TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
96001
1910
55
Self-leveling pool table on a cruise ship.
This gif made it to the front page showing off a self-leveling pool table on the cruise ship. ("Original" post http://imgur.com/gallery/uLMkFEi)
User @strakur mentioned that a whole boat should be made like that but he didn't know that the idea had been tried!
Ladies and Gents meet the SS Bessemer! The dumbest ship you'll probably ever see. You see the SS Bessemer was meant to combat seasickness by having a swinging cabin. To give you some background on this ship, the engineer and inventor was named Sir Henry Bessemer and he suffered from severe seasickness. He dreamt up a solution for himself where a ship would have a passenger cabin (aka the Saloon) would be suspended on gimbals to keep them stable at all times! Great idea right?
Of course, it was! A boat that could set sail and a place where passengers could relax without becoming seasick? In theory it was perfect; however, the theory was just a theory to know for sure the boat had to be built. So it was that the SS Bessemer came into being. A 4 paddle steamer boat it was designed to carry strictly passengers and some cargo. After its completion in 1874 it launched on september 24th the same year on course from Dover to Calais on a private trip.
Well, lemme hit you with some mild shock! It crashed as soon as it pulled in because it couldn't answer to the helm at slow speeds. That didn't deter good old Sir Henry tho and on the 8th of May 1875, it set sail again for Calais full of passengers. Surprise surprise it crashed again and this time one of the cabins locked up and the crash destroyed part of the boat. After only two voyages, both of which ended in failure, the ship was decommissioned and was later sold for scrap in 1879 and the saloon cabin was used as a billiard room at Hextable House (Kinda weird that the post went full circle back to billiards...). However, when the house became a women's college it was turned into a lecture hall that was later bombed to ash in WWII. Some pieces still survived and in 2012 were valued at £300 - 400 on Antiques Roadshow.
Warship tax. USCGC Eagle Class Training Barque
Edit #1: Some people have decided to create similar functioning boats using modern tech. Here is a video of one such attempt as mentioned by @ILikePicturesCauseFunny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nor6h3c8TYc&feature=youtu.be
2fligh2high
Cheeseoutloud
One of his other inventions being the Bessemer cauldron, with which he invented steel as we know it today..
strakur
hey, thanks for the credit! I meant it tongue-in-cheek but am now really glad to have learned this!
TheRealSteveBrule
Grandmahater
I like the part where OP used Wikipedia almost word for word in his description.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
I like the part we're OP used one of the only available sources to source his post. It's almost like he read it or something. Shocker.
doggo
Ah yes, the USCGS Eagle, as featured in the Nantucket Series by S. M. Stirling.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
I've heard about that. Is it any good? Might pick it up if it is.
SexCopFirePenis
boss af +1
MatthewBerg
One of my favorite Youtube shows, Citation Needed, did an episode on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2otrhYbE0b8
tiikafiredancer
Yes, I love Citation Needed! SS Bessemer’s non-wiggly wiggly bit!
mynameisdrew
Someone should put this technology under a toilet I wonder if it would be crazy weird to shit perfectly still while everything else rockin
Skeelos
+1 for the CGC Eagle
eagleandy93
I know it from an alt-history book series
PassionateIndifference
Not a physics major but wouldn't having the entire interior of the boat be gyroscopically stable horribley mess with the stability ?
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Yes, and it did.
Boatsntoes
Aaand now i'm sea sick. And I'm a boat captain.
Airwolfen
From what I have read a big problem with that ship is that it only had roll stabilization. So people got even more sick.
IamCommanderShepardAndThisIsMyFavouriteStoreOnTheCitadel
How long have you been spying for Soviets?
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
I've never. Pure American. Many many Big Macs and love for eagles and freedom.
weedtittiesandkitties
The Eagle is a ship that was used for training Nazi youth. Hitler was at it's original launch
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
YUP! We took it in 1947 I believe. Hopefully I'll get to see it in real life at least once after I join the CG.
weedtittiesandkitties
Awesome! I have seen it many times while crossing over the bridge to New London from Groton, CT. Great ship
TheMortiestMortyThereEverWas
Ah, the important things..
dvjnksvkjnsdvkmsdnbs
I would throw up on that pool table
K80k
This doesn't mean it was a bad idea, just that the one person who tried to solve the issue so far failed. A long time ago.
DespiseEveryone
It is a terrible idea, ships are just to large. To truly compensate for all movement you need a gigantic structure to house even a few ppl
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Its a horrible idea in this form and scale. Check out the link I added in the edit to see a modern boat with the same idea.
K80k
Just because something doesn't work now/yet doesn't mean it's a bad idea! A boat that wouldn't make you seasick is a great problem to solve!
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
I feel like it's not as useful now. It was a way to travel then but now we have better cars and planes. Idea isn't worth much now.
Withoutmypants
AgentNSFW
ablink
.
strakur
I wonder if that was his 4th try or the 4000th
LordPlumbus
Was that Paul Blart?!
PW28
Dude Perfect
Tehsyr
Fuck yeah, USCGC Barque Eagle! We took that ship from the Germans after WW2! Also, cadets training to be officers spend weeks on that ship.
GapingHeadwound
So was there gimballing for pitch and yaw as well? Why not have it lock for docking manoeuvres?
Thryker
Ladies and gents we have an engineer in the buolding
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Ask sir henry, it may have worked better.
S4telliteJ4ck
In your opinion, is there any validity in pursuing this design, or is it just a neat idea?
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Just a neat design whose practicality is limited. Since we don't have to just sail from point A to B anymore it's pretty worthless.
PoppinLochNessHopster
Locking that much moving weight in sounds crazy difficult
GapingHeadwound
Buttress sliding in from the side would do it, one side at a time; use the steam to pressurise dampening shocks?
CarrowM
Nothing a few strong electromagnets can't solve nowadays. Would have been very hard to do back then though looking at that schematic
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
In 1870s? Probably impossible to do safely.
Whty706
Bah, nothing anyone did back then was safe
Beargasm
Well, no one in the 1870s gave a flying fuck about safety.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Very good point
grovberg
There's a pretty great Stuff You Missed in History podcast about it that covered some of those details.
grovberg
But mostly keep in mind that things you take for granted as common knowledge were learned by guys like this making mistakes in the 1800s.
Gregatron93
If someone gave it a go now, things like that would be done. It could be done these days
GapingHeadwound
Could be done then as well. They had door latches. Same principle but on a larger scale.
Gregatron93
I dunno, I've had to do stability calculations for ships at uni. Most of the knowledge is fairly recent. I think if this ship had survived..
Gregatron93
It wouldn't have lasted very long at sea.
ILikePicturesCauseFunny
These bros are trying to make a modern version... http://imgur.com/k4gIlrA
ILikePicturesCauseFunny
Source... https://youtu.be/Nor6h3c8TYc
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Seems like a much more stable design than what Henry thought up. When I get back from classes I'll add this to the post!
WhatBilboHates
A wild ride from start to finish
ThankGodForDarwin
I feel like the floor moving in relation to the table surface would be incredibly distracting when taking a shot.
jocloud31
y'ever played pool drunk?
pattyymac
The floor moves a lot under my feet when I take a shot, and I'm not even playing pool. I may have a problem....
lightningweasel
I feel like the balls moving in relation to the table surface would be at least as distracting.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Not really standing on a cruise ship fees pretty stable but to keep rounded objects from moving takes a bit more effort Src:Sailing 5+ years
mustang2733
I think you would like my dad, he bought a concrete sailboat and lived in the Bahamas for a few years
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Concrete? Damn that's impressive! Love to see some pics of the hull and how he figured the math for buoyancy.
mustang2733
It's an old New Zealand design called a Queenslander. Here's a quick, low quality picture of it
The left one.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Looks nice. I always wanted to live on a boat. Lived in the Bahamas 3 months out of the year for a few years back in high school though!
CaptainLateToTheGame
IIRC most "concrete" boats are made using tiny glass bubbles in place of sand and aggregate.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
I'll look into that for sure. Sounds super neat.
ThankGodForDarwin
I've been on ferries and agree its not really noticeable, but your stance relative to the table would be constantly changing, wouldn't it?
Lilly64
I imagine someone at high levels of play would notice, but not a casual player
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Judging off these two guys, the people in the back and the camera man all seeming completly level I would assume no? I havent got a clue tbh
HelloToe
Should've been catamaran tax.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Nah I don't really like catamarans.
CarrowM
#2 is that a guy getting seasick in the top left of the schematic? (The area that doesn't rotate)
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
I think what was to prove a point via illustration.
QueenOfWorldsThatDontExist
Yesss, favorite post ever. <3
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Thank you!
QueenOfWorldsThatDontExist
Crazy for ships/cruises here. Loved it a lot
ApplebottomGene
Can you explain "couldn't answer to the helm at slow speeds"?
profmassa
I'm assuming that the rudder configuration wasn't adequate. Probably not enough water flow over it at slow speed.
profmassa
They also may have placed too much confidence in the paddles to make small course corrections when the speed too slow to use the rudder.
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
The boat was nonresponsive to steering at low speeds such as the speed a boat would dock. I am unsure as to why but id assume 1/2
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
That it was due to the swinging saloons weight continuing forward/backward when the ships engines speed up or stopped. 2/3 < I lied
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
E.g. The boat is going at travel speed and the saloons sway to maintain level so all is well. Boat begins to slow but the saloons weight 3/?
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Causes it to be thrown forward and the boat begins to drift even in reverse. Boat then hits docks and geting dinged up. 4/4
itsahollyday2
Thank you for explaining!
RobertEmmet
So to dock successfully, it would've taken herculean navigational planning and cutting the engines much earlier than is normal, right?
Sharpie12
What if someone tried a redesigned version woth todays technologies and shit i reckon itd be cool
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
It may work but in all honesty cruise ships and even small 110' boats are pretty smooth. Then again i spend a lot of time one board them.
Skeelos
That's the first time I ever heard anyone describe the ride on a 110' as 'pretty smooth'
TotallyNotBorisTheSovietSpy
Smooth enough for sea legs that is. Raised around boats and the like. Probably Could stand still in a hurricane. I'll video if it I can!
Skeelos
I have only heard complaints about the stabilizing system, caused too much jerking. Still not bad for Cutters only meant to last 10 yrs.
Skeelos
I set foot on a couple, never went for a ride though. 41', 82' and 210' were my platforms