Quote:
Originally Posted by diametricalbenz
That is an interesting design, a diesel with no valverain. Was the motor balanced harmonically well? That's twice as many crankshafts and thus a lot more rotating mass coupled together.
That letter from the USS Wahoo went to their Beloit location. I presume they made there here in Wisconsin?
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They were very well balanced and durable. The top crankshaft drove the blower. The bottom shaft connected to the reduction gears. We ran across shallow water and the shaft vibrations eventually tore apart the original (Philadelphia) gears, but the engines never flinched.
I do believe the engines in our boats were mfd. in Beloit. The vessels were built in Miss. iirc. Somewhere down in the gulf, some time in the mid 70's. FM was owned by Colt Industries at that time.