RMS Campania - Power Plant and Construction

Power Plant and Construction

Campania and Lucania were partly financed by the Admiralty. The deal was that Cunard would receive money from the Government in return for constructing vessels to admiralty specifications and also on condition that the vessels go on the naval reserve list to serve as armed merchant cruisers when required by the government. The contracts were awarded to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, which at the time was one of Britain’s biggest producers of warships. Plans were soon drawn up for a large, twin-screw steamer powered by triple expansion engines, and construction began in 1891, just 43 days after Cunards' order.

Campania and Lucania had the largest triple expansion engines ever fitted to a Cunard ship. These engines were also the largest in the world at the time, and still rank today amongst the largest of the type ever constructed. They represent the limits of development for this kind of technology, which was superseded a few years later by turbine technology. In height, the engines were 47 feet, reaching from the double-bottom floor of the engine room almost to the top of the superstructure - over five decks. Each engine had five cylinders. There were two high pressure cylinders, each measuring 37 in (940 mm) in diameter; one intermediate pressure cylinder measuring 79 in (2,000 mm)in diameter; and two low pressure cylinders, each measuring 98 in (2,500 mm) in diameter. They operated with a stoke of 69 in (1,800 mm). Steam was raised from 12 double-end scotch boilers, each measuring 18 ft (5.5 m) in diameter and having eight furnaces. There was also one single-ended boiler for auxiliary machinery and one, smaller donkey boiler. Boiler pressure was 165 lbs, and enabled the engines to produce 31,000 ihp (23,000 kW), which translated to an average speed of 22 knots (41 km/h), and a record speed of 23½ knots. Normal operating speed for the engines was about 79 rpm.

Each engine was located in a separate watertight engine compartment. In the case of a hull breach in that area, only one engine room would then be flooded, and the ship would still have use of the adjacent engine. In addition to this, Campania had 16 transverse water-tight compartments with water-tight doors that could be manually closed on command from the telegraph on the bridge. She could remain afloat with any two compartments flooded.

During Campania's first trips across the Atlantic, hull vibration was noted to be a problem and sea-spray had been a nuisance to passengers in heavy seas. This led to design modifications being made to Lucania, which was still under construction. The modifications to Lucania proved to be successful, so Cunard decided to make similar modifications to Campania. Campania was returned to the builder's yard and her aft section was strengthened to reduce the vibration. Also, her promenade deck was extended over the forward and aft well-decks. The sides of the well-decks were fully enclosed by plating which extended some way along the lower promenade. While the aft well deck was left open from above, the forward well deck and gangway over it were dispensed with completely. The new forward design would be echoed 14 years later in the design of the Lusitania and Mauretania.