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Originally Posted by cmdrk
I think the train engines gave the Navy the idea. It saves weight for the gearing and makes it easier to shift from diesel to electric.
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You are thinking correctly here. It was the engineers that designed diesel electric configuration for trains that lent itself to the submarine. On the USS Torsk, the four diesels are not connected in anyway to the prop shafts. They only make the electric juice to turn the electric motors. These motors are a big as car. The manerveuring room was situated right on top of them. Two crew man manned the controls for each individual motor. People get confused when told this is the maneuvering room. They believe this is how the sub was steered. It was not, this was only to work the motors. So working in unison with the helm was essential.