Fire onboard any ship is extremely serious but even more so on a warship packed with high explosives surrounded by flammable fuel and subject to possible enemy action. Due to the construction of a warship with its many watertight subdivisions which create closed environments containing vital fighting equipment, smoke and toxic fume generation in a fire situation are of particular concern and any material used in construction has to be closely examined for this aspect. Cellular polymers because of their inherent light weight are particularly attractive for use as insulation materials but their fire characteristics have to be closely monitored so that they do not present an unacceptable hazard.
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References
1.
Naval Engineering Standard 714, Determination of the oxygen index of small specimens of materials.
2.
Naval Engineering Standard 715, Determination of the temperature index of small specimens of materials.
3.
British Standard 6401, Measurement in the laboratory of the specific optical density of smoke generated by materials, British Standards Institution, London, 1983.
4.
Naval Engineering Standard 711, Determination of the smoke index of the products of combustion from small specimens of materials.
5.
Naval Engineering Standard 713, Determination of the toxicity index of the products of combustion from small specimens of materials.
