Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Guest wrote:Were the steam horns harder or more expensive to maintain because a lot of steamers had there horns replaced by air I know Upper Lakes did that on a few.

I would not be surprised that replacement parts have become hard to come by.

Were the steam horns harder or more expensive to maintain because a lot of steamers had there horns replaced by air I know Upper Lakes did that on a few.

The aft horn on the Clarke on top of the aft tower (apartment lol) is a air horn (Kahlenberg I believe).

Very interesting and thanks for sharing that information here with me and everyone else AJ. I agree as I too hope that they leave the Clarke's horns alone and just keep her sound and tone the way that it's been for a while at least but, as with everything else and the ships and shipping industry and businesses are no exception to the rule that things change and NOTHING unfortunately ends up by lasting forever! My point is, I am quite sure and certain that the Clarke will join the rest of the bunch and probably get a new set of horns someday much to the dislike of a few of us that like the old sound. On another note, the American Integrity so far at least still has her original horn sound for now but I am sure in time she will also sound like the Indiana Harbor, American Century along with the Wally Mac as well. Lastly and I said this one earlier that I hope they leave the Speer's horns alone but, since the Gott has a new set of horn sounds now I'm sure it won't be too long then before they do it to the Speer as well. Just my two bits on this subject!

Denny wrote:To answer Jon Paul's question of "I'm not sure what the Anderson has for a whistle?" The horn sound if that's what you are referring to and the tone sound is now similar to that sound if you will of the Jackson and the Oberstar, Lee A. Tregurtha and the Kaye E. Barker. The Callaway also has the same type of horn sound as well joining the group of vessels that I listed above. Surprised though that the Clarke hasn't got a new horn sound yet but maybe in time they could.

The Anderson and Callaway have the new sounding horns on top of their self-unloader housing that replaced the horns which matched what is on their wheelhouses. Hopefully the Clarke will be left as is with the better sounding horns.

hugh3 wrote:One blast every three minutes?

I hope not as the regulations require "one long blast at intervals not to exceed two minutes"

To answer Jon Paul's question of "I'm not sure what the Anderson has for a whistle?" The horn sound if that's what you are referring to and the tone sound is now similar to that sound if you will of the Jackson and the Oberstar, Lee A. Tregurtha and the Kaye E. Barker. The Callaway also has the same type of horn sound as well joining the group of vessels that I listed above. Surprised though that the Clarke hasn't got a new horn sound yet but maybe in time they could.

One blast every three minutes?

I'm not sure what the Arthur M Anderson has for a whistle but it was a real treat to hear it as I woke up this morning and they were passing eastbound under the Mackinac Bridge in the fog!

Normanclature on boats/ships is different then that used by non-sailors. When I first went aboard a boat I had to ask which side was the "port side" and was told the left side when faceing forward. If you are talking to a sailor its best to use nautical terms.

I agree, it's not what you want to call them, it's what the regulations call for. It's the same on the railroads. At the approach to most grade crossings is a "whistle post". It is a post with a W at the top. This is to alert the engineer to sound the prescribed whistle signal for the crossing. Never mind that with the exception of a few steam excursions all trains are powered by diesel or electric locomotives with air horns. So call them horns, whistles, tooters, hooters or whatever you like.

As someone on the outside looking in, when the steamers used steam for signalling they were whistles as in steam whistle. When they starting using air through them they became horns as in air horns.
Probably wrong, but that's where my brain goes.

I agree Bob as I’ve watched the video and heard her new horn sound when they arrived at Duluth last week. Her old horns had a great sound and I wish they’d have kept them. I hope and pray that they at least keep the Speer’s horns and don’t ever change them too. You are also right in saying that the Barker has the best sounding horn right now on the lakes. You certainly can’t beat it and definitely can’t miss that one!

I thought the original horns on the gott were the best sounding ones. The ones on here now I don’t care for they sound a little bit muffled on the trip into Duluth the other day. The James r Barker has the best sounding horns on the lakes hands down.

hugh3 wrote:Just thought I might inject this here: I don't recall any mention of horns in any Coast Guard regulation concerning sound signals being used on ships/boats..

Signals are sent by whistle not horns..

Rule 32 of the Navigation Rules states:
(a) the word "whistle" means any sound signalling appliance capable of producing the prescribed blasts and which complies with specifications in Annex III of these rules.

So I guess a horn can be used to make whistle signals, BUT I know from taking my test you must use the precise Coast Guard terminology. Saying horn instead of whistle would be judged as incorrect on the test. Just as a "long blast" is incorrect, the Coast Guard uses "prolonged" blast. That was a hard lesson to learn, that you can't use common terms where they spell it out differently.

When you go to Kahlenberg's website they're called horns. Once you put them on a ship, do they become a whistle?

https://www.kahlenberg.com/model-kph-13 ... -horn.html

Just thought I might inject this here: I don't recall any mention of horns in any Coast Guard regulation concerning sound signals being used on ships/boats..



Signals are sent by whistle not horns...

hugh3 wrote:Just thought I might inject this here: I don't recall any mention of horns in any Coast Guard regulation concerning sound signals being used on ships/boats..

What?

I watched the Phillip R. Clark come in and I prefer that much deeper booming sound she has.

Denny wrote:Very interesting news and thanks for that Pat. I am wondering if she now sounds like some of the other Bay Ship Footers as far as the horn sounds go? What I mean is, "Does her new horn sound like that of say the Indiana Harbor for instance?" The Indy got a new sounding set back in 2017 and hers is much louder now then they used to be and definitely noticeable! Years ago I also recall the Walter J. McCarthy got a new sounding horn similar to what now is on the Indiana Harbor and the American Century got a new sounding type of horn in 2006. I'll never forget the first time that I heard the Century's horn in 2006 as I was blown away by how loud and different it was. I'll have to check out the Duluth website now by Dennis and see when he has any video of her in Duluth then.

Many footers (including those you mention) were built with twin Kahlenberg Triton S-120 horns, manufactured by Kahlenberg Industries, Inc. in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. This model has a deep sound, and was installed on many non-footers as well. However, in recent years, many Triton S-120 models on Great Lakes ships have been replaced with Kahlenberg's newer piston horn, the KPH-130C (the Triton S-120 is no longer in production). This model sounds at a much higher frequency, and is the source of the new horn sounds on the footers you mentioned.

Pat wrote:The Gott has new horns and they sound great!

The Gott was originally equipped with twin Triton S-120 models on her pilothouse. She still had both Triton S-120 models during her trip to Duluth this May, but the two sounded noticeably out of tune when blown together. In the past few weeks, it appears that one of the Triton S-120 models was replaced with a KPH-130C. When the Triton S-120 and KPH-130C are blown together, as in yesterday's arrival to Duluth, it creates a powerful two-tone sound, one that the Joseph L. Block has also featured in recent years.