The diesel engine and reduction gear combination is one of the common propulsion system in a naval vessel. Since the diesel engine has torsional vibration caused by reciprocating motion of the mass and gas pressure force of the cylinder, high cycle torsional fatigue can be occurred. Therefore, ROK navy restricts the maximum stress of the propulsion shaft according to MIL G 17859D. In this paper, the root cause for the failure of the diesel engine and reduction gear connecting shaft occurred in typical naval vessel is investigated based on the measured bending and torsional moment according to MIL G 17859D procedure.