Engineering Incident: No. 1 Diesel Failure (From MEJ 25 – October 1991)

A second look at stories from our archives.

The events: A DDE 257-class ship was just finishing a short work period. A considerable amount of upperdeck chipping and painting work remained to be done, as did some minor engineering jobs. During the forenoon watch No. 1 diesel alternator was started for the first time after a complete overhaul (6400-hour routine). The watchkeeper was paying particular attention to his job as this was the first run-up. It was to be put on load for trials prior to acceptance. All temperatures and pressures were observed to be normal. After about an hour the lights dimmed and the diesel slowed down. The engine began to smoke and, before it could be shut down, seized solid. The elapsed time from the engine's slowing down to its seizing was about one minute. The CERA and Engineer were notified and an investigation was started.

Machinery damage: Upon opening up the engine it was discovered that another complete overhaul would be required. The failure resulted from the ingestion of foreign material, later determined to be non-skid (that was being chipped from the fo'c'sle) which had been sucked into the engine through the intake, ground up by the blower, and deposited in the cylinders. Within one hour, 6400 hours had been "logged" on a refurbished engine.

Lesson learned: Always inspect intakes and the area around them before starting machinery