If the 1928 White Star RMS Oceanic was built?

[the oasis of the seas 2]

In 1928, White Star Line was building a 60000 ton diesel powered RMS Oceanic, that would have competed with the Normandie and the Queen Mary, but due to the great deppression, it was strapped before it was finsh. I wonder, if the Oceanic was built, how could it have change the shipping industry? The Oceanic was suppost to go after the Blue Ribban, so if it won, it would have prove that a diesel could keep up with a steam ship and with diesel ships burning less fuel, ship like the France or any ship built in the 40s are later, could have been diesel powered.[/table]

[Tuomas Romu]

According to the Wikipedia article about the Oceanic would have had more than 40 diesel generating sets. I seriously doubt such a complex machinery arrangement would have been competitive with a relatively simple steam turbine plant despite having a lower specific fuel consumption. At that time the electric motors would have been DC motors, which tend to get quite heavy once you go to higher power levels. I wonder how many they would have had to couple to a single shaft?

Perhaps building such ship would have helped introducing diesel engines to shipping, or perhaps it would have had so many problems that the shipping companies would have stuck with steam for a longer time. Who knows?