South Dakota's electrical failures often dominate recollections of the class, leaving its armor and firepower out of the picture. A proposed study would reconstruct the choices that produced its electrical distribution system. Wartime designers lacked today's electronic and digital load balancing, rerouting, and automatic reset systems. Their decisions therefore need to be assessed against contemporary engineering practice. The intended investigation would explain how the system developed before judging it through the failure for which the ship became known.
Notable Point · 1:26:01-1:27:51
Judging South Dakota's electrical system by 1940s practice
South Dakota's electrical distribution deserves examination against contemporary engineering practice and the control systems available in the 1940s.