Double success for RFA Cardigan Bay’s Engineers

ENGINEERS aboard RFA Cardigan Bay carried out repairs to the ship’s generators – in 50C heat in the Gulf.

Routine maintenance by Second Officer (Engineers) Matt Eves and Joe Deakin of the port and starboard forward diesel generators highlighted some irregularities and on further investigation it was decided specialists were needed to remove and replace the bearings on the engine alternators.

To restore the port main engine, a company formed of specialist engine fitters were brought in to assist. The team observed a two-week isolation period before replacing the main bearings and inspecting and repairing the big end bearings and crank pins. Each bearing took around a working day to repair.

Further work had to be carried out on the two engines’ main and big end bearings, which also included hand dressing the profile of the crankshaft to remove any abnormalities in its profile.  This work was carried out with support from UKMCC Fleet Support Unit 2 and was led by 2/O(E) Eves, assisted by the CPO(E) and Motormen.

Defence Equipment and Support rapidly deployed the defect repair support equipment, allowed the alternators to be “rolled back” to a position to enable bearing removal and replacement.

Immediate stores were also required in the form of new bearings which were deployed into theatre in no time.

The work by ships staff and contractors, over a period of several weeks, successfully returned both generators to service following a rigorous running-in period.

This level of repair is normally conducted during a refit, so provided an excellent opportunity for junior engineers to gain valuable experience.

RFA Cardigan Bay is operating from Bahrain, where she supports the Royal Navy minehunters.