engineroom

Power to recharge the batteries and propel the boat comes from the two Admiralty 16VVS-ASR1 1840 bhp diesel generators. It is tradition in RAN and RN submarines to give the engines nick names in Ovens case they are 'Jake' and 'Elwood' after their "Blues Brothers" namesakes. The lack of room and noise of these engines made working in this area very difficult. The picture here shows the control and monitoring position. The engines take their air from within the boat, when on the surface its drawn down the conning tower hatch and through the snorkel or snort at periscope depth.

Any interruption of this supply can cause quite a lot of discomfort to the ears and eyes when the pressure in the boat drops suddenly, there are gauges around the boat to monitor this. A vigilant engine room crew with extra manning were always ready to shut off the engines whilst snorting.

The fuel for the engines is passed through centrifugal separators and filters into an internal ready to use tank, this removes any water or foreign matter. The bottoms of the main external fuel tanks are open to the sea so as not to change the boats trim as fuel is used.

A water distiller is also a part of the machinery in this area.

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Developed and produced by John Eade for the WA Maritime Museum 2002

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