Engine order telegraph

The engine telegraph was used in the shipping industry to transfer machinery orders from the navigating bridge to the engine room. With it, the drive was not directly controlled, but only forwarded to the desired speed range and direction of rotation of the machine to the staff in the machine room or control room. This awkward -looking these days technology introduced in the time of the drives by steam engines but the highest possible feasible technical standard dar.

For this purpose, decreed the deck officer on duty via a lever apparatus with which he could transmit the individual commands (mostly full speed ahead, half speed, slow speed, stop, slow ride back, ride back half and full speed back ). The lever machine has been put to the notch of the corresponding position and usually had a loud ring tone in the engine room to the new command. The staff on duty machines acknowledged this command and then carried it out. Usually indicated a return line from the engine room, which was designed as a pointer element behind the window of the control lever, the acknowledged speed and direction.

Were transmitting the signals over brass ropes and chains, which, however, up to 14% stretched and had to be adjusted frequently. Some of linkage were therefore, such as warships, instead of ropes used. Later resolvers were used as engine-room telegraph.

In modern ships, there is no engine telegraph in the more traditional sense. The ship propulsion systems are now controlled electronically and directly to a speed control knob from the navigating bridge. This eliminates the task of recognizing the commands that have been transferred by ship telegraph, and carry out what was connected even in the ideal case with an inevitable time delay for the engineering watch. Through the introduction of the direct control of the machine a significant hazard has been eliminated, because this time delay, or even the overlooking or faulty execution of machine instructions can have fatal consequences. The officer on duty was no way the machine (and thus the velocity) to affect directly. Another reason to abolish the engine telegraph, is the saving of machine operators.

Be still used the engine room telegraph to those steamships that are still in their original state, such as the city of Lucerne on Lake Lucerne.