What is a 'wash bulkhead' on a ship?

Answer 1

The bulkheads are the walls within the ship that separate the different rooms or compartments. Bulkheads are designed to block fire and water from going to other compartments. The outer skin of the ship or boat is called the hull.

Bulkheads in a ship serve several purposes:

• increase the structural rigidity of the vessel,
• divide functional areas into rooms and
• create watertight compartments that can contain water in the case of a hull breach or other leak.
• some bulkheads and decks are fire-resistance rated to achieve compartmentalisation, a passive fire protection measure; see firewall

Answer 2

It's a wall installed in the liquid tanks of a ship to help keep the fuel/oil/water ect, from swishing back and forth to reduce the chances of it capsize the ship. Here's the definition I found online: Bulkhead, Wash. A non-watertight divisional bulkhead usually erected on the center line of deep tanks and peak tanks. The peak tanks are generally really narrow at the bottom and the wash bulkheads installed in them need not be constructed but a few feet down from the tank top. They should be strongly built to withstand the flow of liquid caused by the motion of the ship.

Answer 3

A class A bulkhead on a ship is:

A wall, floor, or ceiling which is designed to prevent smoke and flame from passing through it for at least 60 minutes.

Also it must be suitably insulated so that the average temperature of the side not exposed to fire does not rise more than 139 degrees C (282 degrees F) above the original temperature, within 60 minutes.

Simply put, no smoke or fire can pass through it for at least 60 minutes, and it must be able to prevent a substantial transfer of heat through it for 60 minutes.