By analyzing the macrostructure of 42CrMoA marine gear box input shaft forging and the microstructure of its crack region,the causes of quenching cracks were studied with the combination of numerical simulation of quenching process.The results show that the shape of the marine gear box input shaft forging is complex and with sharp changes in its cross section,thus the stress concentration occurs easily at the step shaft transition position and results in transverse quenching cracks during quenching.