Paoting

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Sister ship of "Kweilin I"

Paoting
ID /IMO No. 1098972.
Type Cargo/passenger.
Gross Registered Tonnage 1,765 grt. 1088nett.
Builder Scott & Co. CD, Yard No. 288.
Delivery date Sep 4th. 1891
Hull Steel, clincher construction.
Decks 2
Length 260.0 fT.
Width 36.5 ft.
Depth 22.5 ft.
Passengers Deck.
Engine Builder Greenock Foundry Co.
Engine Type Steam, triple expansion.
Engine cylinders 3, 18 ins.dia. 29 ins.dia. 47 ins.dia.
Engine stroke 3.25 ft.
Engine Power 2oo nhp. 1300 ihp.
Engine RPM 90
Propulsion mode Single screw.
Speed 10 kts.
Rigged Schooner.
Displacement 3,733 tons.
Deadweight 2,589 tons.
Bale capacity 124,814 cu.ft.
Block coefficient (Cb) 0.765
Power Steam
Condenser cooling surface 1,250 sq.ft.
Steam expansion ratio 10.5
ratio_of_air_pump_capacity_to_lp_cylinder_volume 15.3
ratio_of_sw_circulating_pump_capacity_to_lp_cylinder_volume 15.3
Boiler 2, Cyindrical (Scotch).
Boiler pressure 160 psi.
Boiler dimensions (total) 12.75 ft high x 9.83 ft long.
Heating Surface (total) 2,582 sq.ft.
Grate Area (total) 104.5 sq.ft.
Steam space volume 604 cu.ft.
Fuel Coal.
Furnace 3 per boiler.
Furnace dimensions 3'2" dia. 6'8" long.
Draught Natural.
Generator power 110 volts D.C.
Propeller Right hand, 13.0 ft.dia. 14.0 ft pitch.
Propeller blades 4
Propeller formation Solid
Propeller material Cast iron.
Launched July 20th. 1891.
Original owner China Navigation Co.
Delivered to owner Sept 4th. 1891.
Scrapped July 1923, in China.

History

Paoting was designed for the carriage of coastal freight and steerage passengers. The seasonal southbound carriage of cheap-fare passengers on deck, (sheltered by canvas awnings), was a mainstay of The China Navigation Company’s coast trade in the summer months.

In the north, in terms of freight other than beancake, the most commercially important of the northern ports was Tientsin, located some forty miles inland on the Hai Ho River. The small coasters of the 1890s, such as Paoting, were designed with the Tientsin River in mind, and were all around 250-260 feet in length.

The Hai Ho was prone to constant silting and only narrow one-lane shipping channels were kept clear by dredging. Two vessels meeting head-on in the river could not therefore alter course in good time, to pass each other in the usual way, because the parallel displacement of water in the narrow channel might well throw one or other ship up onto the bank. The accepted method was to steer a collision course until the last possible minute, when both vessels would swing to starboard and pass within a cables-length of one another.

At Tientsin itself, the river was too narrow to allow vessels to turn completely, even with the aid of a tug. For this reason the “Stern-line Swing” was developed. This ‘turning on a sixpence’ method made use of a semi-circular bay cut out of the river bund, close to the main city berths.

Turning was effected by means of a mooring cable, (known as the “Turning Spring”), stretched between the aft winch and a bollard ashore. As the “spring” was tightened, the ship’s stern was pulled into the basin, swinging the bow into mid-stream, where it was carried round by the current until the vessel was facing downstream.

The picture opposite - taken in 1907 - shows Paoting on the “Swinging Berth”, in an icy Tientsin River.

Paoting continued in the coast trade until the close of the beancake season in 1923, when she was sold to breakers.

Service

China Coast trades, a beancaker, Refer to "Kweilin I" and "Sungkiang"

Events / Stories

Images