Iron Lady gets another five year makeover
What is claimed to be the world’ s biggest coal fired, steam icebreaker still afloat, the Stettin, has undergone its regular five year check at Hamburg’ s Blohm + Voss Repair Shipyard and been declared fit for further service.
During the 12 day general overhaul the ship known as the ‘Iron Lady’ underwent a long list of improvements and repairs, which included the complete cleaning, conservation and painting of its underwater hull. Rudder and sea valves were also checked and improved where needed. Deck and machinery work was also carried out before GL representatives renewed its certificate.
The 75 year old veteran hasn’t broken any ice for some time. It was retired in 1981 and is now based in the local Oevelgönne museum harbour but still undertakes regular passenger trips and is owned and operated by a Hamburg based volunteer association.
The 51.75m long and 13.43m wide Stettin draws 5.4m aft and displaces 1,138 tons. The 836 gross tons vessel was completed at the Oderwerke in Szczecin, Poland in 1933 for local interests at a cost of 547,000 Reichsmarks.
The rounded bulge of a hull ensured that it was not damaged by the pressure of thick ice. In extreme cases of compression stress, the ship was pressed out of the ice and could free itself with pitch-like hull motions. The entirely riveted hull is made of hardened, tempered steel with the keel course 12 mm thick, stem hull plates 24 mm thick and stern hull plates 20 mm thick.
Propulsion is via a triple expansion piston steam engine with Stephenson excentre control on two piston slide and one flat slide low pressure valves. It provides almost 2,000hp to a four blade, 4.2m diameter propeller to deliver a maximum speed of 13 knots. Moving slowly, Stettin could open a passage through ice up to one metre thick.
By Tom Todd
