought by the 'Grey Funnel Line'.

The US navy then spent money, making them more reliable and even faster. On a post I read recently (on the SN website, under Engine Room), the chief engineer of the SS 'Algol' has stated that in 2011, 137,000  shp was attained & verified on the shaft recording instrumentation, and one ship was clocked off Bradstow at a speed of 39 knots! There is quite a thread about these vessels on the SN forum, but the ship's specs & performance enhancements were not widely talked about when they were USN vessels. They are now in the Reserve Fleet, but kept 'warm', and remain on 96-hour call-up. Some of them were drydocked & scrubbed/re-painted as recently as 2015.

So, maybe QE2 wasn't the most powerful twin screw vessel afloat. Being diesel electric, there was an absolute limit to the power she could generate, but with steam ships, there are various ways of 'forcing' the boilers to produce more than the designed output, which is what seems to have been done by the USN.

Google the 'SS Algol' for more details.

Skilly

[Rod]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Algol_(T-AKR-287)

[Rob Lightbody]

Thanks - staggering information of these monsters!