[dredmorbius]

Yes.

The WWII Liberty Ships utilised a triple-expansion steam engine, fired by bunker fuel. Both the expended steam and the boilers were used to fluidise the fuel to flowable tempertures -- the steam circulating either through or around the feed tanks, and the fuel line itself passing through the boiler and flame trench before final injection.

There are two remaining Liberty Ships in the US -- the John W. Brown in Baltimore, and the Jeremiah O'Brien in San Francisco.

Pay a visit and one of the engine-room crew can tell you the details.

The generaly kluginess and hackiness of the design instantly brought to mind what many software projects I've worked on might look like if physically instantiated. Though the Liberty Ship design is by far the more robust and useful than most.

[frank2]

American liberty ships used steam engines because US industry had been building cargo ships for the Brits and wanted to avoid the delay of switching to a more modern design. The Brits specified steam engines so they could run the ships on coal so they wouldn't have to import the fuel.