The gas turbines on my old ship drove the main reduction gear by pushing the hot exhaust gas over a turbine, which was mechanically connected to drive an input shaft. This was called a fluid coupling. The red. gear brought the speed down from some high RPM to about 100 RPM, and then the propeller had variable pitch so the ship's speed could vary from reverse to about 30 knots forward. Our stern would walk to starboard when the engines were at "all stop" because the shaft and prop were still spinning, which made docking maneuvering fun. -- Max Dillon Charleston SC '87 300TD '95 E300 _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com
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