Why did we use German engines?

[techie714]

I'm reading a fantastic book right now called Silent Running & in the book James Calvert talks quite extensively about the German engines that we used in the U.S. Submarines of WWII. He said the engines were total crap & constantly needed repairs, compared to the more superior GM engines. My question is if we were at war with Germany during WWII why did we use their engines? Thanks for the response!

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[Rhodes]

Because they were very good?

Do not know the answer, just kiding. I didn't know that German engines were used in the US Submarines of WWII, always thought that the US subs used american engines!

[Torplexed]

These were the infamous H.O.R. engines. H.O.R. (Hooven-Owens-Rentschler) was the US licensee for M.A.N. which made the German submarine diesel engines leading to a rumour that the designs had been sabotaged on the drawing board by the German parent company. However, the problem seems to have been in the steel used for the gear train. The batch of steel used had cooled too rapidly at the mill causing the formation of 'snowflakes', a complete cleavage of internal integrity in the steel. As a result the teeth of the gears were prone to chip off.

Given their temperamental reputation the crews called them 'wHORes.'

Yea.
The 1972 Triumph 650 5 speed Gears suffered from this same problem.