After Engine Room

Glenn L. Duncan

Welcome to the After Engine Room. You have entered the engine room from the Forward engine Room

The After Engine Room contains: Two Fairbanks Morse, Main Engines and Generators, the Auxiliary Diesel Engine, #2 Clean Fuel Oil Storage Tank, #2 Lube Oil Storage Tank, and fuel and lube oil centrifuges. Instrumentation and control panels for each engine.

Along each side of the engine room walking deck is the top of #3 and #4 Main Engines. These engines are 12 cylinder, Fairbanks Morse, 1600 Horse Power, Opposed Piston (two pistons per cylinder, one over and one under) engines. They are each direct connected to individual electrical generators. The engines and generators can be connected electrically to the propulsion motors for propulsion when surfaced, or any two generators to the propulsion motors when submerged and snorkeling. Another purpose for the engines is to recharge the batteries when low in charge. When surfaced there are many engine combinations. Four Main Engines on propulsion Auxiliary Engine on Battery Charge, two Main Engines on battery charge two on propulsion, one Main Engine on charge and three on propulsion. When snorkeling, the combination would be two Main Engines on propulsion, or one on propulsion and one on charge. Each engine has a control panel with instrumentation, and at the # 1 control panel are the hydraulic control levers for all engine hydraulic operated snorkel and normal outboard exhaust valves. The exhaust from each engine goes through an inboard manually operated gate valve, located in the exhaust header, before penetrating the hull in the overhead. The large hand wheel for the inboard exhaust valve takes 32 turns to open and close the valve. Engine air is provided by a 36 " hydraulic operated (Operated from the control room) mushroom Main Induction valve, located in the sail behind the conning tower. This valve is connected to the engine rooms by piping in the superstructure that connects at the hull with a 22" manually operated flapper valve. Outside air enters the engine room through a 22" quick release flapper valve in the center of the overhead. The air is ducted to outside the engines to direct any water that come into the engineroom, through the air induction, to the bilge.

The Auxiliary Engine is located between the main engines and below the walking deck. The engine is an eight cylinder Fairbanks Morse opposed piston engine. The engine is used to charge the battery when operations require all main engines to be on propulsion to maintain maximum speed.

Aft of the Auxiliary Engine in the lower level are the #2 Lube Oil Storage and #2 Clean Fuel Oil Tanks. In the overhead on the port side is one of the ventilation supply system cooling coils.

As you proceed to the Maneuvering Room, there are two centrifuge by the door, that clean Engine Lube Oil and Engine Fuel Oil by centrifugal force. In a barrel rotating at 16,000 rpm the Fuel Oil centrifuge separates water and fuel carried over from the fuel tanks. The clean fuel is then pumped to the clean fuel to the storage tank. The Lube Oil centrifuge separates suspended carbon and other impurities from the oil that are picked up during the pass through the engine.