Coal Bunker Fire

The fire in Titanic's coal bunker continues to smolder long after the ill fated ship sank beneath the waves. Over the years authors have speculated that the fire might have weakened the ship, hastening her demise. In this day we cannot conceive of a ship setting sail with a fire aboard, but the reality is that minor, smoldering fires were a fact of life in the age of coal. This paper looks at the testimony of some of the participants in an effort to return the discussion to the facts.

Two papers by The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers are widely used by Titanic researchers. They state that the fire in the coal bunker was so severe that "there was there was talk among the stokers that ... New York City fireboats might have to be called to help extinguish it":

Spontaneous combustion of coal had caused a stubborn fire in the starboard bunker in the aft corner of Boiler Room No. 6. Fireman J. Dilley testified before the American inquiry held by Senator Smith of Michigan[3] that he had been among 12 men assigned to fight this coal bunker fire. The coal on top of the bunker was wet, but the bottom of the pile was dry. The coal pile began to smolder. The fire was detected from its sulfurous odor during the ship's departure from Southampton on her maiden voyage. It is uncertain how long this fire had burned, but from testimony of surviving stokers at the inquiries, it appears that it burned for at least 72 hours. The 12-man crew made every effort to put it out. Those fighting the fire were alarmed at their inability to extinguish it. The engineering officers instructed these men not to converse with the passengers so as not to alarm them.

Mr. Dilley indicated in his testimony before the Mersey Inquiry, concerning this fire, that while it was still burning, there was talk among the stokers that once the passengers were put ashore, New York City fireboats might have to be called to help extinguish it. As a precautionary measure to prevent a coal pile fire in the forward starboard bunker of Boiler Room No. 5 through heat transfer, the coal there was also fed into the furnaces. It is believed that the fire was extinguished during the evening watch (4-8 P.M.) on Saturday, April 13, by a combination of wetting down the coal pile with a fire hose and ultimately removing the burning coal into the furnaces.

During the period the fire burned, steel in the lower corner of the transverse watertight bulkhead between Boiler Room Nos. 5 and 6 ultimately became cherry red[4]. ...

The fire in the reserve coal bunker. When the Titanic left Belfast for Southampton, a fire occurred in the reserve coal bunker, which was located just forward of Boiler Room No. 6. This fire raged until it was finally extinguished the day before the ship sank, but was serious enough that it was planned to have the New York City Fire Department extinguish it once the ship arrived in New Youk Harbor. ...

Using the search facilities of The Titanic Inquiry Project (TIP) I have been unable to locate any reference to fireboats, New York firefighting contingencies, "sulfurous" odors, "cherry red" bulkhead plating, or many of the details mentioned above. Fireman Dilley did not testify at either inquiry. Further, neither of the two bunker fire location given in the Garzke papers is consistent with the testimony.

Hendrickson

The last paragraph of the first Garzke paper indicates that the fire was so hot that the bulkhead glowed "cherry red", to citing the testimony of Leading Fireman Charles Hendrickson as the source. Hendrickson joined Titanic at Southampton, having previously served aboard White Star's Oceanic. Here is Hendrickson's actual testimony:

Hendrickson's testimony does not use the phrase "cherry red" nor does it describe the color of the bulkhead, rather he says, "you could see where the bulkhead had been red hot" [#5246, #5248]. It was obviously cool by the time Hendrickson rubbed oil on it [#5248]. In fact, the only appearance of the word "cherry" that I can find in any of the documents at TIP is the name of Miss Gladys Cherry in the List of First Class Survivors

Barrett

Leading Fireman Frederick Barrett, who was on duty in boiler room #6 at the time of the collision, also helped fight the bunker fire. Barrett joined Titanic at Southampton. He previously served aboard the American Line's New York.] Here is his testimony:

Barrett's testimony elsewhere clearly identifies the bunker in question as the forward bunker on the starboard side of boiler room #5, not the adjacent bunker in boiler room #6. He also says [#2293, above] that no other bunkers were empty.

Other Witnesses at the Mersey Inquiry

According to the testimony of Harold Sanderson, Vice President of International Mercantile Marine, the fire began prior to Titanic reaching Southampton: British Inquiry, Day 18, Sanderson [beginning at #19630]. During Sanderson's examination, Lord Mersey makes the statement, "Spontaneous combustion in a coal bunker is by no means an unusual thing. This sentiment was shared by Captain Maurice Clarke, a Board of Trade inspector (Assistant Emigration Officer) and retired Captain with 22 years at sea, "... it is not an uncommon thing to have these small fires in the bunkers." Clarke was one of the inspectors who cleared Titanic for sea. The bunker fire was not reported to him during the course of his inspection, but he did not find this unusual. British Inquiry, Day 25, Clarke

Titanic's Second Officer, Charles Lightoller, testified that he was unaware of the bunker fire, indicating that would not be unusual in the case of a small fire: British Inquiry, Day 12, Lightoller [see #14640].

Trimmer Thomas Dillon helped fight the bunker fire, but his testimony about the fire is very brief and adds nothing: British Inquiry, Day 5, Dillon

The testimony Naval Architect Edward Wilding, one of Titanic's designers and an expert witness at the Mersey hearings, contains only a brief mention of the effects of the fire: British Inquiry, Day 20, Wilding. Mr. Lewis misstates Hendrickson's testimony while asking Wilding about the effects of a fire that "caused the bulkhead to be red hot." [see #20883].

Dilley

Here are the statements attributed to Fireman Dilley:

I see several problems with the Dilley statement: First, the PARTICULARS OF ENGAGEMENT sheet (engine crew 1), entry #49, lists Dilley's home address as "44 Threefield Lane", not "21 Milton road, Newington, London" and lists his last ship as Olympic, not Oceanic. Second, referring to "bunker No. 6" does not sound right. The testimony is pretty clear on the fire being in the forward bunker in boiler room #5, which was referred to as "section 5" and "stokehold 9" (in the case of the forward half). I haven't seen anything in the testimony where "bunker number such-and-such" is referred to. Thomas Andrew's builders notebook for Olympic labels the lateral bunkers on either side of bulkhead "E" (between BR#5 and BR#6) as "W" and "Y". Also, inquiry testimony states that the fire was out by the time of the collision and the number of men used to fight the fire does not seem to correlate.

The statement about wetting down coal to keep it from burning is false. The best ways to prevent spontaneous combustion of coal is to keep it dry, cool and to minimize small particles and coal dust. According to Parr and Kressmann,

A popular text on Marine Engineering also warns against wetting coal:

I am sure that we have not heard the last of the bunker fire aboard RMS Titanic. But with luck, future authors will be able to stay closer to the facts when discussing its significance.