Craig, There were two auxiliary propulsion units (APUs) mounted about 1/3 of the ship's length from the bow. They were electric and could be retracted when not in use, and rotated 360 degrees. A skilled ship driver could use those and the main engine to maneuver pier-side or get underway with no tug boat if the opposing wind and tide were low (less than 15 knots wind or one knot of tide).
However, using the APUs to counteract the stern walk was a losing battle. We found it was better to use momentum and good judgement to "coast" the ship up to the pier and get just close enough to get lines over, and then use the lines to pull the ship in the last few yards. One could balance the APUs against the stern walk and twist the ship if needed, but that was usually a slow dance, very trying for Sailors waiting to get off the ship after a period at sea. Far more efficient to come at the pier with a few knots speed (below three knots of forward speed the rudder became ineffective), and then kick the rudder to get the stern going the right way, and apply reverse thrust with propeller and APUs at just the right time. -- Max Dillon Charleston SC '87 300TD '95 E300 On September 12, 2015 10:21:24 PM EDT, Craig via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > >I'll bet it did. But didn't you have stern thrusters to counteract >that? > > >Craig > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
