They Mocked This Engine's Design — Then It Won The Pacific War !
This video explores the history of the Fairbanks-Morse 38D 8-1/8 opposed-piston diesel engine, the unconventional power plant that became the backbone of the United States Navy's World War Two submarine fleet. Originally developed from a German Junkers aviation diesel concept, the engine eliminated the cylinder head entirely, creating a compact, mechanically robust design ideally suited for the confined space inside a submarine hull. Built by Fairbanks-Morse at its Beloit, Wisconsin factory, nearly twenty-three hundred of these engines were produced during the war by a largely female workforce, powering Gato-class and Balao-class fleet submarines on long-range patrols across the Pacific. Their reliability and resistance to depth charge shock helped sustain the submarine campaign that crippled Japan's merchant shipping and contributed directly to the collapse of its wartime industrial economy. The video also covers the engine's postwar near-failure in the American railroad industry, its return to naval service during the GUPPY submarine conversion program, and its enduring role as emergency backup power aboard Los Angeles-class, Seawolf-class, and Ohio-class nuclear submarines. Remarkably, a modern descendant of this nineteen thirties design remains in production today. This channel produces in-depth, research-driven documentaries on military history, aviation engineering, and the engineers and machines that shaped major conflicts of the twentieth century. Sources: Fairbanks Morse 38 8-1/8 Diesel Engine, Wikipedia Fairbanks-Morse Company History, Wikipedia Beadle, R. H., "Development of Diamond Opposed-Piston Diesel Engine," SAE Transactions, Vol. 64, 1956 Cummins, Lyle, Diesels for the First Stealth Weapon: Submarine Power 1902-1945, 2007 Old Machine Press, "Fairbanks Morse Diamond Opposed-Piston Marine Engine" Fairbanks Morse Defense, FM 38D 8-1/8 Engine Technical Documentation Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. I do not own some or all of the video materials used in this video. In the case of copyright issues, please contact me at [email protected] for credit or removal. #WWIIHistory #SubmarineWarfare #MilitaryHistory #PacificWar #EngineeringHistory #USNavy #FairbanksMorse #DieselEngine #NavalHistory #WWII #SubmarineEngine #NuclearSubmarines #HistoryDocumentary #MilitaryTechnology #warhistory
The Rise and Fall of Fairbanks-Morse, the Submarine Engine Giant You've Never Heard Of
The History of Dynamite — The Explosive That Built the Modern World
The Battleship That Changed Everything: HMS Dreadnought
Three MASSIVE Warship Design Failures
The Amazing Story of Recreating USS Monitor's Engines
No One Believed In His Engine — Until It Ran Every US Submarine In The Pacific
When Carriers Finally Clashed | The Battle of the Coral Sea
The "Impossible" Engine That Turned A Soviet Fighter Into A Focke-Wulf Killer !
The "Accidental" V8 That Made The Sherman Tank Unstoppable !
Why One British Bluff Cost Germany The Mighty Graf Spee
German Submariners Were Astonished When Hedgehog Mortars Sank 270 U-Boats in 18 Months
The Rise and Fall of Continental Motors, the Forgotten King of Tank Engines
The Rise and Fall of Fairbanks-Morse, the Opposed-Piston Engine Innovator
The GENIUS Who Built A Carrier Every 13 Days — When The Navy Said Impossible !
Why German U-Boat Captains Couldn't Explain How British Aircraft Found Them In Total Darkness
USS Amberjack: The Cold War Sub That Hunted A Soviet Missile Boat For 18 Hours
This Russian Engineer OUTSMARTED Detroit With a “Secret” Ford Flathead Upgrade
What RAF Pilots Said When They First Flew The American P-51 Mustang
Why Ford Killed the Flathead V8 - The Engine That Built Hot Rodding
