Rolls-Royce Marine Olympus

The first Marine Olympus was built for the German Navy. In 1962 BSEL was contracted to provide the gas-generator and Brown Boveri was contracted to provide a two-stage long-life marine power turbine. A test bed was built for extensive shore trials. Construction of the ship which was intended for gas-turbine power was abandoned. Test running of the next marine Olympus began in 1966. The power turbine was of a single stage operating at 5,600 rpm utilising wide-chord blades. Beginning its sea trials in early 1968, Turunmaa, a 700-ton corvette of the Finnish Navy was the first Olympus-powered warship to enter service, some six months before HMS Exmouth, the first British ship which had been refitted to trial the propulsion system for the Royal Navy.^[1]

The TM1 and TM2 variants comprised a power turbine baseplate carrying the turbine and the gas generator mountings, and differed significantly only in the construction of the power turbine structure, which was a steel casting on the TM1 and a fabrication on the TM2. All TM1 and TM2 installations were fitted with an A-rated gas generator, serial numbers 2013xx.

The TM3 comprised a similar power turbine baseplate plus a gas generator enclosure, an air intake enclosure, and many support services including ventilation and fire extinguishing systems. All TM3 installations were fitted with a B-rated gas generator, serial numbers 2017xx.

23,200 shp (17,300 kW) nominal. Installed ratings quoted where known.

• Finnish Navy
  • Turunmaa-class corvettes — one Olympus, three diesels.^[1]
• Royal Navy
  • HMS Exmouth — one Olympus derated to 15,000 shp (11,000 kW), two Proteus.^[1]
  • Type 82 destroyer, HMS Bristol — two Olympus, two steam turbines.^[1]

23,200 shp (17,300 kW) nominal. Installed ratings quoted where known.

• Iranian Navy
  • Alvand-class frigates — two Olympus at 23,000 shp (17,000 kW), two diesel.^[2]
• Royal Malaysian Navy
  • KD Rahmat frigate — one Olympus at 19,500 shp (14,500 kW), one diesel.^[3]
• Libyan Navy
  • Dat Assawari frigate — two Olympus at 23,200 shp (17,300 kW), two diesel.^[4]

28,000 shp (21,000 kW) nominal. Installed ratings quoted where known.

• Royal Navy
  • Invincible-class aircraft carriers — four Olympus at 25,000 shp (19,000 kW).^[5]
  • Type 42 destroyers — two Olympus at 25,000 shp (19,000 kW), two Tyne.^[5][6]
  • Type 21 frigates — two Olympus at 28,000 shp (21,000 kW), two Tyne.^[5]
  • Type 22 frigates Batch 1 and 2 — two Olympus, two Tyne.^[7]
• Argentine Navy
  • Almirante Brown-class destroyer — two Olympus at 25,800 shp (19,200 kW), two Tyne.^[8]
• Brazilian Navy
  • Niterói-class frigate — two Olympus TB3B at 28,000 shp (21,000 kW), four MTU 16V956 TB91.^[9]
• Nigerian Navy
  • NNS Aradu frigate — two Olympus, two diesels.^[10]
• Royal Thai Navy
  • HTMS Makut Rajakumarn frigate — one Olympus at 19,500 shp (14,500 kW), one diesel.^[11]
• Hellenic Navy
  • Elli-class frigates — two Olympus, two Tyne.^[12]
• French Navy
  • Georges Leygues-class destroyers — two Olympus at 26,000 shp (19,000 kW), two diesel.^[13]
• Belgian Navy
  • Wielingen-class frigates — one Olympus at 27,575 shp (20,563 kW), two diesel.^[14]
• Royal Netherlands Navy
  • Tromp-class frigates — two Olympus at 20,000 shp (15,000 kW), two Tyne.^[7]
  • Kortenaer-class frigates — two Olympus at 25,700 shp (19,200 kW), two Tyne.^[11]
  • Jacob van Heemskerck-class frigates — two Olympus at 25,700 shp (19,200 kW), two Tyne.^[11]
• Japan Maritime Self Defense Force
  • Ishikari-class destroyer escort — one Olympus, one diesel.^[5]
  • Yūbari-class destroyer escort — one Olympus at 24,700 shp (18,400 kW), one diesel.^[15]
  • Hatsuyuki-class destroyer — two Olympus, two Tyne.^[5]
• Indonesian Navy
  • Dewantara-class corvette — one Olympus TM3B, two diesel.^[16]
  • Fatahillah-class corvette — one Olympus TM3B, two diesel.^[17]

Data from Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust

• Type: Gas generator
• Length:
• Diameter:
• Dry weight:

• Compressor: 5-stage LP, 7-stage HP
• Combustors: 8 chamber, cannular
• Turbine: Single-stage LP and HP

• Maximum power output: 28,500 shp (21.4 MW)
• Specific fuel consumption: 0.47 lb/hp/hr (0.287 kg/KWh)

Related development

• Rolls-Royce Olympus

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rolls-Royce Marine Olympus.

• Rolls-Royce.com Spey Marine gas turbine page