[AT] Gas turbines

[John Hall]

Good reading!!

John

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Bruer" <bill_bru at bellsouth.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 2:10 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Gas turbines


>I don't know anything about gas turbines or their relative efficiency but I
> saw how effective they can be as ships power plants.
>
> I was a Machinist's Mate aboard the USS Wainwright DLG-28.  While some 
> MM's
> actually work with machine tools, most are assigned to the engine rooms, 
> as
> I was.  Wainwright was state-of-the-art for a light cruiser in the US Navy
> in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  She was 547 feet long with a beam of
> 55 feet, a draft of 28 feet, and a displacement of 7930 tons.
>
> Typical of our ships, main power was 2 steam turbines running on 
> superheated
> steam  - close to 1000 degrees and at 1200 PSI - producing 45,000 HP each.
> It took us about 3 hours to get underway from a cold start under normal
> conditions, though we could get some movement in about an hour and a half 
> in
> an all-out emergency.  Most European Navies were already converting to gas
> turbines for main propulsion.  I know the British and Canadians could go
> from cold iron to full fighting power in less than 1/2 hour because I saw
> them do it.
>
> In early 1973 we were assigned to the Sixth Fleet in the western
> Mediterranean.  We were always playing games with the Russians.  One 
> evening
> I had just gone on duty in the forward engine room - "Main Control" for
> Engineering - on the 4-to-8 watch when we received engine orders to 
> increase
> speed above our usual cruising speed of about 18 knots.  The orders kept
> coming until we were running at full speed, around 30 knots.  By the time 
> we
> were relieved for evening chow at 5:30, we were at flank speed - all she
> had, full out.  That's a very dangerous condition where major problems 
> occur
> very fast with steam engines.  We didn't do it often.  The phone talkers
> from the bridge were only telling us that it was more games with the
> Russians but there was a lot of strain in their voices.  Our reliefs just
> said to go out on the fantail.  As soon as we got out of the hole I 
> grabbed
> a sandwich & went on deck.
>
> About a hundred yards off our stern and directly in the center of our wake
> was a Russian destroyer.  Looking ahead, there was another one about the
> same distance off our bow & running directly ahead of us.    Three large
> warships running *very* close together, nose-to-tail at over 30 knots.  If
> the front Russian's engines had hiccupped we would have cut straight into
> him.  If our engines hiccupped we would have been rammed by the Russian
> behind us.  Knowing how close our engines were to that hiccup made it very
> frightening indeed.
>
> The guys that had been on deck and saw this situation develop said the
> Russians just came up over the horizon and caught up to us "suddenly". 
> The
> one in front of us was able to get there and maintain his position with
> enough speed to counter any move we made and even zig-zag a bit.  After I
> had been on deck about 15 minutes, the Russians decided to call it off.
> They just cranked those gas turbines up a bit more and were gone over the
> horizon in front of us in another half-hour.  We figured they had to be
> doing close to 45 knots.
>
> I loved the steam engines and I know they had a lot of strong points going
> for them.  For a warship, though, I also saw those very important benefits
> of the gas turbine: they can be almost instantly ready for full service 
> and
> they can develop high
> speeds with strong acceleration.
>
> Bill Bruer
> Murfreesboro, TN
> bill_bru at bellsouth.net
>
>