I stumbled (literally) over an unidentified feature on
the ship last weekend. Basically it is a hole in the deck just aft of the
forward companionway. Simon has always had it covered with a metal plate, so I
had not noticed it before. Removing the plate revealed a properly constructed
circular hole, which would have been level with the teak deck when
there was a teak deck. It is not sturdy enough to support a mast, so I guessed
at ventilation.
Back home I got out the blueprints and had a close look at that
area. I found a circle with the label ‘8”
DL’. Nearby were two other circles,
both labelled ‘5” DL’.
These two holes gave me the answer. On page 23 of Anthony
Lane’s book Guiding Lights, are two photos of ‘Deadlights’ which were glass blocks
set into the main deck to allow light to penetrate the darker spaces below. It
even states that the examples shown come from the ex-Irish Light vessel
Cormorant. Sure enough, Simon has two 5” glass blocks which are
shaped rather like grapefruit squeezers and fit nicely into two holes near the
deckhouse .
Unfortunately there
is no trace of the 8” glass. From the plans I saw that the 8” DL illuminated
the crew’s mess area and the two 5” DLs illuminated their quarters. There is
one other 5” DL on the starboard side, to illuminate the officers’ quarters (no
glass unfortunately). Perhaps illuminate is too strong a word, but then two 5”
DLs and the 8” hole certainly provide enough light down there to enable you to
move around.
While studying the blueprints I came across several other
labels. Along both sides of the deckhouse there are several ‘T.V.’ items and
their shape on the plan is that of fixtures which are still in place. These, according to the
blueprints, are ‘Torpedo Vents’. Why are they double ended?
There are about a dozen circles marked along the
deckhouse walls, but only two portholes on the ship (that is one of them below
the TV). However, most of them (not these two) are labelled ‘BL’ and this turns
out to mean ‘Borrowed Light’. Because I have reached my maximum number of
photos allowed per post, I will explain this next time.
David
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