Carl D. Bradley

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William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by William Lafferty »

Another bonus, the electricity produced by the turbine generator could be used for unloading.
Indeed, although from the Wyandotte onward electricity powered the unloading systems. This, though, involved having a separate steam engine to drive a generator supplying electric motors. Wyandotte had two such motors. The turbine constantly driving the generator did away with a lot of the redundancy of previous applications, and first used on the T. W. Robinson.
tugboat
Posts: 72
Joined: March 27, 2012, 7:21 pm

Re: Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by tugboat »

William Lafferty wrote: November 22, 2022, 1:59 pm The Bradley fleet had already adopted turbine-electric propulsion with the building of the T. W. Robinson in 1925. The general layout was not ideal but the overall performance and economy of operation led to Carl Bradley stipulating turbine-electric for his eponymous new build in 1926. Turbine-electric drive was adopted by Ford for the Chester and Edgewater in 1931 and the Pere Marquette had adopted it for the City of Saginaw 31 and City of Flint 32 in 1929 and 1930. Such an installation on the lakes goes back as far as 1908 with the sister fireboats Graeme Stewart and Joseph Medill of the Chicago fire department. Such an installation allowed the use of high speed steam turbines to drive the propeller without the use of heavy and cumbersome reduction gears, using instead generators and electric motors coupled to the prop. Compared to compound steam engines, turbines are very simple and efficient in use, with fewer friction producing moving parts, while the steam expended is condensed and reused by the boiler. The turbine could run constantly at its most efficient speed while the motor speed could be easily and quickly adjusted as needed. This was especially true for reversing. Maneuverability efficiency was definitely increased with electric, and which no doubt was a consideration when the vessels previously cited were designed. Turbine-electric drive was somewhat of an engineering fad in the 1920s and 1930 for merchant vessels. You will note, though, that Bradley's next boat, John G. Munson of 1952 was geared turbine, Ford's next NYSB canallers Norfolk and Green Island were Diesel propelled, and the next vessels in the former Pere Marquette fleet, City of Midland 41, Badger, and Spartan, were Skinner unaflows. At some point Diesels became more efficient, reduction gearing more advanced, and the weight of the generators and motors in the turbine-electric installations too onerous. An exhaustive article analyzing the performance of the Bradley's installation can be found in The Marine Review, December 1928, 29-33, 64.
Another bonus, the electricity produced by the turbine generator could be used for unloading.
William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by William Lafferty »

The Bradley fleet had already adopted turbine-electric propulsion with the building of the T. W. Robinson in 1925. The general layout was not ideal but the overall performance and economy of operation led to Carl Bradley stipulating turbine-electric for his eponymous new build in 1926. Turbine-electric drive was adopted by Ford for the Chester and Edgewater in 1931 and the Pere Marquette had adopted it for the City of Saginaw 31 and City of Flint 32 in 1929 and 1930. Such an installation on the lakes goes back as far as 1908 with the sister fireboats Graeme Stewart and Joseph Medill of the Chicago fire department. Such an installation allowed the use of high speed steam turbines to drive the propeller without the use of heavy and cumbersome reduction gears, using instead generators and electric motors coupled to the prop. Compared to compound steam engines, turbines are very simple and efficient in use, with fewer friction producing moving parts, while the steam expended is condensed and reused by the boiler. The turbine could run constantly at its most efficient speed while the motor speed could be easily and quickly adjusted as needed. This was especially true for reversing. Maneuverability efficiency was definitely increased with electric, and which no doubt was a consideration when the vessels previously cited were designed. Turbine-electric drive was somewhat of an engineering fad in the 1920s and 1930 for merchant vessels. You will note, though, that Bradley's next boat, John G. Munson of 1952 was geared turbine, Ford's next NYSB canallers Norfolk and Green Island were Diesel propelled, and the next vessels in the former Pere Marquette fleet, City of Midland 41, Badger, and Spartan, were Skinner unaflows. At some point Diesels became more efficient, reduction gearing more advanced, and the weight of the generators and motors in the turbine-electric installations too onerous. An exhaustive article analyzing the performance of the Bradley's installation can be found in The Marine Review, December 1928, 29-33, 64.
LSF849

Re: Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by LSF849 »

The Bradly had a unique propulsion system that was never adapted by the other fleets. I don't know why that is perhaps others on this board can shed some light on it, thanks.
William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by William Lafferty »

The second Carl D. Bradley was the 13th purpose-built self unloader, not counting a handful of sand suckers and the Collier No. 1 using more specialized unloading devices. Overall, including those vessels and conversions and depending upon how their chronology is measured, the Bradley was between the 29th and 31st self unloader. I think the second generation as Jared terms it began with the W. F. White of 1915 and existed as the paradigm for some decades.
Jared
Posts: 798
Joined: December 6, 2014, 4:51 pm

Re: Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by Jared »

I'd call the Bradley amongst the second generation of Self Unloaders. The prior unloaders (Wyndotte, Sylvan, Hennepin, Andaste, Bay City, Clifton, etc) were added after the vessel had been built. The Bradley was "one" of the first built with the self unloader designed into the hull. A good book on this is Valerie Van Heest's and William Lafferty's Buckets and Belts: The History of Great Lakes self unloader.
scooterdog

Carl D. Bradley

Unread post by scooterdog »

From the photo on the Boatnerd News page of the Carl D. Bradley, recalling the 64th year of her sinking, I noted the self unloading boom. Was the Bradley among the first of the self unloaders?
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