Q&A ยท 9:11:04-9:12:13

When human stokers became a limit on coal-fired boilers

Rising boiler demand could exceed practical human stoking rates, pushing designers toward mechanical or automatic fuel-handling systems.

Question

Did coal-fired warships reach a point where humans could not feed the boilers fast enough?

Short answer

The reply points to automatic feeding systems as the response, without identifying a particular ship or threshold.

Notes

The question asks whether boiler demand can exceed the rate at which people shovel and distribute coal. It distinguishes the size needed to generate steam from the access needed to keep a fire properly fed. The brief answer points to automatic systems as the response to that problem. It supplies no named ship, date, or specific installation demonstrating where the limit was reached.