A Fairbanks Morse diesel engine driving a 120-volt AC, 3-phase, 100 KVA generator aboard a U.S. Navy ship. Gene Slover photographed the unit and left a note explaining one of the less obvious features of Navy shipboard electrical systems.
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Fairbanks Morse engine pulling a 120-volt AC, 3-phase, 100 KVA generator.
An interesting thing about the electricity on USN ships is that the ground or neutral is not tied to the ship’s hull.
This is done so that if one of the hot wires becomes grounded it will not blow a breaker or fuse.
So if you touch the hot or live wire you won’t get shocked unless the ground or neutral wire has somehow become grounded, or if one of the other live wires has become grounded.