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Really interesting thread. Answered questions I always had about submarine life. I was clerk in the army and always worked in an office with a desk, filing cabinet and a manual typewriter. During my first 16 months in Korea we slept, worked and ate in Quonset huts and that's as close to submarine life I ever got LOL!
I admire anyone who managed to do submarine or ship duty. After I toured the USS Midway in San Diego and saw the bunk area, I knew I'd have never made it in the Navy on a ship or submarine. In the army I had ample off duty free time when I could go off post and have time to myself when needed to. Even living in the Quonset hut barracks wasn't bad, as ours weren't crowded and we had enough space for living room in it with some furniture where we could hang out.
To con, steer the boat when on the surface.
Submarines, especially whale hull ones, are mostly underwater, even on the surface. Hence, if it is just standing on the hull, one is talking about a very low height of eye. Low height of eye means not being able to see very far..
But if designers did away with the conning tower I'd have thought the periscope and radar masts could be housed in the hull and made telescopic so they could be extended waaay above the surface, but what do i know?
Really interesting thread. Answered questions I always had about submarine life. I was clerk in the army and always worked in an office with a desk, filing cabinet and a manual typewriter. During my first 16 months in Korea we slept, worked and ate in Quonset huts and that's as close to submarine life I ever got LOL!
I admire anyone who managed to do submarine or ship duty. After I toured the USS Midway in San Diego and saw the bunk area, I knew I'd have never made it in the Navy on a ship or submarine. In the army I had ample off duty free time when I could go off post and have time to myself when needed to. Even living in the Quonset hut barracks wasn't bad, as ours weren't crowded and we had enough space for living room in it with some furniture where we could hang out.
It's interesting how the different branches view one another! As much as I hate submarine life, I don't think I could ever do the field training and deployments that the Army (and Marine Corps as of late) are known for.
But if designers did away with the conning tower I'd have thought the periscope and radar masts could be housed in the hull and made telescopic so they could be extended waaay above the surface, but what do i know?
I had a friend join the Navy out of high school and he was assigned to subs, don't remember if he requested that or how he ended up there. After his 4 years were up he switched to Coast Guard and was a lifer there. He commented on lack of space on subs probably because he was 6'.
I had a friend join the Navy out of high school and he was assigned to subs, don't remember if he requested that or how he ended up there. After his 4 years were up he switched to Coast Guard and was a lifer there. He commented on lack of space on subs probably because he was 6'.
Can I ask something i've long wondered about, namely why do subs have conning towers?
After all when submerged they must enormously increase the subs sonar echo like a vertical cliff face.
Currently subs have sails - the older subs had a room in the sail, that was the "conning tower" - I served on probably the last US sub that had an actual conning tower. Kind of different going up with a conning tower - only 2 up there with a hatch shut behind you. Echo location is used rarely anyway so not really a concern.
The sail has many reasons for keeping - house the periscopes and other masts, keep the main hull deeper so harder to see from the air, the sail used to house the fairwater planes used for depth control (now on the main hull), and is used on the surface to see farther and be seen farther (house the running lights). The sail also reduces rolling and allows to exit the sub at sea without danger of flooding the ship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_(submarine)
Quote:
In naval parlance, the sail (American usage) or fin (European/Commonwealth usage) (also known as a fairwater) of a submarine is the tower-like structure found on the dorsal (topside) surface of submarines. Submarine sails once housed the conning tower (command and communications data center), the periscope(s), radar and communications masts (antenna), though most of these functions have now been relocated to the hull proper (and so the sail is no longer considered a "conning tower"). When above the water's surface, the sail serves as an observation platform. It also provides an entrance and exit point on the submarine that has enough freeboard to prevent the submarine being swamped. Under water, the sail acts as a vertical stabilizer. In some submarines, the sail also supports diving planes (or fairwater planes), which are control surfaces used for underwater stability and steering.
It's interesting how the different branches view one another! As much as I hate submarine life, I don't think I could ever do the field training and deployments that the Army (and Marine Corps as of late) are known for.
I distinctly remember being on a field problem once, we had just jumped from the Kahukus to Dillingham, and my thought process was "man, it's kind of hot, the trades are low so I'm sweating like a pig and rashing up, that centipede is huge and way too close, the mosquitoes and red clay suck...but at least I'm not cooped up on a ship".
I had an acquaintance who died a few years back that often wore a navy jacket from WWII. He was 17 when he joined the navy and worked in the control room of the sub. during the war. I don't recall what his job was but he would often rotate. He was never with one sub for very long. Four times he said the sub he'd just been in was sunk shortly his transfer.
Never thought to ask what it was like living in a sub. Couldn't get past the horror of drowning.
..Echo location is used rarely anyway so not really a concern..
Yeah that must be one of the main reasons why sub designers keep sails/conning towers, so I suppose they must know what they're doing.
Personally I'd rather be in a sub without one when the destroyers start pinging and the active sonobuoys begin plopping..
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