In 1897, when the first Diesel engine was completed Adolphus Busch traveled to Cologne and negotiated exclusive right to produce the Diesel engine in the US and Canada. In his examination of the engine, it was noted that the Diesel at that time operated at thermodynamic efficiencies of 32–35%, while a typical triple expansion steam engine would operate at about 18%.

In the early decades of the 20th century, when large diesel engines were first being used, the engines took a form similar to the compound steam engines common at the time, with the piston being connected to the connecting rod by a crosshead bearing. Following steam engine practice some manufacturers made double-acting two-stroke and four-stroke diesel engines to increase power output, with combustion taking place on both sides of the piston, with two sets of valve gear and fuel injection. While it produced large amounts of power and was very efficient, the double-acting diesel engine's main problem was producing a good seal where the piston rod passed through the bottom of the lower combustion chamber to the crosshead bearing, and no more were built. By the 1930s turbochargers were fitted to some engines. Crosshead bearings are still used to reduce the wear on the cylinders in large long-stroke main marine engines.