Something Else I Didn't Know About Ships

[Subdeacon Joe]

From FB.

 

Two enormous gyroscopes being installed in the USS Henderson as a roll stabilizing system during its construction in April 1917 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in World War 1.

The Henderson, a transport of 80 ton displacement, was the first large ship to be gyroscopically stabilized to prevent the ship from rolling from side to side with ocean swells.

The gyros, built by Sperry Rand, consist of two 25 ton, 9 ft diameter flywheels which during operation are spun at 1100 RPM in opposite directions by 75 HP AC electric motors.

Each gyro case is mounted on a vertical bearing which can be turned by a 75 HP servo motor. When a small sensor gyro on the ship's bridge sensed the ship roll, it ordered the servo motor to rotate the gyros about the vertical axis in a direction so the gyro's precession would oppose the ship's roll.

During trials they were able to keep the ship roll down to 3 degrees in the roughest seas.

This technology was replaced by roll stabilizer fins and is not used today.

 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

SIMPLY AMAZING!!

[Chantry]

I don't think they were commonly used on warships due to size and weight.

[Jack Tar, SASS# 15099]

5 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

80 ton displacement

I think there's a few zeroes missing here.  The vessel I recently sold displaced 120 tons and was 114' long. Not even a ship! The two gyro flywheels alone weighed 50 tons.

 

Point of interest. While this system went in a different direction aboard ships, it has re-appeared for small and medium size boats. Having a sensor to tell the gyro when to precess  to oppose the roll is a little off. That automatically happens when the vessel tries to roll, the force of the gyro holds against it.

[Subdeacon Joe]

35 minutes ago, Jack Tar, SASS# 15099 said:

I think there's a few zeroes missing here.  The vessel I recently sold displaced 120 tons and was 114' long. Not even a ship! The two gyro flywheels alone weighed 50 tons.

 

Correct, good catch.  7730 tons displacement. 

 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

 The conservation of angular momentum is a very interesting law.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Just now, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 The conservation of angular momentum is a very interesting law.

 

A hard one to break.