It was an opposed piston engine based on the Junkers Jumo design, and spending time looking at it seems to be fascinating to most gearheads. The typical FM engine was a 7 cylinder engine but it had 14 pistons. I know a lot less about the Fairbanks Morse engine. The GM units developed it at 750 rpm and the FM at 720 rpm. How do we know this? Because someone forgot to drain down the condensate on one of my boats and ruined an engine.īoth the General Motors and Fairbanks Morse engines developed 1600 bhp. Pistons compress more than the water does and rods break. They wouldn’t burn water, despite what any fuel saver advertisements in the magazines might say. Simply put, anything in the bilges made it to the trim and drain system and, if lighter than water, floated with the fuel and above the water in the fuel tank. Frequently the engine would be burning lube oil or anything with a viscosity lighter than water as the fuel tanks were pressurized (from the bottom) by the trim and drain system. Lubricating oil came through a separate external tank and pump. I believe those engines would have burned rags if we could have gotten them through the injectors. GM16248 loaded on a truck bound for repair shop
I hope this picture can convey just how huge these engines really were. In the top/center of this engine you can see the large induction manifold. The wheels on top of the engine in the picture above determined the source of the engine air. Just a few minutes sucking atmospheric air changed the whole atmosphere. They were an unfailing source of fresh air when the air got stagnant. The fuel racks were shut down to turn off the engine. They were rolled over and started with a massive bank of compressed air. Bore and stroke on the 278 was 8.75 by 10.5 inches. This engine was so big that they did not use a starter motor. Many times an engine would have a head change (normally underwater where they were shut off anyway) and be back on duty in few hours. Each cylinder had an individual head for convenience of maintenance. The model numbers were 248 and 278, which referred to the cubic inch displacement of each cylinder, similar to GM’s Detroit Diesel engines. They were later bought out by GM, and later versions built at GM’s Cleveland Diesel Engine Division. Winton Motor Company developed a 2 stroke diesel engine that was a reliable powerhouse. Others diesel engines have been tried, but two types of engines (with almost identical horsepower characteristics) were used on almost all the operational diesel electric submarines during and since WW2. And for a more detailed look at the inner workings, here’s a good link. For a better scale of size, see picture below. Most of the engine is below the deck plates. With no engine there is no electricity being produced and no battery being charged. Nevertheless, diesel-electrics were built for a long time yet. And of course, nuclear-powered subs have an almost unlimited underwater range. One of the advantages was that diesel-electric subs could run quieter under water, because nuclear subs had to keep their reactor circulation pumps running. Yet in some respects it is considered by many to be superior to a Nuclear Submarine. The diesel electric system has a few drawbacks. It is here that the electricians mate distributes that electricity according to orders received from the control room. It is routed through the green box which actually may look like this.
#DIESEL ELECTRIC SUBSMARINE WIKI GENERATOR#
The electricity from the generator is sent to the propulsion motor, to the batteries to charge them (black box), or to both. The diesel (far right) turns a generator (connected). The type motor used in diesel electric subs is a series/shunt combination.
#DIESEL ELECTRIC SUBSMARINE WIKI SERIES#
A series wound electric motor has 100% of its torque at zero rpm. What turns the propellers is an electric motor (seen here with reduction gear) One major attraction of an electric motor is the immediate torque. L to R, propeller, shaft, reduction gear, main motor,cubicle, battery, generator, engine
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