Coal and Sparks during Break-up

[Aaron_2016]

Does anyone know what caused sparks and huge lumps of coal to shoot out of the funnels? It was witnessed during the break up when survivors heard several explosions. Was this caused by the compression or release in pressure of air when the ship broke and the bow and stern compressed down together? (V shape). Was there an implosion in one of the boiler rooms which forced the coal to shoot out of the funnels? Was it a reaction of hot coal and freezing water bursting into the compartment and releasing an explosive charge?

Here are survivor accounts:



Charlotte Collyer
"Something in the very bowels of the Titanic exploded and millions of sparks shot up to the sky, like rockets in a park on the night of a summer holiday. This red spurt was fan shaped as it went up, but the sparks descended in every direction in the shape of a fountain of fire. Two other explosions followed, dull and heavy, as if below the surface. The Titanic broke in two before my eyes."


Jack Thayer
"One of the funnels seemed to be lifted off and fell towards me about 15 yards away, with a mass of sparks and steam coming out of it. I saw the ship in a sort of a red glare, and it seemed to me that she broke in two just in front of the third funnel.....The second funnel, seemed to be lifted off, emitting a cloud of sparks."


William Mellors
"There was suddenly an explosion and I found myself whizzing through the water at an awful pace, having been blown away by the explosion. When I came to my senses a few minutes after, I looked round and suddenly saw the ship part in the middle."


August Weikman
"I think the boilers blew up about in the middle of the ship. The explosion blew me along with a wall of water. There were a great number of people killed by the explosion."


Abraham Hyman
"There came a terrible explosion, and I could see men, women and pieces of the ship blown into the air from the after deck. Later I saw bodies partly blown to pieces floating around, and I am sure more than a hundred persons were blown off into the sea by that explosion. A terrible hissing of steam began and the awful cry went on. I tried to close my ears, but there was some mysterious attraction and I had to hear that cry. The hissing and screaming kept up, and finally the ship seemed to right itself."


Frank Osman
"After she got to a certain angle she exploded, broke in halves"
Q - What do you think those explosions were?
A - The boilers bursting.
Q - What makes you think that?
A - The cold water coming under the red-hot boilers caused the explosions.
Q - You reasoned that out?
A - Yes; but you could see the explosions by the smoke coming right up the funnels.
Q - Did you see any steam and smoke coming?
A - Yes.
Q - Did you see any sparks?
A - It was all black; looked like as if it was lumps of coal, and all that.
Q - Coming up through the funnels?
A - Through the funnels.
Q - That is, there was a great amount of black smoke coming up through the funnels just after this explosion?
A - Just after the explosion.
Q - And there were lumps of coat, etc, coming up?
A - Yes; pretty big lumps. I do not know what is was.
Q - Did any water come up?
A - I never seen no water; only the steam and very black smoke.


Fred Barrett
"When the ship was sinking a volume of smoke came up."


Philip Mock
"After the noise I saw a huge column of black smoke slightly lighter than the sky rising high into the sky and then flattening out at the top like a mushroom."

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[Lyle]

The sinking of the USS Arizona on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor shows a similar phenomenon. The magazine's detonation forced a huge cloud of soot up her stack from a rush of air.

 

[David G. Brown]

Build a good, hot, glowing charcoal fire in your backyard BBQ. Get it good and hot, like the bed of coals in the furnaces of the boilers supplying steam to the electric dynamos that night. Now, exercising extreme caution to include gloves and eye protection, throw a bucket of cold water on your fire. Observe what happens. Think about the descriptions of the survivors. Class dismissed.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Lyle]

Gee, I think I'll try that sometime. What a grate idea (pun intended).

 

[Rob Lawes]

Build a good, hot, glowing charcoal fire in your backyard BBQ. Get it good and hot, like the bed of coals in the furnaces of the boilers supplying steam to the electric dynamos that night. Now, exercising extreme caution to include gloves and eye protection, throw a bucket of cold water on your fire. Observe what happens. Think about the descriptions of the survivors. Class dismissed.

-- David G. Brown

This afternoon, having followed the instructions above, I attempted to re-create the scene in my back garden.

Now that the Fire Brigade have finished, I need to complete the insurance paperwork, locate the cat and pass the name David G Brown to my lawyer.

 

[David G. Brown]

Rob -- It was supposed to be a thought experiment...

Seriously, I did not mean to try it...just imagine what would happen if hot coals were doused with cold water. Steam expands to about 1,100 times the volume of the original water, which would generate plenty of pressure to blow sparks and cinders up and out of the funnel.

But, don't try this experiment at home. It's for professional ship-sinkers only.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Harland Duzen]

Either way, while the lawsuit of David G. Brown VS Rob Lawes goes to court* Youtube examples and the USS Arizona (as mentioned previously) give us a suggestion of what happened. I know two are oil fires but it was the best examples I could find.




(Skip to 1:06)


(Watch between 1:50 and 2:05)

*That joke made my day.

 

[Daniel A. Soto]

I can't believe I didn't think of this before. This is the most simple explanation to the coal and soot that shot out of the ship.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Survivor Mr. Williams was outside the wireless room during the evacuation and he spoke of witnessing blue flashes / sparks from the wireless room which flashed a beautiful blue phosphorous colour and he had never seen anything so beautiful before. Were there blue flashes/sparks emitting above the wireless room and did they pose any health and safety danger to the crew on the deckhouse roof?

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[Rob Lawes]

I don't know about blue sparks and glowing lights but the health and safety effects om the crew would only be an issue within a couple of metres of the aerial.

Non ionising radiation is most harmful at higher frequencies. Think in terms of your microwave.

Despite transmitting at 5Kw the Titanic's set operated at around 500Khz where the heating effects on human tissues are much less.

You wouldn't want to spend the evening hugging the aerial but walking near by would pose little problem.

Having said all that. If you did decide to touch the deck isolator while it was transmitting then you'd certainly see stars and may lose your hand.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Cheers. Mr. Williams' account was recorded on paper by Walter Lord. You can read his account of the blue flashes / sparks here:


Charles Pellegrino Web Site


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[Rob Lawes]

Ah, I see from reading that he talks about a spark not sparks. I'm not sure of the exact way the deck isolator set up worked but it is possible that the carrier wire from the transmitting room below could spark against the aerial connector.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

The blue flashes/sparks could have been caused by moisture - especially if it was from salty sea water - somewhere on the antenna wires or the insolators on the antennas - causing a flash/spark to ground. We used to call it "arcing over".

Disclaimer: I'm no "nautical expert" like Jim or Sam but I have had a little experience in radio (amateur, aeronautical and nautical) and radar (nautical and civil air traffic control).

If you held a fluorescent tube lamp in front of a transmitter antenna it would light up.
There were reports on some flashes/sparks on the overhead trolley wires of the old streetcar lines.
But that was electricity (DC, I think) and not RF

 

[Robert T. Paige]

I don't know about blue sparks and glowing lights but the health and safety effects om the crew would only be an issue within a couple of metres of the aerial.

Non ionising radiation is most harmful at higher frequencies. Think in terms of your microwave.

Despite transmitting at 5Kw the Titanic's set operated at around 500Khz where the heating effects on human tissues are much less.

You wouldn't want to spend the evening hugging the aerial but walking near by would pose little problem.

Having said all that. If you did decide to touch the deck isolator while it was transmitting then you'd certainly see stars and may lose your hand.

You would have probably gotten fried to "well done".
Probably a wild guess but wonder if you were saturated with salty sea water (a good coductor) you would feel anything ?

 

[Rob Lawes]

Only your life flashing before your eyes.

The only way to be safe and not feel anything would be to wear a Faraday Suit as workers on extremely high voltage systems wear.