Type ... Cargo / Passenger / Iron screw steamer / engine midships

Position ...  52 54 857 N / 001 34 789 E

Built ... Launched 4/4/1855 ... Completed 25/6/1855

Builder ... Robert Steele & Co, Greenock ( Yard No3 Cartsburn)

Engine Builder ... Randolph Elder & Co, Govan

Construction ... Iron

Engine ... 2 beamed, geared screw engine, steam powered, x2 pistons of equal size (non compounding engine)

Boiler ... Box type

Dimensions ... 188 x 25 x 15.7 feet

Lost ... 20th February 1873

Cause ... Collision

Depth ... 25mtrs

Owners at time of loss ... The Tyne Steam Shipping Company

Casualties ... 0

The wreck of the Otter is unique in many ways as it offers a rare first hand insight into the early days of steam propulsion pre the general use of compounding marine engines.  The majority of vessels such as the Otter that were built with pre compounding engines and associated low pressure boilers were eventually refitted with the more economical compound engines and high pressure boilers required to run them. No doubt had the Otter not have been lost she would have eventually undergone such a refit and in turn her original beam engine and box boiler would have been lost to time.

Circumstances of loss

On February 20th 1873, the Iron Schooner rigged Steamship J.H. Lorentzen (JHL) was en route from Sunderland to Portsmouth with a cargo of coal. Whilst en route she encountered thick fog off the Norfolk coast and for reasons of safety elected to anchor up between Mundesley and Haisborough . A look out was kept and her bell regularly sounded. In the mean time the steamship Otter en route from Newcastle to Antwerp carrying a general cargo and four passengers also encountered the same fog that had halted the progress of the JHL. By all accounts the Otter had intended to take the same course of action as the JHL and anchor up until the fog had lifted. Before the Otter was able to drop anchor she found herself in close to the JHL and in turn collided with her, this resulting in the sinking of the Otter due to her starboard quarter striking the Stern of the JHL. All of the Otters crew and passengers were taken aboard the JHL. At the court of Inquiry the Otter claimed that the incident was an inevitable accident and bore no blame, however the court found the Otter to be at fault and ruled that the Otter should have anchored earlier.

Below ...  A link on one of the engine beams

History of ownership

From various sources the history of ownership for the Otter seems to be a bit mixed up and in turn somewhat contradictory . The Otter (ex Plover) was never surveyed by Lloyds, so in turn they hold no records for her.  From what can be seen is that at the time of her loss she was owned by the Tyne Steam Shipping Company, who apparently took ownership of her in 1864?  In addition other sources state as follows. Launched as the Plover and intended for G & J Burns of Glasgow. Due to a decline in trade she was not put into service and was returned to her builder, Robert Steele & Co who sold her to Ormston and Dobson of Newcastle. In addition to this, D. McIver & Sons Co Ltd of Liverpool are also stated as having ownership of her at some point also?

Engine ( 2 beamed, geared screw engine)

During the mid 1800,s, prior to the general use of compound engines, there were a variety of engine designs available for a ship builders usage. One such engine was the double beamed geared screw engine. For all intents and purposes this engine type was basically the same as that of an engine fitted in various paddle steamers of the time. The engine in a paddle steamer however , due to its requirement of only having to turn a paddle wheel at a relatively low speed were in turn not suited for providing the higher revolutions required in order to make screw propulsion possible in a given vessel. In order to achieve the revolutions required from such an engine design gearing was added, this in turn giving the screw the higher rate of revolutions required in order to propel the vessel through the water. In addition to the adding of gearing to the engine, there was one more major change that had to be incorporated in order to allow the beam engine to complete the task of powering a screw. The engine, when fitted for screw usage would have been installed differently compared to that of a paddle steamer, this being due to the fact that the engine was now powering a screw revolving port to starboard (opposite for reverse) as appose to paddle wheels revolving stern to bow (opposite for reverse). The solution to this was to rotate the engine by 90 degrees when in use for driving a screw,  ie in a paddle steamer the tips of the beams would have pointed to bow and stern, and in a screw steamer the tips of the beams would point to port and starboard.

Boiler (box type)

The low pressure box type boiler, (with pressures of 12 to 30 lbs per square inch) was in general use in ship building up until sometime during the 1860's, this being the point in time when the drum (Scotch type) boiler was introduced. Prior to compound engines, the engines of the day did not require  high pressures  to run them, in turn the low pressure box type boiler was more than capable of supplying the pressures required for the pre compounding engines. With the introduction of the compound engine and the higher pressures needed to run them, the drum (Scotch type) boiler was to be the boiler of choice.  By the 1870's, the two cylinder compound engine had found general use in coasters and required steam pressures of 70 to 130 lbs per square inch. For the most part the next fifty years saw little change in the engine room for the smaller steam coasters. By the 1890's and with the development of the triple expansion engine, working at pressures of 160 lbs per square inch, the triple expansion engine became the standard for larger coasters, however the two cylinder compound engine still remained in use for many of the smaller coasters due to its more compact size. Of note, a cylindrical container (drum (Scotch type) boiler can withstand greater internal pressures to that of a container with flat sides (box type boiler).

Below ... A view of a box type boiler. Front elevation x 4 furnaces, side elevation showing the inner workings of the boiler (fire grate, combustion chamber and fire tubes.