Tweet
Hi everyone,
Garry Gray brought this to my attention. Can anyone determine the approximate date of this image. Looks like mid-1970's? It is of the USS Swordfish (SSN-579) taken next to her SubTender. Guam? Rota? I guess Guam.
This image suggests the Skate class must have had small 7 blade props later in their operational careers. This prop is small...not the larger 15 feet diameter prop as seen in single screw SSN's (Permit, Sturgeon, Lafayette) but consistent in size similar with the 4 blade props of the Skate class we are more accustom with seeing.
More convincing is the reverse pitch of the blades on this prop- it shows an opposite pitch from that of the fore mentioned single prop SSN, but consistant with the out board rotation of a propeller for a twin propeller SSN. It is suspended from a crane in the water, and is being lowered down probably to the sub tender divers, you can see faintly the hole for the prop shaft, the prop in the correct relation to the shaft looking aft. Interesting.
Skate class props based on images of Nautilus SSN-571, and of the Skate boats, from aft facing forward to the bow, the top of the propeller disks (12 o'clock position) both port and starboard rotated outward.
Any date or year for this photo? The images of the cars in the background...a pickup truck in the middle, an a VW beetle look 1970's. The car toward the main gate looks like 1960's. Looks like Guam in the mid-1970s as a wild guess. The uniform (white uniforms) is looks to me like post Zumwalt CNO era? I was not in the Navy, but in the 70's, some uniform changes occurred, enlisted sailors wearing Navy chief (officer like hats) which the 'chiefs' did not like, loosing there distinctive hat separating them from the other non-coms. Would this correlate in dating this image? This milling technology was very classified in the 1970's, but since the 1990's everyone uses this technology in varying shapes now since. Interesting in it was applied to the Skates too. Was Halibut (SSN-587), Nautilus (SSN-571), Seawolf (SSN-575) so configured at this time too?
Thanks Garry!
Steve Reichmuth
Garry Gray brought this to my attention. Can anyone determine the approximate date of this image. Looks like mid-1970's? It is of the USS Swordfish (SSN-579) taken next to her SubTender. Guam? Rota? I guess Guam.
This image suggests the Skate class must have had small 7 blade props later in their operational careers. This prop is small...not the larger 15 feet diameter prop as seen in single screw SSN's (Permit, Sturgeon, Lafayette) but consistent in size similar with the 4 blade props of the Skate class we are more accustom with seeing.
More convincing is the reverse pitch of the blades on this prop- it shows an opposite pitch from that of the fore mentioned single prop SSN, but consistant with the out board rotation of a propeller for a twin propeller SSN. It is suspended from a crane in the water, and is being lowered down probably to the sub tender divers, you can see faintly the hole for the prop shaft, the prop in the correct relation to the shaft looking aft. Interesting.
Skate class props based on images of Nautilus SSN-571, and of the Skate boats, from aft facing forward to the bow, the top of the propeller disks (12 o'clock position) both port and starboard rotated outward.
Any date or year for this photo? The images of the cars in the background...a pickup truck in the middle, an a VW beetle look 1970's. The car toward the main gate looks like 1960's. Looks like Guam in the mid-1970s as a wild guess. The uniform (white uniforms) is looks to me like post Zumwalt CNO era? I was not in the Navy, but in the 70's, some uniform changes occurred, enlisted sailors wearing Navy chief (officer like hats) which the 'chiefs' did not like, loosing there distinctive hat separating them from the other non-coms. Would this correlate in dating this image? This milling technology was very classified in the 1970's, but since the 1990's everyone uses this technology in varying shapes now since. Interesting in it was applied to the Skates too. Was Halibut (SSN-587), Nautilus (SSN-571), Seawolf (SSN-575) so configured at this time too?
Thanks Garry!
Steve Reichmuth