Chapter 9—ENGINEERING CASUALTY CONTROLotherwise the casualty may be mishandled, andirreparable damage and possible loss of the shipmay result. War experience has shown that thecross-connecting of an intact system with apartly damaged one should be delayed until it iscertain that such action will not jeopardize the in-tact system. Speed in the handling of casualtiescan be achieved only by a thorough knowledgeof the equipment and associated systems, and bythorough and repeated training in the routine re-quired to handle specific predictable casualties.auxiliaries. Each engineering plant operates itsown propeller shaft. If one engineering plant wereto be put out of action by an explosion, shellfire,or flooding, the other plant could continue todrive the ship ahead, though at somewhat re-duced speed.PHASES OF CASUALTY CONTROLThe handling of any casualty can usually bedivided into three phases: (1) limitation of the ef-fects of the damage, (2) emergency restoration,and (3) complete repair.The first phase is concerned with the im-mediate control of the casualty so as to preventfurther damage to the unit affected and to pre-vent the casualty from spreading.The second phase consists of restoring, as faras practicable, the services which were interruptedas a result of the casualty. For many casualties,the completion of this phase eliminates all otheroperational handicaps, except for the temporaryloss of the standby units-which lessens the ship’sability to withstand additional failures. If nodamage to machinery occurred, this phase usuallycompletes this phase of casualty control.The third phase of casualty control consistsof making repairs which completely restore an in-stallation to its original condition.Split-plant operation is not an absolute in-surance against damage that might immobilize theentire engineering plant, but it does reduce thechances of such a casualty and it prevents damageto one plant from being transmitted to, or seri-ously affect the operation of, the other plant orplants. Split-plant operation is the first step in thePREVENTION of major engineering casualties.The fuel oil system is generally so arrangedthat by means of fuel oil transfer pumps, suctioncan be taken from any fuel oil tank on the shipand the oil pumped to any other fuel oil tank.Fuel oil service pumps are used to supply oil fromthe service tanks to the main engines. In split-plantoperations the forward fuel oil service pumps ofa ship are lined up with the forward service tanks,and the after service pumps are lined up with theafter service tanks. The cross-connection valvesin the fuel oil transfer line are always closed ex-cept when oil is being transferred.Although geared diesel propulsion plants aredesigned for split-plant operation only, some ofthe auxiliary and main systems maybe run cross-connected or split. Among these are the startingair systems, the cooling water systems, the fire-main systems, and, in some plants, the fuel andlube oil systems.SPLIT-PLANT OPERATIONIn diesel-electric installations the dieselelements are designed for split operation, butgenerator elements can be run either split or cross-connected.In ships having two or more shafts, a fun-damental principle of engineering casualty con-trol is SPLIT-PLANT operation. The purpose ofthe split-plant design is to minimize damage thatmight result from any one hit.LOCKING MAIN SHAFTMost naval ships built primarily as warshipshave at least two engineering plants. The largercombatant ships have four individual engineer-ing plants.Split-plant operation means separating theengines, pumps, and other machinery so that twoor more engineering plants are available, eachcomplete in itself. Each main engine installationis equipped with its own piping systems and otherAn engineering casualty may affect the rota-tion of the main shaft and cause further damage.In such cases, the main shaft should be lockeduntil necessary repairs can be made, since, exceptat very low speeds, movement of the ship throughthe water will cause the shaft to turn, whether theship is proceeding by its own power or beingtowed.There are no standard procedures for lockinga main shaft which are applicable to all types ofdiesel-driven ships. On ships that have main9-5
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