Hello Vincent, my name is Sub Lieutenant Jason Locke. My job on RICHMOND is the Deputy Marine Engineer Officer (DMEO). I am one of the Officers whose responsibility it is to make sure the engines are maintained correctly. The department onboard HMS RICHMOND that looks after the 'Engines' is the Marine Engineering Department, it has 39 members.

Everyone has a job that is slightly different. We actually have 3 different types of engines onboard.

1. Two Rolls Royce, Spey Gas Turbine Engines.
These engines are the same sort of engines that you would find on an aeroplane about the size of a Boeing 737.
The Gas Turbines are used for high speed sprinting (15 - 28 knots). There are six people whose main job is to maintain these engines.

2. Four Paxman Valenta Diesel Engines. These engines are V12 turbo charged engines. Another six peoples' main job is to maintain these
Engines.

3. Two Electric Motors. These motors push the ship through the water up to a speed of 14 knots. The same people that maintain the Gas Turbines also maintain the Electric Motors.

The diesels and their generators supply all the electricity for the ship (things like lighting, weapons, heating, radars) they also supply the electricity to power the Electric Motors. These speeds don't sound very fast, but for a ship that is 133 meters long and 4085 tonnes (4 085 000 KGs) it is a lot faster than you think.

The people maintaining the engines don't work shifts, but if an engine was to breakdown in the middle of the night then they would have to get up and fix it.

The rest of the people in the Marine Engineering Department watchkeep (work shifts), not to maintain the engines but to control all the machinery. On a warship there will always be at least 25 people awake. They are doing all sorts of jobs, from driving the ship, manning the radar displays, preparing the meals for the next day or controlling the machinery. That way if at 3 o'clock in the morning the Captain decided that he needed to have both Gas Turbines to get somewhere fast (maybe to help a ship in distress) he could have them both started by the three Engineers that would be awake. The Engines would then be started in about two minutes. They are also on watch (on watch is what the navy calls shift work) in case something was to go wrong with and engine while it was running.

I hope this answers your question on the Engines that are fitted to a Type 23 DUKE Class Frigate, in particular HMS RICHMOND, and the people who maintain them.