15.1 Introduction

Ships and submarines are generally constructed using a limited amount of combustible materials. This approach to fire safety onboard marine vessels partially originated from a fire in 1934 on the U.S. passenger ship Morro Castle, which resulted in 124 lost lives.1 The ship was constructed of wood, which allowed the fire to spread rapidly throughout the vessel. Following this tragedy, a U.S. congressional subcommittee was formed to develop recommendations on improving fire protection features on ships. Based on results from large-scale testing conducted onboard the S.S. Nantasket, the subcommittee recommended using noncombustible construction materials.2 This led to more restrictive use of combustible materials throughout ships.

Current codes and standards for ships and submarines still use noncombustible construction as the cornerstone for most ship and submarine designs. However, the use of combustible materials is allowed in a variety of applications for different types of vessels. The focus of current codes and standards is to protect passengers from loss of life. Similar to buildings, marine vessels use a variety of fire protection features to achieve passenger safety. This can include fire detection, fire suppression, fire resistance boundaries, and limited combustible materials with regulated flammability, smoke production and toxic gas generation. This chapter focuses on the flammability requirements of combustible materials permitted for use on ships and submarines.

Flammability tests and requirements discussed in this chapter are from the most commonly used marine vessel codes. It should be noted that most materials...