International Naval Journal

Number 10 (1), 2022

3-11
Bunkering on Old Coal Ships

Authors: Antonio G. ErceLizarraga

Abstract

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Currently, coal ships are almost completely a thing of the past. Liquid fuel made operation much easier. However, for ship modellers and lovers of the history of the fleet, the construction of coal bunkers is of a redistributed interest. The paper describes the design of coal bunkers and covers their necks. Larger ships usually used massive filler caps to seal the bunkers, while smaller ships had threaded connections. Movie and photo evidence of coal loadings are given. Bunkering for coal ships was of great importance. We remember that when Admiral Camara's squadron arrived in Port Said, the lack of coal prevented his further movement, which prevented him from continuing his march to the Philippines. Thus, the presence or absence of coal could have important strategic implications. Coal loading was a hard and dirty job that led to chronic diseases in those who took part in it. After loading, it was usually necessary to wash the ship and wash clothes. To speed up loading, competitions were held, and an orchestra accompanied the work of the crew.

12-21
Peruvian Torpedo-Boat “Alliance” in Arica. According to the Monograph by Julio Elias “Peruvian Sailors in Arica”

Authors: Julio J. ElíasMurguía

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The paper provides a translation into Russian of fragments of the monograph by J. Elias “Peruvian sailors in Arica”, concerning the combat use of the torpedo boat “Alliance”. The book was published in 1980 after the death of the author and summarized his many years of research. When preparing materials, he used both surviving documents and personally interviewed still living participants in those events. In this regard, the work of J. Elias is a valuable historical source. The torpedo boat “Alliance” was one of the first ships of this class, used in combat conditions - the Second Pacific War between Chile and the combined forces of Peru and Bolivia. The boat had many experimental technical solutions that did not find further application on warships. Because of this, and also because of the lightness of the steam engine, Peruvian sailors experienced constant difficulties with its combat use. Nevertheless, the “Alliance” was quite actively used for reconnaissance, once even having a real opportunity to attack with a torpedo the most powerful Chilean ship, the battleship “Almirante Cochrane”. However, after the fall of Ariki, the boat made a breakthrough from the captured city, but for technical reasons it was blown up in the Pakocha area. The crew was taken prisoner. The monograph of H. Elias was the first work that introduced a wide audience to a detailed description of this feat.

22-33
River Returnees of the USSR

Authors: Vladislav V. Zhdanov

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From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet rivermen found themselves in the thick of military events – they transported units of the Red Army, military cargo, refugees, equipment and people from evacuated enterprises. Part of the river vessels, together with the crews, were transferred to the fleet and converted into military vessels. Participating in hostilities, they inevitably suffered losses – there were Soviet riverboats, both sunk and captured by the enemy. Unfortunately, the topic of the use of Soviet river vessels by Germany in the occupied territories is not at all represented in Russian literature. The few references to this are extremely eclectic and do not give a sense of the whole picture as a whole. In part, the problem of using Soviet ships was raised only in the Pinsk flotilla. Thus, this article is the first attempt to tell about these events. Former ships of the Soviet river fleet were used during the Great Patriotic War by at least several German structures. These are three Field Waterways Departments (Feldwasserstraßen-Abteilung-2, 3 and 4), the river fleets of the former Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian SSRs, as well as the structures of the German Dnieper Shipping Company. In addition, the occupying authorities organized shipbuilding in Pinsk, eventually building about a hundred barges.