Diesel machinery is proposed for auxiliaries, gunboats, and monitors that rotate between active service and reserve. These ships would benefit from starting quickly when required and avoiding the boiler upkeep associated with steam plants. Their generally modest speed requirements would also put less pressure on the diesel engines available in the 1920s. Diesel maintenance would still be necessary, but it would involve different work from maintaining boilers. A suggested speed in the mid-20-knot range draws an objection based on the Insect class's stated 14 knots, so that figure should not be treated as a general gunboat capability.
Notable Point · 1:23:09-1:24:58
Diesels for reserve gunboats and monitors
Diesels could make intermittently used gunboats and monitors easier to activate while changing the maintenance burden during reserve service.