Coal trimmers bunkering the ocean liner Rotterdam in the port of Hoboken, New Jersey, about 1908
A coal trimmer or trimmer is a position within the engineering department of a coal-fired steamship that involves all coal handling duties. Their main task is to ensure that coal is evenly distributed within a ship to ensure it remains trim in the water. Their efforts to control the fore-and-aft angle at which a ship floats is why they are called “trimmers”. Without proper management of the coal bunkers, ships could easily list due to uneven distribution of the coal.
The role of trimmers starts with the bunkering of coal, distributing it evenly within the bunkers, and then providing a consistent delivery of coal to the stoker or fireman working the vessel’s boilers.
Coal trimming was also a role based at the docks that involved levelling out the coal in a ship's hold to ensure that the ship was safe to travel. Coal was transported to the docks via railway wagons and the coal was tipped into the ship. As the coal was loaded into a hold of the ship it would form a conical pile. This was unsafe for the ship to sail in case the coal moved to one side causing the ship to list and roll.
Trimmers shovelled the coal out so that it was level and the ship was safe. It was a difficult job in dark and dangerous conditions.
A coaltrimmer or trimmer is a position within the engineering department of a coal-fired steamship that involves all coal handling duties. Their main...
trimmer, wood-working tool Trimmer - a book trimming machine Coaltrimmer, also known as a trimmer, a person who distributes coal on a steam ship Hair clipper...
shoveling coal into the boiler furnaces of steam engines, and the coaltrimmer, a rating that loaded coal in the bunkers and transported the coal from the...
Southampton, a fire was discovered in the coal bunker of No 6 Boiler Room. For a number of days, coaltrimmers were detailed to trace the source of the...
Joseph Dawson, an Irishman who worked in Titanic's boiler room as a coaltrimmer. The Fairview Titanic graves also include the burial place and marker...
part-time work, including working his way back to the United Kingdom as a coaltrimmer. He eventually obtained an MB ChB back in Scotland at the University...
maintenance. In her home port, the lower steamship port of Turku, the coaltrimmer soon became the subject of many letters to the editor and received complaints...
Among the victims of the bombing was Edgar L. Perry, who had worked as a coaltrimmer on board the RMS Titanic in 1912. Perry, who had survived the sinking...
assistant Benjamin Augustine Bunn, Alpha bushman Harry William Palmer, coaltrimmer William Nugent (who found Dingwall's body), and Mount Morgan police officer...
Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. On 30 June 1909, Peter Doull, a coaltrimmer, was killed by a train in the coal siding. On 3 May 1941, a goods train pulling into the...
administration for living within an indigenous community. Working his way as a coaltrimmer aboard a steam ship, Lye moved to London in 1926. He quickly entered...
made her maiden voyage to South America. Baade joined the crew as a coaltrimmer, and then took the opportunity to explore South America, discovering...
job in the engine department (under 18 years old). In 1927 he became a coaltrimmer. His artistic awakening was on SS Nippon, in 1928, a bigger long-distance...
wide world eventually led him to merchant navy, where he served as a coaltrimmer and ship's stoker until 1951, and then as a greaser and assistant paymaster...
Co Ltd. She was placed under the management of Beardmore Donaldson CoalTrimmers Ltd and used as a collier and sand carrier. Pontic was scrapped at a...
physical forward player, which was reflected in his manual occupation as a coaltrimmer at Cardiff Docks. He died in 1936 from Pneumoconiosis. Brown first came...
Donaldson's Beardmore Steam Ship Co in 1925, chartered to Beardmore Donaldson CoalTrimmers Ltd and used as a collier and sand carrier. Scrapped at Clyde in 1930...
the coal allowed to run directly down the chute and down the sides of the cone at its angle of repose. Coaltrimmers in the hold would level the coal. The...
Global Information