“THE CONSTRUCTION OF DIESEL ENGINES “ 1942 U.S. NAVY SUBMARINE SCHOOL TRAINING FILM 86884

Produced by the U.S. Navy during WWII, this black & white training film explains the construction and operation of diesel engines, primarily through a series of animated diagrams. The film examines a generic type of diesel engine (probably one built by Fairbanks Morse for use on submairines), noting that while there are differences in design, they all share the same fundamentals in terms of construction and operation. Copyright 1942, and made by Audio Productions. Note: A related film can be seen at: Opening titles: The Construction of Diesel Engines, U.S. Submarine Base in New London, CT (:06-:27). Engine frame of a diesel engine. Cylinder jacket, cylinder liner and the cylinder head make up the engine. The parts are explained and discussed by a narrator. Crank and cam shafts are shown and explained (:28-2:14). Scavenge ports. Exhaust ports explained. Cylinder heads and piston rods (2:15-3:14). Title: Frame Types. “A“ frame construction, crankcase construction, en bloc construction types are shown and explained. Stay-bolt construction (3:15-4:34). Title: Cylinders. A cylinder is shown and explained. Dry liner and then the wet liner are explained. Two stroke cycle engine. Opposed piston engine. Four stroke cycle engine (4:35-6:30). Title: Pistons. Different pistons are shown. Pistons are made of cast iron or forged steel. Pistons top is crown, lower is skirt. Inside a piston is shown and explained. Double acting engine. Piston is made in three sections, a hand points at it with a pencil. Cooling oil are in a double acting engine (6:31-8:12). Title: Piston Rings. Piston rings help seal. Compression and oil are two types of rings. Piston rings are made of cast iron or forged steel. A steel band helps with increased strength. A ring is shown as a hand points at it. Ring joints. Oil control rings have two functions which are explained (8:13-9:59). Title: Connecting rods. Rods are shown and putting something in them is explained. A bolt is screwed on. How connecting rods work is shown in animation and in reality (10:00-11:24). Title: Crank Shaft. How the crankshaft works is shown. Crank webs and crank pins. The crankshaft turns. In an inline engine, there is a separate crank for each cylinder. In a “V“ type, there is one crank pin journal. Pistons evenly distributed (11:25-13:18). Title: Bearings. They are made in halves. A bearing is scraped. Pieces are placed into a bearing (13:19-14:05). Title: Camshaft. Camshaft is made of high grade steel. A camshaft turns. Camshaft controls the timing of the engine (14:06-14:45). Title: Rocker-Lever Assembly. It’s purpose is explained and shown with a real rocker-lever. Diagram explains in more detail. A diesel engine (14:46-15:47). End credits (15:48-15:54) We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit
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