Letter to A.H. Hawks - December 16, 1917
Transcript
Hotel Regent, 562 Sutter Street, San Francisco, [California December] 16, 1917. Mr. A.H. Hawks, Chief Engineer. Dear Mr. Hawks: - As wired you last Sunday, we made a very successful trip. The engines did not give any trouble at all. They simply kept on going absolutely unconcerned of the weather, the rolling and pitching of the boat and the pale and sick faces of the men on watch. Friday was a rough day and we were only four left on L-7 that were not sea sick, the captain, the first officer, Keene and myself. On L-6 everybody was sick. L-6 arrived at the golden Gate about 8 A.M. Saturday. We were there about an hour later having lost sight of her about 3 A.M. On account of a misunderstanding we waited until about 11 A.M., when we finally found out, that L-6 had proceeded immediately to Mare Island Navy Yard, which is about 30 miles up the bay. We arrived at the Yard a little after 2 P.M. at 2.30 the order came out to be ready to put the boats into commission at 3.15 P.M. At the set time the commander of the yard and some other officiers came aboard and within 15 minutes the ceremony was over and the commission pennant flew from the top of the periscopes. The success we had with our engines seemed to be known all over the yard, as we soon had numerous foremen and officiers aboard to see them and all I could hear was that they saw never anything as good as that. Monday a program was set up for the inspection calling for the following items: - Examine:- All needle valve rocker arm bushings. all fuel checks and measuring valves, all air compressor valves, all air compressor piston rings, especially high stage, scavenging pups, bottom guide, center bushing and piston rings, working cylinders, working pistons, wrist pins, all main bearings, all clutches, all oil coolers, lookout especially when tubes are expanded in tube sheet, Circulating water and lubricating oil pump wrist pins, Piping and vacuum tank (L-7) electric tachometers. Tuesday the crew started to dismantle the engines, on L-6 the port and on L-7 the stbd. One engine on each boat is kept in running conditions. Wednesday about a dozen yard machinists were sent aboard to do the job and get some action. The responsibility of the work rests entirely with the crew.
Transcript
[page 2] On L-7 stbd. engine we found two working cylinder piston rings completely gone all others seem to be in good conditions but are not removed from the pistons yet. On L-6 port engine I found three rings broken. With regard to the number of running hours these engines have, it seems to me, that it us up to the California people to replace these rings as it really comes under ordinary wear. Two of the crankpin boxes of the port engine L-6 show some fine cracks in the babbitt and may have to be rebabbitted which I think is also up to the California people. There was nothing mentioned yet as to above cases, and I wont touch these questions before they are brought up by the California people. There is nothing on the program about inspecting the piston bottoms but I think I have some of the covers removed to see if we did get any carbon. Yesterday we took the compressor down on L-7 and found all high pressure piston rings in fine condition. How would you like to stand out on the bow? I had my cot right foreward by the torpedo tubes and believe me I did not need any additional rocking to go to sleep. Yours very truly,
Details
| Title | Letter to A.H. Hawks - December 16, 1917 |
| Creator | Unknown |
| Source | Unknown. Letter to A.H. Hawks. 16 December 1917. Busch-Sulzer Collection. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin. |
| Description | Letter to Mr. A.H. Hawks, Chief Engineer from an unknown author. The author of the letter discussed a trip to San Francisco and the Mare Island Navy Yard. He also mentioned the dismantling of the "L-7" and "L-6" engines. |
| Subject LCSH | Diesel engine; Submarine boats; Busch-Sulzer brothers Diesel engine company |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Contributing Institution | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Wisconsin Historical Society: 608-264-6535 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
| Date Original | December 16, 1917 |
| Language | English |