The earliest recorded experience of oil mist fires and
crankcase explosions go back to the very beginning
of diesel engine development. Rudolf Diesel
mentions them in his early writings.
Matters were finally brought to a head regarding
explosions and fires when a major disaster aboard
the MV "REINA DEL PACIFICO" in 1947 took
place just as she was leaving Belfast dockyards after
a complete refit. This incident involving the death of
28 people has been well documented. A British
Government Inquiry was set up to find ways of
making sure no more tragedies of this magnitude
occurred again.