Talk:Marine steam engine

Untitled

So close to a B rating but no inline citations in the last two sections. --Brad (talk) 08:02, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Direct acting engines

"One disadvantage of such engines is that they were more prone to wear and tear and thus required more maintenance." Without more context, this does not make sense to me. The reference is pretty early, and as direct acting engines rapidly became the norm, there does not seem to have been much of a problem. Globbet (talk) 23:25, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I should probably clarify that. Gatoclass (talk) 18:09, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

 Done Gatoclass (talk) 23:54, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Coverage almost complete

This article now covers pretty much all the different types of 19th century marine steam engines I have encountered in my researches. There may still be one or two not covered but all the well known types are there I think. I still intend to continue tweaking this article and adding new information and more cites, but I probably won't be adding many more engine types. Gatoclass (talk) 14:41, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Scope

This article defines the marine steam engine as a reciprocating engine, which excludes marine steam turbines. The strikes me as inconsistent with both plain meaning and actual usage. See, Sennett and Oram, The Marine Steam Engine, etc., 6th ed. (1902), pp. 286–286d. Kablammo (talk) 19:41, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

"Engine" usually means reciprocating in this context. Besides, this article is already long and is going to get longer. Marine turbines have their own history and definitely warrant a standalone article. Gatoclass (talk) 09:56, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

While I agree that marine turbines merit their own article, they are marine steam engines. They need not be covered in this article, but the title should make it clear that this article applies only to reciprocating steam engines. Kablammo (talk) 01:32, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Are you suggesting the article be renamed something like "Reciprocating marine steam engines"? I don't think I could concur with that. AFAICT most sources in this field use "engine" when they mean "reciprocating engine", and "turbine" for turbines. Gatoclass (talk) 02:54, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

I think a change in the initial statement defining what such an engine is would be a start. The present definition is uncited and impressions of what "most sources" say is not a reliable source (especially as the use of "engine" in such cases is not meant to be exclusive). Then at the bottom of the article could be a section on turbines, in summary style, with a main article elsewhere. That woule preserve the focus of the present article. Kablammo (talk) 14:08, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Suggested change to opening sentence: Replace

A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat.

with

A marine steam engine is a heat engine which converts steam pressure to mechanical force to power a ship or boat. For the first century of the use of steam in marine applications, the dominant type of engine was the reciprocating steam engine.

and then continue on as the lead reads now. I can do a short section at the end for turbines, and start a separate article. Regards, Kablammo (talk) 14:49, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

I already reworded the intro to address your concerns. I don't think the spiel about heat energy and so on is necessary since all that is already extant in the steam engine article and doesn't need repetition here IMO.

I have been planning to write an article on marine steam turbines for quite a while but currently have little time to devote to wikipedia, so if you want to start it that's okay by me. Gatoclass (talk) 14:55, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Suggested source

I don't have time to contribute from this source atm, but as it has yet to be referenced, I'd like to recommend: Denis Griffiths, Steam at Sea, Conway Maritime Press, 1997, ISBN 0 85177 666 3. - Globbet (talk) 20:22, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

That book sounds good, so I have ordered a copy. Thanks for the recommendation :) Gatoclass (talk) 23:34, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Walking beam

re: "The adjective "walking" was applied because the beam, which rose high above the ship's deck, could be seen operating, and its rocking motion was (somewhat fancifully) likened to a walking motion."

The following is anecdotal, however I have seen drawings of walking beams on which people provided power by walking back and forth, which linked to a pump piston in exactly the manner of a simple beam engine (without a flywheel). I have no citation, but I recall reading/hearing that this was the source of the name. I will keep looking, and will add it if/when I find one, but I went ahead and put this here in case someone more expert already knows where to find such 66.211.18.236 (talk) 18:52, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

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