"mah" wrote in message ...
Not really an aviation topic, but at least naval.

Was looking at a book on the Iowa class battleships. Went through the
engineering section and saw the design of the engines. A thought came
to mind - where does the cooling water come from or are they single pass
engines with the steam exhausted overboard. That sounds grossly
inefficient and makes more sense to have a closed loop design with
cooling water.

Is there a set of scoops below the waterline or some type of flush
opening below the waterline to draw in seawater for cooling?

Yes seawater for the condensers is drawn in below the waterline
and discharged the same way

Or is it
all "fresh" water that has been drawn through the evaporators.


That would require more throughput than is available

Is the system similar on any ship? (There, finally a tie into aviation
if a carrier uses a similar powerplant)


Pretty much. Even gas turbine and diesel ships need cooling water
and nuclear power is just a diiferent way of boiling water.

Keith