Originally Posted by
Hot 'n' High
1986. An assembly defect in one of the main gearboxes ignited the oil mist therein causing "disassembly" of said gearbox. The ensuing fire took a while to put out. She was setting off on a round-the-world trip, Global 86. She eventually did the second half of the trip which, of course, simply had to be referred to as Global 43. There was only 1 casualty thank goodness but it needed more than a lick of paint to repair the damage. In all, very fortunate and a great credit to the crew for dealing with the major event + those getting her ready for the rest of that trip.
I don’t know if it’s related to the fire on Illustrious, but those gearboxes’ inspection hatches are padlocked shut these days, and they’re very seldom opened, to prevent careless FOD. It’s a massive job to replace one of those, and as you’ve related dangerous if there’s anything amiss inside.
if you ever get the chance to get into the engine room in a naval vessel running at full chat, it’s well worth it; it’s an impressive experience seeing, hearing all that power being generated.