SS Forceful Forceful was built in 1925 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow, Scotland. Today she is owned and operated by the
Queensland Maritime Museum.She is 121 Feet long, and has a 1000 horsepower engine. She has two coal burning Scotch marine boilers. She steamed to Brisbane, ariving in 1926 and worked for most of her career as
a tug on the Brisbane River. During World War 2 she served as HMAS Forceful. She was retired in 1970 and was acquired by the museum. She has been steamed by the museum ever since.
Forceful undergoing maintenance in the Keppel Cairncross dry dock. Many thanks to Keppel Cairncross for
continuing support of the museum.
F o r c ef
ul is c r e w e d b y a h a p p y band of volunteers. New crew members are always needed, especially qualified steam engineers. Thats me kneeling in the front row on the left.
One of the ship's four fires.
This is me firing the boiler. The sparks are an example of blowback, in which fine coal particles ignite mid air
and blow back out of the fire box. Severe instances of blowback lead to singed eyebrows.
Pulling pits. This is how the ash is removed from the boiler.
The result of our sweat, steam pressure. Forceful's nominal operating steam pressure is 175psi.
The business end. This shows the crankcase of Forceful's engine, with the engine in action. It
operates at 120RPM.
The cylinder tops of Forceful's engine.
Of course all good things
involve a lot of hard work. During the off season the boilers need to be cleaned. This shot shows the view from inside the boiler looking out the firebox door.
This is how we get inside the boilers to clean them. If a firebar comes loose or we blow a tube during a
steaming it is necessary to do this whilst there is steam on the boiler. Ouch!
This is how the tubes are cleaned. A wire tube brush is pushed through each tube.
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