The Forepeak Compartment

[Robby House]

Hello. I've always wondered about flooding in the forepeak, Titanic's first watertight compartment. As I understand it, at the bottom of the forepeak is the forepeak tank. The tank is topped with water tight horizontal plating I'm assuming. If this is correct then damage to this part of the ship at least initially should be confined to the tank itself which probably was half full of water anyway as it acted as a sort of ballast as I'm understanding it. So my question is was the area above said horizontal top of the tank dry and only flooded a while later once Holds 1, 2, 3, and Boiler Room 6 began to flood weighed the bow of the ship such that water went over the top of Bulkhead A from Hold 1 into the dry portion of the forepeak above the forepeak tank? This of course assumes that the ice damage was done below the top of the tank.

I've included an illustration I've doodled on existing plans I found on the web.

Thanks,

Robby House,
Kathleen, GA

 

[Arun Vajpey]

As I understand it, at the bottom of the forepeak is the forepeak tank. The tank is topped with water tight horizontal plating I'm assuming. If this is correct then damage to this part of the ship at least initially should be confined to the tank itself which probably was half full of water anyway as it acted as a sort of ballast as I'm understanding it. So my question is was the area above said horizontal top of the tank dry and only flooded a while later once Holds 1, 2, 3, and Boiler Room 6 began to flood weighed the bow of the ship such that water went over the top of Bulkhead A from Hold 1 into the dry portion of the forepeak above the forepeak tank? This of course assumes that the ice damage was done below the top of the tank.

That is exactly how I have always understood it. Also, if the hull damage to the forepeak was below that horizontal plating and did not extend along the hull beyond Bulkhead A, then the water would have equalised with the sea as soon as the forepeak tank was full and so no further flooding would have occurred from that particular breach, right? OR, would the water have then risen along the space where the anchor chain was stowed?

The water entering the forepeak tank was displacing air through somewhere at a rate rapid enough to cause hissing, which was what woke Lamp Trimmer Samuel Hemming some 8 minutes after the collision.

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

So my question is was the area above said horizontal top of the tank dry and only flooded a while later once Holds 1, 2, 3, and Boiler Room 6 began to flood weighed the bow of the ship such that water went over the top of Bulkhead A from Hold 1 into the dry portion of the forepeak above the forepeak tank? This of course assumes that the ice damage was done below the top of the tank.

I've included an illustration I've doodled on existing plans I found on the web.

The problem with that one is that the water did not spill over the bulkheads which is a very very simple explanation.

From Hemming we know she was making water in the forepeak tank. (At last when the water reached D Deck in the 2nd compartments it flooded also the bow (and any dry places).

 

[B-rad]

That would indeed be the case. Hemming would state:

I went up under the forecastle head to see where the hissing noise came from. ...I did not see anything. I opened the forepeak storeroom; me and the storekeeper went down as far as the top of the tank and found everything dry.


I came up to the ascertain where the hissing noise was still coming from. I found it was the air escaping out of the exhaust tank. At that time the Chief Officer, Mr. Wilde, put his head around the hawse pipe and says, “What is that Hemming?” I said, “The air is escaping from the forepeak tank. She is making water in the forepeak tank, but the storeroom is quite dry.” He said, “All right,” and went away.

Haines would state:

When I first heard the blow, I heard some air escaping right forward, and I ran forward to the exhaust from the forepeak tank. I said the forepeak tank was filling and the air was coming out and the water was coming in. It was an overflow pipe.


Just as I got there the chief officer, Mr. Wilde, had gotten there, and the lamp trimmer was there, Mr. Hemming. We said the forepeak tank was filling; the air was coming out and the water was coming in.


He [Wilde] asked if there was any water in the forepeak, and the store-keeper went into the forepeak, and there was no sign of water there, sir. That is the forepeak, sir; not the forepeak tank. The forepeak tank was full. The chief officer then went on the bridge to report.

Therefore we know that the forepeak was dry, and only the tank was damaged. The air was escaping via a pipe that led out 'Underneath the forecastle head,' [BI-17724] apparently (from what I'm gathering from Haines) forward of the Hawse pipe (the pipe in which the chains for the anchor dropped through)- so forward C deck. Once water reached the top of this pipe, water would begin emitting through it as well. This might have been once the outside water level equaled the height of the pipe. However, by this time water would have possibly reached over bulkhead A.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

So my question is was the area above said horizontal top of the tank dry and only flooded a while later once Holds 1, 2, 3, and Boiler Room 6 began to flood weighed the bow of the ship such that water went over the top of Bulkhead A from Hold 1 into the dry portion of the forepeak above the forepeak tank?

Yes. The space above the tank was initially dry:

Mr. HEMMING. I did not see anything. I opened the forepeak storeroom; me and the storekeeper went down as far as the top of the tank and found everything dry.
I came up to ascertain where the hissing noise was still coming from. I found it was the air escaping out of the exhaust of the tank.
At that time the chief officer, Mr. Wilde, put his head around the hawse pipe and says: "What is that, Hemming?" I said: "The air is escaping from the forepeak tank. She is making water in the forepeak tank, but the storeroom is quite dry." He said, "All right," and went away.

Once the ship trimmed down by the head enough for water to reach C deck, it would then be blocked only by a non-watertight bulkhead on C deck. That store room area would then start to flood and eventually fill. The bulkhead separating the chain locker from the store room was NOT watertight. Once the store room would begin to flood, so too would the chain locker.

 

[Robby House]

Right, the ingress of water into the forepeak tank did push the air out through some sort of duct or ventilation shaft which went straight up to the foredeck in that general vicinity, in my head I'm thinking that wouldn't matter so much except I guess it made the complete flooding of the forepeak tank a little easier but other than that I'd think the flooding would be contained in that portion of the first watertight compartment or the forepeak compartment. (I'm not sure if there is an official name for this compartment or not. I guess it's simply the "forepeak.") And I'm pretty sure the chain locker wasn't connected to the forepeak tank but rather it was part of the rest of the forepeak above the forepeak tank and would probably not be housed in its own water tight sub-compartment. I just couldn't see any reason why they'd go to the trouble for that particular component.

That is exactly how I have always understood it. Also, if the hull damage to the forepeak was below that horizontal plating and did not extend along the hull beyond Bulkhead A, then the water would have equalised with the sea as soon as the forepeak tank was full and so no further flooding would have occurred from that particular breach, right? OR, would the water have then risen along the space where the anchor chain was stowed?

The water entering the forepeak tank was displacing air through somewhere at a rate rapid enough to cause hissing, which was what woke Lamp Trimmer Samuel Hemming some 8 minutes after the collision.

 

[Robby House]

Great. Thanks so much for your reply. I've read some of your work on Titanic and plan to read more. It's some very good stuff!

Yes. The space above the tank was initially dry:

Mr. HEMMING. I did not see anything. I opened the forepeak storeroom; me and the storekeeper went down as far as the top of the tank and found everything dry.
I came up to ascertain where the hissing noise was still coming from. I found it was the air escaping out of the exhaust of the tank.
At that time the chief officer, Mr. Wilde, put his head around the hawse pipe and says: "What is that, Hemming?" I said: "The air is escaping from the forepeak tank. She is making water in the forepeak tank, but the storeroom is quite dry." He said, "All right," and went away.

Once the ship trimmed down by the head enough for water to reach C deck, it would then be blocked only by a non-watertight bulkhead on C deck. That store room area would then start to flood and eventually fill. The bulkhead separating the chain locker from the store room was NOT watertight. Once the store room would begin to flood, so too would the chain locker.

 

[Robby House]

Okay...sorry. I got a little confused by the seeming contradictory nature of your reply. The water "did not spill over the bulkheads..." [Bulkhead A] into the unflooded forepeak space above the flooded forepeak tank but you quote Hemming's recollection of water reaching D Deck in the 2nd Compartment [Hold #1] ostensibly flooding the "bow" which I take to mean the dry upper portions of the still unflooded Forepeak. Please understand I'm not trying to be difficult or anything either. I just want to make sure I understand!

Thanks,

Robby

PS- I guess in the case of Bulkhead A, it was one of the bulkheads that went one deck higher to the top of D Deck (Saloon Deck) or the bottom of C Deck (Shelter Deck) depending on how you look at it I guess...so the water would have to pour down the appropriate corridors on C Deck level to find its way into the dry portions of the Forepeak.

The problem with that one is that the water did not spill over the bulkheads which is a very very simple explanation.

From Hemming we know she was making water in the forepeak tank. (At last when the water reached D Deck in the 2nd compartments it flooded also the bow (and any dry places).

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

Okay...sorry. I got a little confused by the seeming contradictory nature of your reply. The water "did not spill over the bulkheads..." [Bulkhead A] into the unflooded forepeak space above the flooded forepeak tank

PS- I guess in the case of Bulkhead A, it was one of the bulkheads that went one deck higher to the top of D Deck (Saloon Deck) or the bottom of C Deck (Shelter Deck) depending on how you look at it I guess...so the water would have to pour down the appropriate corridors on C Deck level to find its way into the dry portions of the Forepeak.

WTB A went up to the underside of D Deck (top of E Deck). You actually answered your question, it was that what I mean. The water would reach D Deck and then flood the "corridor" there moving forward and find its way in the 1st compartment down.

but you quote Hemming's recollection of water reaching D Deck in the 2nd Compartment [Hold #1] ostensibly flooding the "bow" which I take to mean the dry upper portions of the still unflooded Forepeak.

Hemming did not mentioned it, it was my own note.

 

[Robby House]

Okay, sorry. I did not mean to misrepresent what you said. So you are or are not saying that the rest of the forepeak was flooded from water running down the corridors on C Deck from Hold #1. I guess if not from Hold #1 water would have entered in from the three anchor ports (that's probably not the correct nomenclature but you get what I'm saying I think.) and finally from above via the hatches on the foredeck right?

Thanks for your feedback.

Robby

Oh Crap! I somehow missed your first sentence of your reply! Sorry! Thanks!

WTB A went up to the underside of D Deck (top of E Deck). You actually answered your question, it was that what I mean. The water would reach D Deck and then flood the "corridor" there moving forward and find its way in the 1st compartment down.



Hemming did not mentioned it, it was my own note.

 

[Jim Currie]

The Chain Locker of all ships... even then... was watertight when the ship was at sea. There was only one entrance to the locker..... the pipe through which the chain was deployed... the Spurling Pipe. This was always made watertight at sea. Otherwise, waves taken over the bow in a heavy sea would fill the locker

When a ship was made ready for sea and the anchors were hove up tight against the doubling plate on each bow, the carpenter would make up a number of what was known as 'puddings'. These were simply small burlap sacks filled with wet sand and cement mixture. First the chain stopper would be put in place to restrict movement. then the puddings would be packed round the chain at the deck end of the Spurling Pipe and the whole lot made water tight topped with a layer of cement to which was added a large dollop of washing soda to accelerate hardening. There was a bolted manhole on the bulkhead separating the Chain Locker from the adjacent Forepeak Store. This would be removed and the carpenter would enter the locker and tie the chain to a convenient lug on the bulkhead. This stopped the suspended part of the chain banging and thumping as the ship rolled and pitched in a seaway. After this was done, the Carpenter would bolt the manhole cover and wt gasket back kn place an report to the Chief Officer that this had all been done. If the Titanic was like any other ship at sea, her chain Locker would have been very watertight at the time of the accident.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

It is interesting that the chain locker bulkhead was not made waterproof. See att.

 

[Jim Currie]

Sam, like most ships, the aft bulkhead of the Chain Locker was part of WTB 'A'.. the collision bulkhead. The forward bulk head of the locker only needed to be leak-proof so that water entering from above through the spurling pipes did not gain entry to the adjacent compartments.

 

[Jim Currie]

PS. Can't see the plan too clearly but looks like there were two rectangular access hatches leading into the port and starboard lockers from the forward bulkhead.

 

[Samuel Halpern]

No hatches listed for that bulkhead Jim. Safe to say that chain locker must have been dry since it was ahead of WTB-A which was watertight. As long as the store room remained dry, so too was the chain locker. We have no disagreement.