Steamship Construction

[The Old Ruminator]

A while back I stuck on some stuff for engines etc then deleted it by mistake. As a relief from wreck notes I thought from time to time I would build this post on steamships in general.In the wreck notes themselves if something techy crops up we can refer back here for enlightenment.
The Compound Engine.
Fitted to steamships up to the 1890's when they were superceded by the more economical triple expansion engine. The compound normally has 2 cylinders, a high pressure nearest the boiler and a low pressure. It is possible to look at the size of an engine and guess the size of a ship. The number of boilers also helps in this respect. Compound engines were very rugged and often saw service for 50 years or more. They were hardly ever replaced in a ship with a triple expansion engine as the shipowner would lose cargo space. Prior to WW2 nearly every ship engine was unique. Each engine was built for each individual ship. The set of cylinder sizes found in Lloyds Register are another useful way to idenify a ship. ( See Aeneas ).