page_title: Gas turbine
section_title: Civilian maritime
hierarchical_section_title: Gas turbine / In surface vehicles / Marine applications / Civilian maritime
caption_attribution_description: English: TurboJET's Urzela Boeing 929 (Jetfoil) hydrofoil 中文（繁體）‎: 噴射飛航「鐵星」號 波音929型 (Jetfoil) 水翼船 日本語: ターボジェットの「鉄星」丸 ボーイング929型 (ジェットフォイル) 水中翼船
context_page_description: A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous and internal combustion engine. The main elements common to all gas turbine engines are:
  an upstream rotating gas compressor
  a combustor
  a downstream turbine on the same shaft as the compressor.
  A fourth component is often used to increase efficiency, to convert power into mechanical or electric form, or to achieve greater thrust-to-weight ratio.
  The basic operation of the gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid: atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure; energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so that the combustion generates a high-temperature flow; this high-temperature pressurized gas enters a turbine, producing a shaft work output in the process, used to drive the compressor; the unused energy comes out in the exhaust gases that can be repurposed for external work, such as directly producing thrust in a turbojet engine, or rotating a second, independent turbine that can be connected to a fan, propeller, or electrical generator.
context_section_description: Up to the late 1940s, much of the progress on marine gas turbines all over the world took place in design offices and engine builder's workshops and development work was led by the British Royal Navy and other Navies. While interest in the gas turbine for marine purposes, both naval and mercantile, continued to increase, the lack of availability of the results of operating experience on early gas turbine projects limited the number of new ventures on seagoing commercial vessels being embarked upon. In 1951, the Diesel-electric oil tanker Auris, 12,290 deadweight tonnage (DWT) was used to obtain operating experience with a main propulsion gas turbine under service conditions at sea and so became the first ocean-going merchant ship to be powered by a gas turbine. Built by Hawthorn Leslie at Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK, in accordance with plans and specifications drawn up by the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company and launched on the UK's Princess Elizabeth's 21st birthday in 1947, the ship was designed with an engine room layout that would allow for the experimental use of heavy fuel in one of its high-speed engines, as well as the future substitution of one of its diesel engines by a gas turbine. The Auris operated commercially as a tanker for three-and-a-half years with a diesel-electric propulsion unit as originally commissioned, but in 1951 one of its four 824 kW (1,105 bhp) diesel engines – which were known as "Faith", "Hope", "Charity" and "Prudence" - was replaced by the world's first marine gas turbine engine, a 890 kW (1,200 bhp) open-cycle gas turbo-alternator built by British Thompson-Houston Company in Rugby. Following successful sea trials off the Northumbrian coast, the Auris set sail from Hebburn-on-Tyne in October 1951 bound for Port Arthur in the US and then Curacao in the southern Caribbean returning to Avonmouth after 44 days at sea, successfully completing her historic trans-Atlantic crossing. During this time at sea the gas turbine burnt diesel fuel and operated without an involuntary stop or mechanical difficulty of any kind. She subsequently visited Swansea, Hull, Rotterdam, Oslo and Southampton covering a total of 13,211 nautical miles. The Auris then had all of its power plants replaced with a 3,910 kW (5,250 shp) directly coupled gas turbine to become the first civilian ship to operate solely on gas turbine power.
  Despite the success of this early experimental voyage the gas turbine did not replace the diesel engine as the propulsion plant for large merchant ships. At constant cruising speeds the diesel engine simply had no peer in the vital area of fuel economy. The gas turbine did have more success in Royal Navy ships and the other naval fleets of the world where sudden and rapid changes of speed are required by warships in action.
  The United States Maritime Commission were looking for options to update WWII Liberty ships, and heavy-duty gas turbines were one of those selected. In 1956 the John Sergeant was lengthened and equipped with a General Electric 4,900 kW (6,600 shp) HD gas turbine with exhaust-gas regeneration, reduction gearing and a variable-pitch propeller. It operated for 9,700 hours using residual fuel(Bunker C) for 7,000 hours. Fuel efficiency was on a par with steam propulsion at 0.318 kg/kW (0.523 lb/hp) per hour, and power output was higher than expected at 5,603 kW (7,514 shp) due to the ambient temperature of the North Sea route being lower than the design temperature of the gas turbine. This gave the ship a speed capability of 18 knots, up from 11 knots with the original power plant, and well in excess of the 15 knot targeted. The ship made its first transatlantic crossing with an average speed of 16.8 knots, in spite of some rough weather along the way. Suitable Bunker C fuel was only available at limited ports because the quality of the fuel was of a critical nature. The fuel oil also had to be treated on board to reduce contaminants and this was a labor-intensive process that was not suitable for automation at the time. Ultimately, the variable-pitch propeller, which was of a new and u
caption: Boeing Jetfoil 929-100-007 Urzela of TurboJET
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