General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
teardrop hulled subs
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: July 22, 2001 09:02PM
<HTML>The idea that a teardrop shaped sub was faster and quieter underwater had been known from the dawn of the sub age. The USS Holland was a teardrop design, and the very first US subs, the A and B class, were teardropped designs that were faster underwater than on the surface - well before WWI!
But the surface keeping of a teardrop sub (then or now) is so poor that as soon as subs became more than localized coastal boats their shape began to transform into the needle shaped classic WWII sub design.
Basically, it was realized quickly that if a sub was going to go anywhere on the ocean, it would need to have acceptable surface keeping capabilities to be seaworthy. Not till the advent of nuclear power did the US revert back to a \'underwater oriented\' teardropped sub shape.
Norman Friedman\'s \"US Submarine Design thru 1945\" has a lot of good info on these early sub shapes. </HTML>
But the surface keeping of a teardrop sub (then or now) is so poor that as soon as subs became more than localized coastal boats their shape began to transform into the needle shaped classic WWII sub design.
Basically, it was realized quickly that if a sub was going to go anywhere on the ocean, it would need to have acceptable surface keeping capabilities to be seaworthy. Not till the advent of nuclear power did the US revert back to a \'underwater oriented\' teardropped sub shape.
Norman Friedman\'s \"US Submarine Design thru 1945\" has a lot of good info on these early sub shapes. </HTML>
Subject | Written By | Posted |
---|---|---|
Guppy | Hank | 07/21/2001 01:44PM |
RE: Guppy | Steve Cooper | 07/21/2001 02:12PM |
RE: Guppy | kurt | 07/21/2001 04:08PM |
Nuclear & classic subs | walter M | 07/21/2001 04:31PM |
RE: Nuclear & classic subs | Hank | 07/21/2001 08:27PM |
RE: Nuclear & classic subs | kurt | 07/22/2001 08:53PM |
RE: Nuclear & classic subs | walter M | 07/22/2001 09:09PM |
RE: Guppy | me109g | 07/22/2001 04:30PM |
teardrop hulled subs | kurt | 07/22/2001 09:02PM |
RE: Guppy | me109g | 07/23/2001 12:05AM |