petroleum lamps were still a considerable fire hazard.
d
Safety on board
First Schuckert projector lamp with a ground glass parabolic reflector, diameter
approximately 70 cm, 1886
Ship's telegraph with the six-roller motor from Siemens & Halske, 1895
30
More light,
more vision, more safety
In contrast, electric light became better, safer and more reliable – from the arc lamp and the filament lamp to modern lighting systems. Siemens played a central role in this development process as well as in the improvement of projector lamps, which contributed to safety at sea for many years in the form of orientation aids and morse signaling devices.
“Aye aye Sir” –
Making sure commands arrive The clear and unambiguous transfer of commands is an important safety factor on ships in two respects. Firstly, commands have to be given to crew members who are often many meters and several decks away. Secondly, control commands have to be sent to machines and steering gear.
If the captain wants to steer his ship “two dashes aport” and “half speed ahead”, this information must arrive down below in the engine room and astern at the steering system quickly, precisely and reliably.
Otherwise, things can get dangerous. With speaking tubes and rope pulls, the limits on large ships were soon reached. As early as 1893, Siemens launched the electric ship’s telegraph which had a “six-roller motor” and was the leading product on the market for a whole ten years. Then Siemens followed this with the “electrical shaft system”, which then proved itself over many decades of use.
Special water-tight ship’s telephones
“for noisy rooms” guaranteed that even the mechanic in the engine room could understand what was being said. The devices for transmitting commands were continually improved and, since the sixties, electronic components have been in use here as well.
In 1908, special ship’s telephones for “noisy rooms”
Functional drawing of the six-roller motor
The rear side of the marble switchboards on the steamship, the Europa, 1930
The first large switchboard for ships with switching devices on marble panels at the front; here, with distributing switches on the König Wilhelm II, a mail steamship with two propellers
Modern switch-board on a ferry
31 Being highly visible
with Siemens beacons
Seeing and being seen. Light in shipping is not only important for lighting purposes.
More, larger and faster ships increased the requirements that were placed on landside installations; the provision of better orientation for ships in coastal areas by means of lighthouses and navigation guides, for example.
In 1902, Schuckert supplied a powerful rotary beacon for the Helgoland light-house. The carbon arc lamps guaranteed that the light signal could be seen 20 sea miles away. In the years that followed, Siemens supplied several beacon systems of this kind, including the one for the famous lightship, the “Elbe 1”. Later, Siemens was involved when lightships were replaced by automatic stations and when radar systems were added. Siemens designed the workplaces of the radar controllers ergonomically so that they were able to concentrate fully on their highly responsible work.
Switching quickly and safely The first electrical installations on-board ships were still very simple.
The requirements for the switchboards, however, soon increased when the number of loads grew and more and more safety-relevant units were connected to the electric power system. On the one hand, the availability of the power system had to be guaranteed at all times and, on the other, reliable protection had to be provided against overloading, overheating and fire, for example. Finally, the crews also had to be protected against accidents caused by electricity, this being the reason why “deadfront” switchboards whose control panels no longer contained any live parts were introduced. Siemens was one of the leading suppliers of ship switchgear. The largest one the company supplied was for the French luxury steamship, the Normandie, in 1930.
On the right, a model of the projector lamp system supplied in 1902 for the Helgoland lighthouse (top), with three rotating lamps containing glass parabolic reflectors and one directional lamp, each reflector with a diameter of 75 cm.
Picture right on the top:
Modern estuary control station at the river Elbe mouth
32
Safety on board
Chief engineer Proschmann’s classic The Proschmann switch, produced by Siemens for many years until very recently, was an inconspicuous “classic”. Chief engineer Proschmann, who worked at Siemens switchgear factory in Berlin, developed it in 1934 as a direct-current circuit-breaker for propeller propulsion systems. The navy remained faithful to this very reliable and robust switch for many decades – there was simply nothing to beat it.
More safety through automation A ship is only safe if all machines on board are working reliably. Otherwise, even a large ship is subject to the whims of current and wind. Because the vital machines for propulsion and control are often a long way away from the bridge, tours of inspection all round the clock used to be one of the crew's more unpopular tasks.
Gradually, electronic monitoring and control systems from Siemens took over this job. They can detect at all times whether the propulsion system and the steering gear are working correctly. They register faults immediately, signal the alarm and switch over to redundant units in a very short time so that the ship never gets out of control.
Everything under control with the data network
Today, Siemens supplies comprehensive solutions for ship automation based on the latest technology – for monitoring and controlling all the machinery, the tank and the ballast system and the holds, as well as for signaling the alarm in the event of faults and accidents. Innumerable sensors and measuring points are placed together in intelligent monitoring units and connected via a ship-wide LAN network composed of glass fiber cables. The data are processed to create easily understood, on-screen graphic illustrations. The crew is therefore always kept informed of the operating state of on-board components and can, if necessary, take corrective action immediately by means of control commands via the screen.
First electrical Siemens remote control of the main machine from the bridge, on the Belgian ferries, the Rupel und Leie, 1931 The Proschmann switch
In the engine control room, all the measuring and monitoring data are brought together.
33 On today’s ships, measuring and monitoring data are permanently passed
on to the on-board computer from all over the ship.
The computer detects the situation, displays emergency plans and gives the user instructions on how to solve the problem. Crews have never had their ships so much under their control and never have they been able to control it so precisely and safely as with such an on-board network of intelligent automation.
Protection against fire and water A ship without water makes no sense at all; water is its element. But only outside the ship, if you please. If
water penetrates into the hull for some reason, the danger is very high. This especially applies, of course, to fire on board.
Like water, fire can be dangerous for a ship especially if it breaks out in a concealed location somewhere inside the huge hull. A widely spread network of automatic fire alarm and extinguishing units is therefore one of the most important safety requirements on board any ship. As early end of the nineteen-twenties, Siemens used to supply leak pumps that started operating automatically when water penetrated the hull without being noticed by the crew.
A name you can trust
For 125 years, Siemens has stood for more safety in ship-building – from the first electric dynamo to modern monitoring and control systems. Even nervous landlubbers enjoy a voyage much more when they see the familiar and reassuring name “Siemens”
everywhere on board.
All the data are displayed clearly on the monitor of the human/machine interface.
Fusible fire alarm