Superyacht for sale for $50 million - Horace Dodge's S.S. Delphine

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by High Life, Jan 28, 2013.

  1. High Life
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    High Life Junior Member

    Commissioned by Horace Dodge, co-founder of Dodge Brothers. The yacht was launched on 2 April 1921, and spans 258 feet (79 m). Power comes from three Babcock and Wilcox boilers which power two 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) quadruple expansion engines.

    Delphine changed hands in 1967 and again in 1968, changing names again to Dauntless, only to be sold again in 1986, 1989, and finally 1997 - at scrap metal prices to her current owners - who proceeded to restore her for $60 million to the original 1921 condition including interior decor and the original steam engines. She was rechristened Delphine by Princess Stéphanie of Monaco on 10 September 2003.

    Detroit Free Press: Horace Dodge's yacht, the S.S. Delphine, is for sale
     

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  2. Landlubber
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    Landlubber Senior Member

    ...emmm, nice little tub, thanks, but no thanks.

    I reckon for $60M, I could build a real nice new boat. Steam is nice, but a real pain in todays world of lawyers etc.
     
  3. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I've seen her after the restoration and she's magnificent. I'd be surprised if they get the asking price, but who knows, maybe some aged sheik will long for the old days of colonial rule styling and just have to have it. If I hit the lottery, I consider it, but I'd yank out the steam crap and put in something efficient and practical.
     
  4. philSweet
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    philSweet Senior Member

    I'll grant you the practicality issue, but by the 1920's, these engines could match most modern diesels from a mechanical (thermal) efficiency standpoint. In contrast with steam turbines and internal combustion engines, they operated at increasing efficiency at part throttle. Piston steam seemed uniquely well suited to ships. Its crappy rep probably comes from the railroads. Piston steam was not very suitable for that application. They were maintenance intensive. That was a problem on a on a train. The operator couldn't get to the working bits while moving. Train propulsion was kept brutally simple. Stationary and marine steam power continued to advance.
    Efficiencies approached 30 percent thermal compared to maybe 10 percent for rail.

    A PITA if you just want to go on a sunset cruise for an hour, though.

    An article here lists fuel consumption at 600 l/hr at 8-9 knots (plus 1000 l/day for gens). How does that compare to other 258 footers? 150 rpm shaft. I was a bit surprised that the boilers only ran 250 psi. I wonder if they used a lot of superheat, or if the forth cylinder was a partial condensor with cold water injection on the exhaust stoke.
    http://www.liboatingworld.com/archive/2008/09/LIBW/LIBW_18.pdf
     
  5. WestVanHan
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    WestVanHan Not a Senior Member

    I always wondered how things would be if steam had 100 years of continuous development like gas/diesel.
    Getting ~100 hp per litre out of diesels in production cars right now.

    Only Doble continued with the cars until the mid 20's- with a flash boiler they could be cold yet be moving in 90 seconds.
     
  6. Number4

    Number4 Previous Member

    Steam is still going strong!
    Nuclear ships run on steam.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbine
     
  7. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member


    With commercial operators currently achieving thermal efficiencies of around 50 percent from turbo-diesels and no boiler inspections neces sary,it s hard to justify (comparatively) low pressure steam.Keeping a vessel of this age is sure to generate quite a bit of employment and for this reason alone may be commendable.Then again,building new generates jobs and the owner gets exactly what he wants.
     
  8. High Life
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    High Life Junior Member

  9. SamSam
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    SamSam Senior Member


  10. WestVanHan
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    WestVanHan Not a Senior Member

    .....developed for smaller applications.
    Had a ride in a '20's Stanley once with about 700 lb ft of torque
     
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