How USS Gunnel’s Four Diesel Engines Became One Shared Risk

Four main diesels should have given a U.S. fleet submarine redundancy, but aboard USS Gunnel, recurring Hooven-Owens-Rentschler engine trouble showed how four separate engines could still share the same vulnerability. This video traces Gunnel’s machinery failures from Operation Torch to her Pacific patrols, the broken gearing crews fought to keep running at sea, USS Gurnard’s decision to end a patrol after two engines failed, and USS Harder’s later re-engining at Mare Island with General Motors 16-278A diesels. The story is not simply about one broken engine, but about common-mode failure in a WWII submarine: repairs could restore useful power without proving that the other engines were free from the same weakness, forcing the U.S. Navy to weigh unpredictable breakdowns against the planned combat downtime required to replace troublesome machinery. Sources: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/hist... https://www.history.navy.mil/research/hist... https://www.history.navy.mil/research/hist... https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/lead... https://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0825... #USSGunnel #USSGurnard #USSHarder #WWII #WorldWarII #USNavy #SubmarineWarfare #GatoClass #DieselEngines #NavalHistory #PacificWar #OperationTorch