In the 1920s, high-speed diesel engines for ships were still largely uncharted technical territory. In addition to sails, steam was primarily used for ship propulsion. While steam power was powerful, it proved to be expensive, prone to failure, and inflexible, especially for smaller vessels. It is therefore not surprising that the high-speed diesel engine (then still referred to as an oil engine) quickly established itself in shipbuilding. Gerhards describes the entire operation of ship oil engines of that time in both theory and practice. The book is primarily aimed at owners, operators, or enthusiasts of historic ships.