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RECENT BOILER EXPLOSION REPORTS. EXPLOSION FROM: THE BOILER OF THE STEAM DRIFTER KINGFISHER, OF GRANTON (NO. 1,598). This boiler is of the ordinary cylin- drical multitubular marine type. It is about 9 ft. 10 in. in diameter, and about 9 ft. 7 in. long, being fitted with two furnaces about 3 ft. in diameter, con- "TAE Marine REVIEW Cin Fig. 1. There was also a patch 14 in. by 10 in. over the shell seam.at the bottom of the boiler, and new furnaces appear to have been fitted. In Decem- ber, 1903, riveted patches appear to have been fitted at D and E by Messrs. T. and H. Morton & Co., Leith. In April, 1904, the owner had the bolted patch at B replaced by a larger one riveted to the boiler, the owner's engineer and boilermaker doing the work. In April, FIG. I. BOILER OF THE STEAM DRIFTER " KINGFISHER." nected to a combustion chamber com- mon to them both. The boiler is said to have been removed from the steam- ship Sir Francis: Head, on. board of which vessel it had been little used. The year of construction, said to be 000000 0'0 0 O}L' eoo0o0e000000 O PAR* BLOWN OUT FIG, 2, THE MAIN BOILER OF THE SS, " PEARL." STARBOARD HALF SECTION. CZ AAS FIG. 3. "SHOWING PART BLOWN OUT. 1895, could not therefore be verified. The boiler was bought by the present owner and fitted on board the King- fisher in April, r900, At that time bolted patches appear to have been already fitted where marked A, B, and 1905, the bolted patch at C was re- placed by a larger bolted one. These patches had to be enlarged owing to the corrosion of the plate around the old patches. The explosion was due to the local wasting of the combustion chamber bottom plate on the fire side until it became so thin that it was unable to withstand the ordinary working pres- sure. A hole 1% in. long by I in. at the broadest part was formed in the bottom plate of the combustion cham- . ber. close .to: the © patch marked A. Through this opening the contents of the boiler escaped rapidly into the stokehold. The pressure in the boiler at the time of the explosion was about 75 lbs. per square inch. . The engineer surveyor-in-chief ob- serves that under different circum- stances the explosion might have been attended with serious results, for the vessel was thereby rendered helpless so far as the engines were concerned. The plates, of the boiler were very much wasted by corrosion, and that this action has been going on for a considerable time is evident from the number of patches fitted and the neces- sity for enlarging them at various times. The examinations of the boiler for some time prior to the explosion can only have been of a most perfunc- tory nature, and this is not to the cred- it of those responsible for its safe con- dition. EXPLOSION FROM THE MAIN BOILER OF THE S. S. PEARL (NO. 1,599). The steamship Pearl is a screw steamer of 691 gross tonnage, and 90 21 nominal horsepower, employed _ solely in the coasting trade. The boiler which formed the subject of this inquiry is of steel, with iron tubes, and is of the ordinary cylindri- cal multitubular marine type, single- ended, 14 ft. in diameter by Io ft. 6 in. long, with three plain furnaces, each 3 ft. 6 in. in diameter. ; There is a separate combustion chamber to each furnace, the wrapper and back plates of which are 9-16 in. thick, supported by screwed and nutted stays pitched 8% in. apart each way. The boiler is fitted with the usual mountings, including two spring-loaded safety valves adjusted to blow off at a pressure of 160 lbs. per square inch. The engineer surveyor-in-chief states that the explosion in this case was the result of the corrosion of the back plate of a combustion chamber, consequent on leakage around one of the stays, whereby the plate was so reduced in thickness that it could not successfully withstand the ordinary working pressure of the boiler, and a small portion was. blown out. Al- though the part affected was very lo- cal, it was plainly visible from the in- side of the combustion chamber, and, A te . 4 Position of Part which gave way FIG. 4. BOILER OF THE SS. " ENTERPRISE." as the wasting action must have been going on for a considerable time, it is somewhat surprising that the defect was not noticed and remedied before the explosion occurred, for one would have thought that the leakage which doubtless existed would have drawn attention to the condition of the plate. This absence of careful supervision was responsible for the disablement of the vessel, which under less favorable circumstances, might have been seri- ous. EXPLOSION FROM THE MAIN BOILER OF THE §. §, ENTERPRISE (NO. 1,600)., The vessel is engaged in the general coasting trade. A hole, measuring