# Crankcase Explosion.



## Hugh Ferguson (Sep 4, 2006)

Anyone had an experience of such?


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## Satanic Mechanic (Feb 23, 2009)

Yes 

And a secondary


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## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

No. All the Engineers and the Supers had British tickets.


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## Satanic Mechanic (Feb 23, 2009)

Engine Serang said:


> No. All the Engineers and the Supers had British tickets.


?????


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## Hugh Ferguson (Sep 4, 2006)

Satanic Mechanic said:


> Yes
> 
> And a secondary


 Are you not going to tell us what happened? 
The one that happened in the ship I was in was very serious; are they not all?


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## uisdean mor (Sep 4, 2008)

Hugh Ferguson said:


> Anyone had an experience of such?


Yes - plus a secondary fire but by far the worst experience in terms of pure fear was an overspeed on a medium speed main engine.


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## Satanic Mechanic (Feb 23, 2009)

Hugh Ferguson said:


> Are you not going to tell us what happened?
> The one that happened in the ship I was in was very serious; are they not all?


1. Shop test - bearing overheat due to insufficient flushing causing blocked oil ways

2. Sea trials - bearing overheat as per 1

3. In service - piston crown holed, then explosion doors stuck open causing a secondary explosion


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## Derek Roger (Feb 19, 2005)

Anyone had a Gear Box explosion ? I have . Just the same plus a secondary fire which took about half an hour to put out, Towed back Yokohama for repairs .
Still don't know why gear boxes don't have explosion doors . Derek


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## Satanic Mechanic (Feb 23, 2009)

Dont mix up secondary fires and secondary explosions folks. Secondary explosions are a bit of a phenomena caused by the drop in crankcase pressure as the explosive pressure is released. If the explosion doors stick open as they are somewhat prone to doing despite some sterling efforts by the manufacturers the result is an in rush of air which then provides air for another explosion, but this time there is no restriction from the doors - not nice


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## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

Kiwi tug on delivery trip.Piston crowns not cleaned out from shot blasting cooling space,crown worn through eventualy firing into the C/C


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## ART6 (Sep 14, 2010)

I never experienced a crankcase explosion, but I have experienced a blowback from an oil-fired Scotch boiler furnace. An unpleasant and painful experience as i discovered.


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## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

In Hull Tech Dave Tailor stressed the dangers of crankcase explosions and air start line explosions using the Reina del Pacifico and Capetown Castle as examples. 
No student left without knowing the importance of explosion doors and the need for routine watchkeeping rounds every hour. How times have changed.


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## inandaship (May 5, 2007)

Didn't the Capetown Castle have a crankcase explosion at Las Palmas with loss of life?


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## Engine Serang (Oct 15, 2012)

It was an air start line explosion, killed Ch Eng, two x 2/E, two x J/E and an Oiler. It happened whilst manoeuvring on arrival Las Palmas.


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## Satanic Mechanic (Feb 23, 2009)

Engine Serang said:


> In Hull Tech Dave Tailor stressed the dangers of crankcase explosions and air start line explosions using the Reina del Pacifico and Capetown Castle as examples.
> No student left without knowing the importance of explosion doors and the need for routine watchkeeping rounds every hour. How times have changed.


Your being very harsh there, there is little that basic watch keeping can do to prevent these and when they do happen they go from normal to explosion in a very very short time - especially with the amount of power going through bearings now.

They are thankfully rare but that has a lot to do with design. Oil mist detectors are much better, bearings and alignment practices are much superior. Oil way inspections before testing using bore scopes are the norm. One to watch out for are pattern parts - in service they are often implicated.


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## inandaship (May 5, 2007)

Engine Serang said:


> It was an air start line explosion, killed Ch Eng, two x 2/E, two x J/E and an Oiler. It happened whilst manoeuvring on arrival Las Palmas.


Yes, that was it, I spoke to a chap a couple of years ago he had been an engineer on I think the Rothesay Castle who were in the area at the time and put in to Las Palmas, he said it was not a pretty sight.


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## Hugh Ferguson (Sep 4, 2006)

Thanks! I had no idea that they were as common as that.
Only one of my family was ever a marine engineer but that was long ago.
His ship. the s.s. LESBIAN, Ellerman & Papayanni, was torpedoed and sunk in the Med. in 1917.


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

Gearbox explosions were mentioned a while back, somewhere I have a copy of the IMarE paper on HMCS Kootenay's gearbox explosion, a description here http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/restigou/kootenay-explosion/


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## Derek Roger (Feb 19, 2005)

Duncan112 said:


> Gearbox explosions were mentioned a while back, somewhere I have a copy of the IMarE paper on HMCS Kootenay's gearbox explosion, a description here http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/restigou/kootenay-explosion/


A friend of mine Don Hawse was a sparks on HMCS Kootenay at the time ; he had just come off watch and for whatever reason he decided not to go to the mess for a coffee which was his norm and went to his cabin .A lot of the fatalities occurred in the mess which was adjacent to the engine room at that very time . 
Surviving members of the crew had a reunion last year at which time they were presented with the Government House Gold Award Medal in Halifax NS . Derek


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## MWD (Aug 15, 2005)

*Crankcase explosions.*

(Thumb)

Great to see some more engineering experiences relating to my time at sea in the late 50's and eary 60's.

I had a crankcase explosion on one of the two diesel generators in UCL's Pretoria Castle. Caused by a cracked piston crown. 
The watchkeeping junior was unhappy with what he was seeing and shut the engine down. The Second started it up again to check and just as he came of the top gangway a fireball enveloped the engine, very frightening, luckily someone was on the controls and shut it down. 

First trip in 56. A generator on the Roslin Castle ran away. Fuel isolating valve passing so J Second astride the govenor with a seven pound hammer whilst flames ran round the communtator. I have to admit retiring to the fridge flat for safety.

Arranged blow backs when lighting vertical cochran boilers were party tricks to frighten first trippers.

MWD.


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## funnelstays (Nov 19, 2008)

The only crankcase explosion l had experienced was on a MAN medium speed,
The culprit was that after installation of B&K Back flushing filters the return filter drains were cross connected and the piping hastily rectified by the Yard the resultant being that the system was not flushed correctly or the pipes properly inspected after fabrication.A piece of loose scale or **** fouled the main bearing on one unit starving oil supply to the bottom end bearing .
As the ship single screw twin main engines,she was able to make repairs at another yard as there was a MAN team available.This engine is now on its third crankshaft as the damage to the journals and the amount of overheating the crankshaft was beyond repair.


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## funnelstays (Nov 19, 2008)

funnelstays said:


> The only crankcase explosion l had experienced was on a MAN medium speed,
> The culprit was that after installation of B&K Back flushing filters the return filter drains were cross connected and the piping hastily rectified by the Yard the resultant being that the system was not flushed correctly or the pipes properly inspected after fabrication.A piece of loose scale or **** fouled the main bearing on one unit starving oil supply to the bottom end bearing .
> As the ship single screw twin main engines,she was able to make repairs at another yard as there was a MAN team available.This engine is now on its third crankshaft as the damage to the journals and the amount of overheating the crankshaft was beyond repair.


 If there was ever an Olympic event for finger pointing then this was it.


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## Irvingman (Jan 29, 2006)

Medium speed 9 cylinder MAK - I was just forward of the starboard side of the main engine when all explosion doors lifted, quite a sight! I was in the control room in seconds and shut down but too late to prevent major damage. A liner failed at the lower o-ring grove, dropped down the con rod, split, part jammed and sheared off the counterweights which came out through the side. A complete engine rebuild required.
Investigation showed that the oil mist detector (Siemens) did pick up the build-up but had never been connected to the alarm panel or auto slow down function. Route cause of that explosion was never conclusively confirmed but she had several bearing/lube oil issues in later life so that was the most likely the source.
The Irving Nordic - sailed on her a number of times afterwards, couple as Chief but never really slept too soundly after that B\)


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## Tmac1720 (Jun 24, 2005)

Reina Del Pacifico.... a tragedy for all concerned especially for the survivors who had to live with the scars and the memories.(Sad)(Sad)


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

Maks were prone to the centre main bearing rotating in its housing and shutting off the oil feed to the adjacent bottom ends causing extensive destruction. P&OCL had them as alternator engines on the Resolution Bay Class, a moot point as to which was worse those or the MAN main engined.


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## Bill Morrison (May 25, 2013)

I never have experience one. Scavenge fires are scary enough but remember them being discussed in connection with the North Sands with loss of life.
While looking for something on the internet some time ago I came across a news story concerning the Reina Del Pacifico. In 1947 after a major over haul in Belfast she crossed to the Clyde for trials over the measured mile.
On the return journey a disaster occurred a massive explosion in one of the engines. It is best if you can read the actual report. In all 27/8 people were killed in the engine room and many more injured.


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## Hugh Ferguson (Sep 4, 2006)

Good heavens this thread sure exploded.
My only experience of such an event happened in the Glenroy homeward bound in the Gulf of Aden.
Late in my mid-day to 1600 watch there was a bang and Caotain Simmonds came rushing up to the bridge; nothing from the engine room so he asked me to go down and find out what had happened.
I went in through the boat-deck entranceand on arriving on the control platform I saw all hands around what I think was a Crossley generator.
They'd already put that fire out but the flames had been sucked into the port main engine air intake and set that on fire.
All of the engineers were unrecognisable to me as they were so blackened with smoke and sweat. They were vaguely reassuring but had already riun out of extinguisher.
I climbed up to the main entrance to find all hands clustered and handing down the last extinguishers having stripped the whole ship of that material. 
I returned to the bridge and told the captain the news which was not entirely reassuring but good enough for him to decide not to get the boats swung out.

My admiration for marine engineers is un-bounded! What they are called upon to do-especially in the tropics-is super-human: I salute them!


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## Basil (Feb 4, 2006)

Gentlemen, thank you for your postings which are both educational and humbling.


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## Diesel Dan (Apr 16, 2014)

Had one on a Mirrlees Blackstone K Major. Cause was ball valve in conrod jammed and starved piston crown of cooling oil. Crown expanded through lack of cooling and started to seize in liner. Liner then cracked in four vertical places allowing combustion gases into crankcase with disastrous results. Managed to stop engine before major damage was caused.


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## AlbieR (May 18, 2007)

Bill Morrison said:


> I never have experience one. Scavenge fires are scary enough but remember them being discussed in connection with the North Sands with loss of life.
> While looking for something on the internet some time ago I came across a news story concerning the Reina Del Pacifico. In 1947 after a major over haul in Belfast she crossed to the Clyde for trials over the measured mile.
> On the return journey a disaster occurred a massive explosion in one of the engines. It is best if you can read the actual report. In all 27/8 people were killed in the engine room and many more injured.


Sombre reading indeed
http://www.ecsodus.com/PSNC/RdPexpl.html
http://www.plimsoll.org/resources/SCCLibraries/WreckReports/14197.asp


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## Hugh Ferguson (Sep 4, 2006)

The bug-bear of slow steaming for motor ships in convoy was the build-up of carbon causing scavenge fires. The last thing that a 7knot convoy wanted was a shower of sparks going skywards in the middle of a dark night!
To try to avoid this happeming, and only if conditions-weather and other were suitable , permission could be given for certain motor ships to break column and give the engine a good old belt, wherupon accompanieing ships were treated to a sort of mini fire-works display.


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## Rope Locker (Sep 10, 2015)

Last time I experienced one of these incidents the cause was put down to engineers not deglazing the cylinder liners following overhaul of a couple of units. All the more disturbing in that several warnings from the Oil Mist detectors prior to the explosion were ignored.


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

Hugh Ferguson said:


> The bug-bear of slow steaming for motor ships in convoy was the build-up of carbon causing scavenge fires. The last thing that a 7knot convoy wanted was a shower of sparks going skywards in the middle of a dark night!
> To try to avoid this happeming, and only if conditions-weather and other were suitable , permission could be given for certain motor ships to break column and give the engine a good old belt, wherupon accompanieing ships were treated to a sort of mini fire-works display.


That is/was still done today/recently . Not always successfully. With the a hot, oiled and sooted passage to the turbo charger a good old belt could result in it catching fire. Certainly on one occasion this lead to the turbo charger taking off like an ungoverned gas turbine disintegrating and, to borrow aircraft parlance, the incident becoming uncontained.


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## uisdean mor (Sep 4, 2008)

*Another scary story*

Another experience - perhaps others have been through it. 
An old and very worn MTU lazy "V" generator, The V angle was certainly greater than 90 and if memory serves around 110 degrees. 
Air start and when it started it did so in reverse and pumped the sump via the turbo charger. No explosion just horrible grinding noises and many clouds of cloying white/blue smoke. The "cause" was attributed to a worn start distributor on the motor which allowed start air pressure into the wrong apperture and with the engine angle being so large it - just took off. In the wrong direction. (Cloud)


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## vasco (Dec 27, 2007)

Engine Serang said:


> No. All the Engineers and the Supers had British tickets.


Yes, on a maiden voyage.

The only thing I can think of the above comment is not nice, so I won't print it, but for your information, All our Engineers had superior Tickets, were very proffessional and the ship was British Built.

Something to do with detectors I think.

Search Hornby Grange 

Pics here

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/galle...grange-1979-crankcase-explosion281-29/cat/501

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/galle...grange-1979-crankcase-explosion282-29/cat/501


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## jep1916 (Jan 31, 2014)

Didn't the Doxford vessel called the North Sands have a Main Engine Crankcase Explosion that resulted in fatalities ?


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

Yes, she was the first "J" type fitted to a ship, the Anson Engine Museum has/had a video on the ship's trials and a booklet


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## Irvingman (Jan 29, 2006)

Duncan112 said:


> Maks were prone to the centre main bearing rotating in its housing and shutting off the oil feed to the adjacent bottom ends causing extensive destruction.......


That particular incident was in 1984 when the vessel was just over 3 years old, there were at least two if not three other incidents, causing less damage, that were attributed to main bearing rotation. Hydraulically tensioned bottom end and main bearing bolts were introduced with limited success, previously only the cylinder head bolts had been jacked down. I sailed on her again in 1990 when she had just had another extensive main engine rebuild with many redesigned components. I left the company the following year......and have slept well since(Thumb)
John


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

Irvingman said:


> That particular incident was in 1984 when the vessel was just over 3 years old, there were at least two if not three other incidents, causing less damage, that were attributed to main bearing rotation. Hydraulically tensioned bottom end and main bearing bolts were introduced with limited success, previously only the cylinder head bolts had been jacked down. I sailed on her again in 1990 when she had just had another extensive main engine rebuild with many redesigned components. I left the company the following year......and have slept well since(Thumb)
> John


When I was up for my Chief's I went to see a Chief Engineer I had sailed with in BP who lived in South Shields, the late John Hambling - he had come ashore and was superintendent with North Star Marine. Over a bottle of Newcastle Brown, prior to decamping to the British Legion, he produced a plastic bag of mangled bearing and said "What do you think of that?" I replied that it looked very like no 5 main bearing off a MaK. John, spluttering said "How do you know?" I explained and his response was "The ba5tard5, they said it had never happened before."


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## Irvingman (Jan 29, 2006)

This was an 9M552AK, following the initial problems we were assured it had never happened before to any of this series, I believe it was a C type if memory serves. 
We found out that most of the rest of the series were in shore installations while those installed on vessels generally used MDO. We were one of the only ones using IFO.


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## Duncan112 (Dec 28, 2006)

We had 6M54AKs on the Bay Boats, running on IFO, blame was initially attached to power surges from using the thrusters and starting the fridge compressors, a modification tried with some success was to machine a slot in the upper keep to enable a horizontal key to be fitted to prevent the shell from rotating. I assume the North Star engines ran on gas oil.

Other problems were bottom end bolts failing allowing the con rods and associated parephenalia to exit via the crank case door (usually having destroyed the valve gear on it's uncontrolled upward journey before falling into the crankshaft, turbocharger ingesting failed valves - grids were only a partial solution, fuel pipes failing - not good on a UMS vessel - somehow they had gained approval for unsheathed lines, water pump gear failure, governor failure - woodward reconed it was due to the positioning of the lub oil spreyer allowing contaminated oil to play on the lower seal of the governor drive, liner landing faces fretting and leaking.... as you say sleep was seldom uninterrupted.


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

It seems to a non-plumber that the bearing could not have turned unless there had been considerable metal to metal contact. The subsequent cutting off of lubrication serving only to turn up the volume of the already unfolded catastrophe.

Veteran Super Brian Yates was assigned to ride one of the Polar vessels from Capetown. He witnessed two explosions before they reached Durban and much 'spoor' of Metalock repairs to both MEs (Pielsticks coupled to one shaft via two electromagnetic slip couplings). Commercially'on the edge' the vessels had been pressed very hard to maintain an unreachable charter speed. Someone has a photograph of one, looking aft, with thick black smoke from both funnels all the way to the horizon.


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## uisdean mor (Sep 4, 2008)

Varley said:


> It seems to a non-plumber that the bearing could not have turned unless there had been considerable metal to metal contact. The subsequent cutting off of lubrication serving only to turn up the volume of the already unfolded catastrophe.
> 
> Veteran Super Brian Yates was assigned to ride one of the Polar vessels from Capetown. He witnessed two explosions before they reached Durban and much 'spoor' of Metalock repairs to both MEs (Pielsticks coupled to one shaft via two electromagnetic slip couplings). Commercially'on the edge' the vessels had been pressed very hard to maintain an unreachable charter speed. Someone has a photograph of one, looking aft, with thick black smoke from both funnels all the way to the horizon.


Ah Varley - the process is all. The oil ways get choked - for whatever reason- then the either crank or main bearing rests on the shells. This "considerable metal to metal contact" is after oil supply fails and your apt description then ensues. The other cause of course is massive overheating vaporising the oil with the same consequences. 
Slainte


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## sternchallis (Nov 15, 2015)

Engine Serang said:


> In Hull Tech Dave Tailor stressed the dangers of crankcase explosions and air start line explosions using the Reina del Pacifico and Capetown Castle as examples.
> No student left without knowing the importance of explosion doors and the need for routine watchkeeping rounds every hour. How times have changed.


Yes remember him and that story being told. Spoke to him earlier on in the year.


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