That's funny...I've had to go in on a Sunday to machine a bearing cap for a engine when the ship was sitting in the Atlantic.....maybe it was for you???? :drink:
Could be.
I was on 311' cutter. It had two engine rooms, with two engines each, that were coupled together with a reduction gear to drive one of the two shafts.
We tore one engine down at sea to find the grinding sound in the vertical shaft area.
Problem was the cooling systems were tied together and you could not run one engine without the other one all there and ready to run. So it meant that one shaft was down, since one engine was apart.
The second problem was that the ship had only one rudder that was located between the twin screws. The screws didn't blow directly on the rudder, so steering was weak. With one shaft not running we could steer OK in good weather, but a severe storm came up and we, pretty much, lost control with the huge seas we were in. When maneuvering at slow speed, you don't need the rudder at all. At higher speeds at sea, it works OK even if not behind a propeller. But in rough seas, it is important, especially if only one propeller is running. In fact, it is vital. That ship should have had two rudders, then it would have been fine with only one prop running.
The upper crankshaft was completely out of one engine and we lashed it every way we could while it sat on large timbers sitting between the two engines. Pretty scary.
The Captain yelled down to get the other engine running, whatever it took, so we could get that shaft shaft back on-line and control the boat. So we made some block-off plates, drove in some damage control plugs and generally mickey moused it together enough to run, while the ship was taking huge waves.
The whole front third of the ship would come up out of the sea and crash down in a dive that sent green water up against the superstructure. A shock wave ran the length of the ship each time. I stood at the throttles, looking back between the two engines in my engine room and watched them shake from the pounding and the props chopping. Then we'd take a wave on one side and roll past 55 degrees. You could hear crashing as things flew. It's interesting to be below decks in the engine room with such chaos. You can't see the horizon for reference. The galley was secured and no meals served. On the main deck, when we'd roll over, the entire door and ports on that side would go under water. Back in aft steering, the propellor chop was dramatic. They would come out of the water and then go under with a pounding chopping and vibration that was impressive. Earlier, they had poured concrete in some of the rooms on the main deck to keep her from flexing so much. I interviewed most everyone on the ship and no-one had ever seen seas like we were in. We all learned to sleep with our arms wrapped around the bunks and holding on. Sleeping while holding on! Standing on deck, holding on and watching the sea boil is also impressive. Hundreds of miles off shore in a foaming, boiling, world of hills, valleys and cliffs as far as the eye can see. Looking up at the tops of the seas and down into the valleys. The helmsman searching for the best path as we rode up and over giant breaking swells. Hour after hour and through the night. Chopping and shuddering along with green water flooding down the main decks. Hatches all securely dogged. Standing watches, then holding on in a bunk to rest. Fascinated by the mayhem. At that level, all we were doing was running the ship and trying to minimize the chaos. Wondering if she could take the abuse. Each Officer of the Deck, up in the wheel house, had their own strategy to keep the ship as calm as possible and still not stray too far form our designated station. From below we could tell when those watches changed and the ship took on a different character. After holding a course for an hour or two, at about 45 degrees to the seas for the best ride, it was time to turn and take a new course. The OD would pipe throughout the ship, "all hands stand by for heavy rolls". This was the time to hang on! The ship would get hit on the side during the turn and roll to an amazing angle. I watched the pendulum swing past 55 degrees many times.
After the worst of this was over, we were called to go rescues a sea going tug with a blown reduction gear. Took us a day or two to get to them. He was towing a barge and we took them both under tow and headed back to Norfolk Virginia. Setting the tow took hours as we hauled the hawser across, let down the rail around the fantail, wrapped the hawser with a sewn leather wear sleeve and greased the wear areas. While towing, the line is long enough that it is always in the water, for spring and safety, if it separates. It took days to get him back near shore where we relieved the tow to a commercial tug. Then back out to station where we reported weather and made ourselves available if needed.
The Fairbanks engines have large covers over the crankcase at each throw. One of those covers fell off and I could watch the crankshaft turning while oil was slinging out. Even though there is no exhaust noise, they are still pretty loud when in a closed engine room and working. The oil is constantly drawn from a tank and returned. Meanwhile a centrifugal filter is running to clean it. There are manual valves on the sea water used for cooling and proportioning valves on the distribution of the sea water to the fresh water heat exchangers. There was no automatic thermostats. Each speed, 1/3, 2/3, standard, full and flank are a certain shaft RPM. The total shaft revolutions are logged each hour. To start the engine, you push a lever all the way to "start", in the direction you want the engine to run. This times the air start distributor and sends starting air to each cylinder in proper time to get the engine rolling over. Then it starts. When it starts, you return the lever part way to the run position and then adjust the RPM. To reverse, you bring the lever to the center position and the engine stops running. Then you pull it the other way to "start" and the air distributor re-times for reverse and the engine starts in reverse. It doesn't matter which direction the crank shafts are turning on an opposed piston engine. Either way, the pistons are moving toward and away from each other in the same manner. There are no valves. But I don't remember how the scavenging blower can pump in the same direction with the engine reversed. Maybe someone else knows that.
