Down Amongst the Black Gang

Down in the fiery belly of the luxury liners of the Titanic era, a world away from the first-class dining rooms and sedate tours of the deck, toiled the 'black gang'. Their work was gruelling and hot, and here de Kerbrech introduces the reader to the dimly lit world and workplace of Titanic's stokers. Beginning with a journey around some of the major elements of machinery that one might encounter in the giant ships' engine and boiler rooms, those with a technical mind would be sated, wile the accessible style would aid the lay reader's understanding. The human side of working for the Titanic and her contemporaries is also involved in an exploration of stokers' duties, environment and conditions: what it was like to be one of the 'black gang'.

Auteur

RICHARD P. de KERBRECH's marine engineering apprenticeship was with Shaw Savill & Albion Co. and Cammell Laird shipyard. Later an inspector with the Naval Overseeing service, he went on to lecture in mechanical engineering. He's a life member of the World Ship Society and a member of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects.