Rust on Lifeboat Davits

[mjbollinger]

A question for those who know of such details...

For a troopship operating in WWII, how big of a deal would it be to have rust on the chains, blocks, and davits used for lowering lifeboats? Could the rust effectively lock the system so that the lifeboat could not be lowered? Are there mechanisms and techniques to deal with a rusty chain, block, or davit in an emergency?

Any insights greatly appreciated.

[Urs Heßling]

hi,

For a troopship operating in WWII, how big of a deal would it be to have rust on the chains, blocks, and davits used for lowering lifeboats?

IMO a big deal, called irresponsibility

Could the rust effectively lock the system so that the lifeboat could not be lowered?

yes, I think so

Are there mechanisms and techniques to deal with a rusty chain, block, or davit in an emergency ?

Not really, ... sorry, it's too late, mate

greetings, Urs

[mjbollinger]

Thanks. Here is the context...

I just read through about 150 reports from survivors of a sinking of HMT Rohna, in which over 1,000 American servicemen were killed. The surviving crew members of the ship evidently launched a lifeboat for themselves and abandoned the vessel immediately after it was hit in an air attack, leaving about 1,200-1800 survivors still on board to fend for themselves. They found the davits and lifeboats in poor condition and, not being trained in how to use them, managed to get a lot of the lines fouled, losing many of the lifeboats in the process. The life rafts on board had, according to many accounts, become "welded" to the hull via rust, paint, etc.

The estimates are that about 500 were killed in the attack itself, but that another 500 who survived the attack perished in the failed evacuation.

My objective is to understand the relative importance of the poor condition of the safety equipment versus the absence of trained crew to operate it. In other words, would the situation have been different if the crew had remained on board, or would the crew have faced the same hurdles.

It turns out that when lifeboat drill was executed the day before, no one actually tried to lower a lifeboat or show the soldiers on board how to do it in an emergency. Moreover, the ship in question had been in harbor for six weeks prior to the departure -- longest stay in one port since the war started -- and apparently no maintenance was done on the safety equipment.

The producer of a documentary on this is taking a hard line on this, blaming the actions of the crew and lack of maintenance for many needless deaths. I just want to make sure this is justified.

Marty

[Urs Heßling]

hi, Marty,

The life rafts on board had, according to many accounts, become "welded" to the hull via rust, paint, etc.

I did experience similar conditions myself on a small Greek ferryboat when travelling with a group through Crete.

My objective is to understand the relative importance of the poor condition of the safety equipment versus the absence of trained crew to operate it. In other words, would the situation have been different if the crew had remained on board, or would the crew have faced the same hurdles.

Even if the crew was untrained - as was supposed in your prior link - the process would have been easier

when lifeboat drill was executed the day before, no one actually tried to lower a lifeboat or show the soldiers on board how to do it in an emergency. ... apparently no maintenance was done on the safety equipment

Both grave neglects, and definitely captain's responsibility

The producer of a documentary on this is taking a hard line on this, blaming the actions of the crew and lack of maintenance for many needless deaths.

I tend to agree with that.

It seems to me that there was rather little "lessons learned" when I look at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_L%C3%A ... lle_(1928)

greetings, Urs