Wreck Construction and Engineering Detail relevant to Wreck Diving Safety

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BoltSnap

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  1. What wreck construction and engineering detail do you all believe are related to Wreck Diving Safety a wreck diver needs to know and master before diving on a wreck (especially when penetrating the wreck)?
  2. How do these details effect the safety of the diver and how one should work with them to ensure safety and enjoyment of the dive?
  3. What "details can make the difference between getting lost and dead or sharing sea stories" with friends later?
  4. Are any wreck construction and engineering details required when on the surface before diving (if so, what are they and how are they important)?


(I got the idea for this thread from Akimbo's post)
 
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I suppose this is a reasonable general list to start the conversation:

Wreck Penetration Post 17

…
  • Learn how different types of structural beams are oriented. Familiarity makes it much easier to remember your way out.
  • Noticing the camber on overhead beams can identify inboard and outboard.
  • Knowing how riveted plates are lapped can point you toward the weather decks instead of the bilge
  • Understanding how electrical cable trays are routed can be a road map
  • Learn how to use hull frames to navigate
  • Recognizing the difference between watertight and partition bulkheads can make a rat’s maze more like a city street.
  • Anticipating locations of corrosive hazards like batteries, fuels oils, solvents, and gasoline can prevent your corrugated hoses (BCs, rebreathers, and double-hose regulators), drysuit seals, and wetsuits from failing before you reach sunshine or on your next dive
  • Understanding how cargo is stowed can tell you spaces to avoid and explore
  • Knowing hull lines can tell you if you are near the bow or stern when you drop onto a wreck in poor visibility. Same with different types of deck machinery and rigging.
  • You probably should learn the difference between a really cool looking brass valve on a high pressure cylinder versus one on a fresh water pipe before hacksawing it off :wink:
…

Certainly the best option is to visit a sister ship and actually walk the path inside the wreck you are interested in. This is exactly what Scubaboard member John Chatterton described in his book Shadow Divers. The next best thing is to visit similar ships built in the same era and probably country.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of very subtle details will carry over from ship to ship. Marine Architects from different countries will often reach the same engineering compromises in terms of hull design, machinery placement, and thousands of other details that are not obvious unless you study it as deeply as they do. However, you can easily recognize the pattern. The more you think about it you may even realize why it was done in a certain way.

One of the first lessons formally taught to me was on how to work under large ships like aircraft carriers or tankers. Bottoms on ships this large are dead flat and generally featureless — except for the direction hull plates are welded. Steel plates come from the mill are rectangular, generally as large as can be transported. remembering what direction the plates run before getting under it can make the difference between swimming the length or beam of a vessel before you can get back to the surface.
 

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