Comments by "" (@EbenBransome) on "Drachinifel" channel.

A small technical note: British warships had steam turbines with reduction gears, which are a bit more efficient and considerably more compact than electric drive. Those single reduction gears, despite being efficient, create a lot of heat. They are lubricated by large volumes of oil being pumped straight into where the gears mesh. That oil needs a lot of cooling, and it is difficult to cool oil because it's a poor conductor of heat. Then there's the thrust blocks which also require pressure lubrication and cooling. Speculating a bit, but the turbines wouldn't be the problem. In fact pouring cold water on the casings would be a recipe for total disaster as the metal experienced shrinkage and possibly impacted the turbine blades or even split. Cooling the gear cases and the Mitchell blocks with external water, however, would make a difference. Incidentally, the reduction gears of warships are just big versions of the reduction gears used between motor and differential in EVs. Good technology tends to have a long life. In the turbines and depending on the design, steam leaks could well be an issue due to the higher pressure. There were problems in the 1970s with oil tankers being allowed to develop excess steam leaks meaning crew couldn't enter the turbine compartment under power - not a good idea.
2