Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "How the Diesel Engine Became King of the Seas" video.

  1. Respect.
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  2. In the 1930s there was big move to diesel motor vessels as the vid states. By 1939 they were just about outnumbering steam vessels. But leading up to WW2 the British government standardized on the easy and quick to manufacture Liberty freighter ship, named after the Empire Liberty, developed in Sunderland. The triple expansion steam engine was chosen not a diesel. The engine was so simple and reliable it could be made actually in the shipyards, while diesel motors were made by specialist manufacturers. importantly the steam engines could run on coal or oil. If Britain was successfully blockaded home produced coal would run the engines. The Liberty Ship was taken up by the USA in a big way. At the end of WW2 there were more steam ships than diesels.
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  3. Rudolph Diesel did not invent the diesel engine. Ackroyd Stuart did. All well documented - one is in the Science museum in London. Ackroyd Stuart's engines were put into some trucks exported to the USA. Engines were mainly static used for turning machinery in factories. Fires were frequent using petrol in the type of storage used. so much many companies could not get insurance. Ackroyd Stuart invented the engine running on less volatile fuel to reduce fires. Diesel said he only improved the thermal efficiency. Diesel fell of the back of a cross Channel ferry on his way to England.
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  4. There is talk of fuel cells powered by hydrogen, which in turn generates electricity to drive electric motors driving the propellers. 100% emissions free. Far more efficient than huge polluting diesel engines. Looks like it is the next stage in propulsion. .
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  5. There are a few electric ships running on batteries.
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