General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Terrific Submarine weekend
Posted by:
Kris
()
Date: April 29, 2001 05:59PM
<HTML>Hi all,
I was in a place called Battleship Cove outside of Boston this weekend and wanted to desperately get a feel for what it\'ll be like to be in a sub.They have a bunch of battleships and an attack sub anchored there. The PT boats out there were really very cool and beautifully streamlined. The sub i saw was depressing from the outside although inside it was a very different story. The conning tower had the targeting binoculars, bearing indicators, periscopes etc. Memories of \"die grauen wolfe\" standing on the conning tower watching for convoys comes flooding in. Alas, only the wind is beating in my face. No spray from the waves and i missed those oilskins and wishing I was wearing one of those. Anyway, i went down the hatch into the fore torpedo bay and there some chaps working on the maintainence of a torp. I wanted to tell them that a convoy was sighted and we could blast some eels and make some room. But they were only working hourly wages and the gleam in their eyes was that of drinking beer and nuts at the bar. One of the torps in the rear had a cut away and you could see the gyro and motors and the war head section. The connecting doors from one comparment of the sub to the next is absurdly small and one really get a feel for the claustrophobia these people must have suffered. How can anyone run to the aft or bow through those doors when diving remains a mystery to me. The main stations are so different from a german u-boat. There is a central table that has a dead reckoning computer and a lot of indicators for water tightness and so forth. There is no Kriechbaum around to ask about course settings or readings but a busty lady comes along she is fairly well informed about all the numerous dials and boxes of lights in front of me. She goes about to explain a box full of gleaming green lights. Apparently those were an alarm system to indicate that some hatch was not shut properly or if some valve was taking sea water into the sub. She moves on and i look at some sleeping quarters and the galley. The shared bunks are indescribably small. In fact you can\'t even bend your knees while lying on your back and you had to duck real low to even work yourself into your bunk. Only the captain is a lucky guy in that he has his own cabin. And the skipper has his own kitchen too! At least thats what the label read but i am sure they were for the officers on board. There is an officers mess too. I was pretty impressed with Sparky\'s world. Its a cabin with loads of radio sets and ammeters. I move on and watch the battery section and on board gen sets. The diesel room is impressive with four diesels (into two different comparments). The diesels are made in Chicago and there are twin diesels separated by about four feet of moving space between them. There is somebody working on them and i ask him where they were made and he points to the steel plate bearing a name. But funnily i could not notice any pistons or cams in the cut away of the diesel. Is this a wankel engine? Maybe somebody can tell me. Also the cams are completely covered and it looks like a truck engine. Finally i get back up to upper deck through the rear hatch and get out of the sub moving onto her neighbour which is a battleship with 16\" guns. In the lower deck there are several donations of nazi and Kriegsmarine regalia on display. Its the first time i ever saw a Kriegsmarine badge or hat. I got out after a while when hoardes of school kids came in and drove back home. Not a bad weekend. Next stop. Laboe
Kris</HTML>
I was in a place called Battleship Cove outside of Boston this weekend and wanted to desperately get a feel for what it\'ll be like to be in a sub.They have a bunch of battleships and an attack sub anchored there. The PT boats out there were really very cool and beautifully streamlined. The sub i saw was depressing from the outside although inside it was a very different story. The conning tower had the targeting binoculars, bearing indicators, periscopes etc. Memories of \"die grauen wolfe\" standing on the conning tower watching for convoys comes flooding in. Alas, only the wind is beating in my face. No spray from the waves and i missed those oilskins and wishing I was wearing one of those. Anyway, i went down the hatch into the fore torpedo bay and there some chaps working on the maintainence of a torp. I wanted to tell them that a convoy was sighted and we could blast some eels and make some room. But they were only working hourly wages and the gleam in their eyes was that of drinking beer and nuts at the bar. One of the torps in the rear had a cut away and you could see the gyro and motors and the war head section. The connecting doors from one comparment of the sub to the next is absurdly small and one really get a feel for the claustrophobia these people must have suffered. How can anyone run to the aft or bow through those doors when diving remains a mystery to me. The main stations are so different from a german u-boat. There is a central table that has a dead reckoning computer and a lot of indicators for water tightness and so forth. There is no Kriechbaum around to ask about course settings or readings but a busty lady comes along she is fairly well informed about all the numerous dials and boxes of lights in front of me. She goes about to explain a box full of gleaming green lights. Apparently those were an alarm system to indicate that some hatch was not shut properly or if some valve was taking sea water into the sub. She moves on and i look at some sleeping quarters and the galley. The shared bunks are indescribably small. In fact you can\'t even bend your knees while lying on your back and you had to duck real low to even work yourself into your bunk. Only the captain is a lucky guy in that he has his own cabin. And the skipper has his own kitchen too! At least thats what the label read but i am sure they were for the officers on board. There is an officers mess too. I was pretty impressed with Sparky\'s world. Its a cabin with loads of radio sets and ammeters. I move on and watch the battery section and on board gen sets. The diesel room is impressive with four diesels (into two different comparments). The diesels are made in Chicago and there are twin diesels separated by about four feet of moving space between them. There is somebody working on them and i ask him where they were made and he points to the steel plate bearing a name. But funnily i could not notice any pistons or cams in the cut away of the diesel. Is this a wankel engine? Maybe somebody can tell me. Also the cams are completely covered and it looks like a truck engine. Finally i get back up to upper deck through the rear hatch and get out of the sub moving onto her neighbour which is a battleship with 16\" guns. In the lower deck there are several donations of nazi and Kriegsmarine regalia on display. Its the first time i ever saw a Kriegsmarine badge or hat. I got out after a while when hoardes of school kids came in and drove back home. Not a bad weekend. Next stop. Laboe
Kris</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Kris | 04/29/2001 05:59PM |
|
RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Steve Cooper | 04/29/2001 09:40PM |
|
Diesel engines
|
SuperKraut | 04/30/2001 05:49AM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Steve Cooper | 04/30/2001 11:58AM |
|
That\'s the one!
|
Kris | 04/30/2001 12:18PM |
|
Not quite
|
Steve Cooper | 04/30/2001 03:46PM |
|
RE: 2 cycles?
|
Joe Brennan | 05/01/2001 07:21AM |
|
RE: 2 cycles?
|
Tom Iwanski | 05/01/2001 12:18PM |
|
RE: 2 cycles?
|
Eric Goethel | 05/01/2001 08:42PM |
|
RE: Fairbank Morse
|
Joe Brennan | 05/02/2001 06:01AM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Rainer Bruns | 04/30/2001 08:30PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Tom Iwanski | 04/30/2001 09:32PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/01/2001 01:23AM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Steve Cooper | 05/01/2001 12:10PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/01/2001 02:12PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Steve Cooper | 05/01/2001 06:12PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/01/2001 08:17PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Tom Iwanski | 05/01/2001 08:56PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
SuperKraut | 05/01/2001 07:52PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Eric Goethel | 05/01/2001 08:57PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Tom Iwanski | 05/01/2001 09:12PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/01/2001 11:49PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Tom Iwanski | 05/02/2001 12:50PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/02/2001 03:07PM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
John R. | 05/02/2001 01:29PM |
|
Fuel prices
|
SuperKraut | 05/03/2001 07:10AM |
|
RE: Diesel engines
|
Tom Iwanski | 04/30/2001 12:29PM |
|
RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Sean | 04/30/2001 12:43PM |
|
RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Frank Blazich | 05/01/2001 11:24AM |
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RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Sean | 05/03/2001 12:57PM |
|
RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Angela | 04/30/2001 11:42PM |
|
RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Rainer Bruns | 05/01/2001 12:39AM |
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RE: Terrific Submarine weekend
|
Kris | 05/01/2001 03:16PM |