Rosies & “Not so Green” Issues
It is said that after over 150 years of Cunard ships criss-crossing the Atlantic, a deep-sea diver could find his way to New York, or back to Europe, simply by following the trail of silverware dumped over the side of their ships. Whether this is true is a moot point, but what it does show is that, unlike today, methods of waste-disposal were not given very much thought in those days.
Despite the colour of Caronia, the methods used on board could by no means be described as being friendly to the environment. Almost anything and everything would be piled into huge round metal bins that were either wheeled to the aft crew deck, or taken to a hatchway in the galley, and the contents were then unceremoniously dumped over the side.
All waste receptacles were called “Rosies” and while the waste food may have helped feed the fish, all the paper and plastics could be seen floating behind the ship for many miles.
Smoke Washing
Although all those little pipes that could be seen discharging liquids around the waterline may have looked quite innocuous, they could actually contain acid or other obnoxious chemicals used in an on-board process, as the diagram shows.
Left:
Diagram of the underwater discharge outlet from the smoke-washing plant fitted to Caronia's port side. The
plate holding the pipe, which discharged dilute sulphuric acid, could be easily replaced when it got corroded.
Sited within the funnel, an apparent innovation at the time was “smoke washing” where smuts were removed from the ship's boiler exhausts. Discharge of these carbon smuts diluted into sulphuric acid and discharged below the waterline were probably the most harmful; this to save them landing on the upper decks and anyone populating them.
Cutaway diagram of upper deck and funnel
Thankfully, nowadays ships carry their waste back to port and have it dealt with in a much safer manner.
See when Caronia was caught red-handed dumping waste overboard.
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