U.S.S. Halibut

[mike byers]

Check out this photo, what are those holes in the aft the Halibut. did she have Aft torpedo tubes?

http://www.subcommittee.com/SubComm....OCK.jpg

[tom dougherty]

Yes, she did have two

Yes, she did have two short stern torpedo tubes (for Mk 37s), as did all the Skate class subs. Halibut was basically a modified Skate class, in which the bow was extended and the hanger section added. She had the same smaller S3W reactor as Skate, and hence was not exactly fast.

[mike byers]

Thanks for the info Tom!

Mike

Thanks for the info Tom!

Mike

[JWLaRue]

Tom,

Various sources say that he

Tom,

Various sources say that he Halibut has six torpedo tubes.....so did she have four forward? I thought boats up through then retained the full six forward tubes?

-tnx,

Jeff

[feet wet]

According to Norman Friedman's U.S.

According to Norman Friedman's U.S. Submarines Since 1945
Halibut had 4 bow tubes MK61 and two stern tubes MK62. Further she carried 8 torps fwd and 4 aft.

[tom dougherty]

The plans I have which

The plans I have which are out of the TAB booklet also show four forward tubes. The forward torpedo room was contiguous with the aft section of the Regulus missile hanger, which was very large and slants upward to the large hatch at deck level. The forward tubes were full size tubes, as opposed to the shorter two aft tubes.



Edited By Tom Dougherty on 1134165483

[JWLaRue]

Thanks, guys!

-Jeff

Thanks, guys!

-Jeff

[mike byers]

Hey Tom

Are those plans in

Hey Tom

Are those plans in a format that you could email? I would love to have a copy for a future project

Thanks

Mike

[robert]

I'm trying to remember]

[color=#000000]I'm trying to remember]

[anonymous]

The fish was released from

The fish was released from a tube extending from the "bat cave" down through the hull at ~45 deg angle biased aft.

[tom dougherty]

Correct, it was angled to

Correct, it was angled to the rear. There was a hawsepipe (which fed the cable for the ROV) that entered the ROV ("fish") deployment tube at a 90 degree angle, and the cable presumably turned around a pulley to guide it toward the rear of the deployment tube. The hawsepipe extended up into the superstructure where a 7 foot diameter reel had the 35,000 ft of steel cable wrapped around it. The reel was housed in the area between the deck and the pressure hull, just abaft of the hanger door.

[gerwalk]

What was the "fish" shape?

What was the "fish" shape? They were torpedo like or more like the ROVs of these days (squarish) ? Maybe the limitation of deploying them from a tube forced the designers to adopt a torp-like hull not from hydrodinamics considerations. A couple of weeks ago I discussed ROVs and autonomous subs with some guys at MIT and they told me that there is no actual need for a ROV to have a hydrodinamic shape since the drag produced by the cable itself is far too big compared to any gain you could have by streamlining the ROV.

[anonymous]

Hi Tom,

Once the camera 'fish'

Hi Tom,

Once the camera 'fish' was into the hawse pipe.... how did the crew gain access to the cameras inside, or specifically the valuable film inside? I am sure Halibut didn't surface, too risky and tedious. I know the fish had television cameras and flood lights, but high resolution images were necessary. Was it like a vertical torpedo tube? The lower outer door sealed closed once the 'fish' was inside, then the cable released? Then the cable wenched away and the upper outer door sealed, then once the water evacuated...a side door into the interior opened to remove the fish and carefully unseal the fish to access the film? To begin another camera run, the process reversed?

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Recovering now at home. Everything going great. It has been a amazing experience and a wonderful Christmas.

Regards,

Steve Reichmuth



Edited By Dolphin on 1135302390