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} in ). |Ship yard number=363〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ben-My-Chree )〕 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=1908 |Ship launched=Monday 23 March 1908 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=July 1908 |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage=Wednesday July 15, 1908〔''Mona's Herald''. Wednesday July 15th, 1908〕 |Ship in service=1908 |Ship out of service=1915 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified=1915 as ''HMS Ben-my-Chree'' |Ship refit=1915 |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport=Douglas |Ship identification= *ON 118605 *Code Letters H R C Q * *〔Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (Fred Henry) p.64〕 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname=''The Ben'' |Ship fate=Requisitioned 1915 by the Admiralty, converted by Cammell Laird's to Seaplane Carrier. Sunk by Turkish gunfire off Island Kastellorizo, January 1917. Wreck raised August, 1920 and towed to Piraeus for scrap. |Ship status=Scrapped |Ship notes=Most powerful and fastest steamer to serve with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Fleet. |Ship badge= }} |} TSS (RMS) ''Ben-my-Chree'' (III) No. 118605 – the third vessel in the company's history to be so named – was a passenger steamer operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company between 1908 and 1915. ''Ben-my-Chree'' was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1915 and converted to a Seaplane Carrier. Commissioned as ''HMS Ben-my-Chree'' she was sunk by Turkish batteries on January 11, 1917. ''Ben-my-Chree'' was built in 1908 at the Vickers Sons and Maxim shipyard, Barrow in Furness. She was the fifth ship built in the Barrow yard for the Isle of Man Steam Packet, and was launched by Mrs. J. T. Cowell at 13:45hrs on Monday March 23, 1908.〔''The Isle of Man Times.'' Saturday, March 28, 1908〕 ''Ben-my-Chree'' is regarded as amongst the finest and certainly the fastest of vessels ever to serve the line.〔 In appearance she was said to resemble a mini Cunarder rather than a conventional cross-channel steamer, proudly being described by the Company as: ''"the fastest and most luxuriously appointed channel steamer afloat."'' During the early part of the 20th Century, speed of service was very much at the fore for shipping companies plying the Irish Sea routes to the Isle of Man; an article in the ''Daily Mail'' of July 1908 stated: ==Dimensions and construction== ''Ben-my-Chree'' had a tonnage of 2,651 GRT; length 390 feet ''(375 feet between the perpendiculars)''; beam 46 feet; depth 18 feet 6 inches. ''Ben-my-Chree''s overall length was longer than the later ''Lady of Mann'' and her engines developed more than those of ''The Lady.''〔 This continued engine development resulted from ever-improving engineering and material standards, thereby in turn securing greater thermal efficiency. ''Ben-my-Chree'' was driven by three Parsons steam turbines which were built under licence by Vickers Sons and Maxim, the turbines developing 14,000 shaft horsepower, thereby resulting in a designed service speed of 24.5 knots.〔 The turbines were so arranged so as to work in series, with one high-pressure ahead turbine driving the centre shaft, and two low-pressure ahead turbines driving their respective wing shaft. Astern turbines were incorporated in the casing, with each low-pressure turbine fitted with valves to control the admission of steam for ahead and astern working.〔 These manoeuvring valves were independent of the high-pressure turbine which would run idle when the ship was manoeuvring.〔 The valve gear was arranged for easy operation and was placed at the forward end of the high-pressure turbine. The main valves were of the vertical equilibrium type operated by large handwheels.〔 Two condensers were fitted, one on each side of the turbine run, and were supplied with circulating water by two large centrifugal pumps.〔 The air pumps were direct acting twin-type pumps, fitted in duplicate for each condenser and independently driven.〔 Steam was supplied at a pressure of 170 lb per square inch by four double-ended cylindrical boilers, arranged to work under forced draught with closed stokeholds.〔 Each of the boilers was fitted with eight furnaces of the suspension type.〔 There were four combustion chambers, each common to two furnaces, the shell plates and stays being manufactured from high-tensile steel. The boilers were arranged in two boiler rooms with separate uptakes and funnel for each room. They were equipped with four steam-driven fans fitted for supplying air under pressure to the boilers.〔 In addition to the usual feed and bilge pumping engines, the machinery department was fitted with oil lubricating pumps which serviced the turbine bearings, sanitary pumps, water heater, ash hoist and fresh water pumps.〔 ''Ben-my-Chree'' was built under special survey from Lloyd's of London and also in accordance with the Board of Trade for their passenger certificates.〔 The ship was subdivided into a large number of watertight compartments, so proportioned that the ship would float if any two adjacent compartments became flooded.〔 The watertight doors throughout the ship were operated on the Stone-Lloyd system that enabled all doors to be closed instantly and simultaneously from the bridge.〔 Water ballast tanks were fitted to each end of the vessel which enabled her to be trimmed to any desired draught.〔 There were also large water ballast tanks in the holds in order for trimming the vessel in rough weather.〔 A powerful steam windlass was situated forward on the shelter deck for working the anchors, which were arranged to be stowed in hawse pipes, and two large capstans were fitted aft on the shelter deck for warping purposes.〔 A combined steam and hand steering engine was also located aft, and this was controlled by a telemotor gear from the navigating bridge.〔 There was also a powerful steering gear situated forward, the purpose of which was to operate a bow rudder so as to facilitate the quick turning and manoeuvring of the vessel when entering or leaving port.〔 The ''Ben-my-Chree'' had a complete installation of electric lighting.〔 The twin generating plants were duplicate, each being able to supply every one of the 350 fittings which were of 16 candela. A searchlight was situated at the bow and a system of electric bells was also fitted.〔 ''Ben-my-Chree'' was fitted with a total of 12 lifeboats,〔 ten of which were of a large capacity, and each boat was fitted with a patent disengaging gear. She was certified for a crew complement of 116, and had a passenger capacity of 2,700.〔 ''Ben-my-Chree'' had been scheduled to enter service in June 1908.〔 However, industrial action which resulted in a "lockout" of employees at Vickers delayed her entry into service. She entered the graving dock at Barrow on May 28, in order to have her propellers fitted and for her turbines to undergo testing. As a consequence of the strike, certain parts of her woodwork had also to be completed and her entry into service was therefore delayed until July.〔''Peel City Guardian.'' Saturday May 23rd, 1908〕 Because of this delay, the ''Empress Queen'' had to be taken back into commission earlier than planned. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SS Ben-my-Chree (1908)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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