HMS Astute and USS Virginia class divergence of design.

[david h]

G'day all,

I have taken an interest in HMS Astutes hull shape of late. It seems to be for the most part "an evolution" of British SSN design and yet at the same time has made a couple of departures from the styling that one might predict of British SSNs.

If these two boats generally have the same features, a very similiar mission profile and capabilities you would think that a component of that capability would be hydrodynamic efficiency. Surely a highly efficient hull shape would be ideal for both boats. Surely the laws of hydrodynamics are universal and would result in research on both sides of the altantic steering the two designs into very similar overall shapes?
Then if this is so, why is it that Virginia looks like it is designed to an efficient hydrodynamic shape and Astute looks draggy and boxy? Can we deduce from this that Astute has other capabilities that have hindered efficient hull form? Does Astute have a different set of hydrodynamic priorities?

Are there some cunning new discoveries about vortexes and flow that the Astute utilises and makes those strange bulges tot he rear of the sail , efficient? ( surely they cannot just be for crew walking access to the back end of the boat)

would appreciate comments, thoughts, etc....

David H

[pirate]

Re: HMS Astute and USS Virginia class divergence of design.

Good question, David. I don't know, but hopefully someone has an idea. I'm watching to see.

[Guest]

Re: HMS Astute and USS Virginia class divergence of design.

I think the hump on the back is to accommodate the Tomahawk cruise missiles. Modern submarines have to carry out multifunctional roles. The ability to fire cruise missiles from a Royal Navy submarine was proven by Turbulent in the gulf conflict in 2003.

The design of the Astute appears to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the general shape is very much like a baby Vanguard with a few elements of the earlier Trafalgar class boats thrown into the mix, specifically the less hydrodynamic stepped bow shape. Presumably they had their reasons for reusing this design- perhaps our bow mounted sonar can't be accommodated in a round nosed bow in a boat this size?

[greenman407]

Re: HMS Astute and USS Virginia class divergence of design.

Sure looks cool though. I think that bumps and bulges are great. Variety is the spice of life as they say. If all subs and ships and planes designers only paid attention to appearance and not to utility as well then they would all look pretty much the same. How boring that would be! Look at how the sonar blisters on the four window Seaview really dressed her up. Or how about those Cadillac fins? I think British subs look refreshingly different from everybody elses. In the real world Russian submarines have a great deal of design diversitys that adds appeal to them in the eye of the beholder.

[greenman407]

Re: HMS Astute and USS Virginia class divergence of design.






Really sexy if you ask me.