Tuesday Submarine Tidbits

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Navy aircraft returning to former Cold War base in Iceland

Updating Land Base

DOD’s fiscal 2017 budget request includes funds to upgrade an existing P-3 hangar for the P-8 Poseidon. The Keflavik base, established in 1951, has been closed since 2006.

NAPLES, Italy — The Navy is turning to a former Cold War air base for a familiar mission — hunting Russian submarines.    ...The Navy now routinely sends P-3’s to Keflavik from its air base in Sicily to patrol for Russian subs in the North Atlantic, a Navy official said. The P-8 will fill the same role once the hangar is updated with new wiring, flooring and a rinse station, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record about the project.

Russian submarines are patrolling the North Atlantic more frequently than at any time since the end of the Cold War, U.S. and European defense officials say.  ...Keflavik was home to about 2,500 Navy and Air Force personnel when the base closing was announced in 2006. 

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US Navy Absorbing $7 Billion Budget Cut

Fiscal Pressures  

A Navy source said the decision was made due to fiscal pressures, and claimed the service can meet operational requirements with nine active wings. Four aircraft squadrons are to be deactivated or canceled, and Whidbey Island will shift from sea to land-based ops.

WASHINGTON — The US Navy is absorbing a $7 billion reduction in fiscal 2017 funding – about 3.5 percent over last year’s plan, according to newly released budget documents. The service is reducing the number of ships it’s buying while adding more aircraft, and uniformed personnel also are being cut, up to as many as 6,400 sailors below previous forecasts.

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 The Ottoman Empire invented missiles and submarines in the 18th century  

 Taking Liberties with the Truth

Salim Ayduz of the British Muslim Heritage Center stated that missiles and submarines wereinvented in the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. According to Ayduz, the Ottoman Empiresignificantly surpassed Europe in terms of weapons development during the so-called Tulip Era, which lasted between 1718 and 1730.  

"First, the Tahtelbahir submarine was created by shipyard worker Ibrahim Aga and shortly after, gunner Bayramoglu Ali Aga invented firearms and missiles," Ayduz said, adding that all knowledge in this field was ultimately lost."

What about a little  History Check from 1620?

Submarines are always silent and strange.

First, There Was Ramming Speed (Part 2)

Background

By 1210 BC, the first-recorded naval battle was fought between Suppiluliuma II, king of the Hittites, and Cyprus. Before crossbows and black powder had been invented by China, early navies had relied upon ramming to sink enemy vessels. Explosive ramming (with spar torpedo) was not used successfully until the H. L. Hunley sank the USS Housatonic as the first successful attack submarine in 1864.

A Rather Curious, Interim Naval Tactic

In 184 BC, over a millenium after the first-recorded naval battle, Hannibal of Carthage instructed his sailors to throw clay pots filled with venomous snakes onto the decks of  King Eumenes of Pergamon's ships.

The snake tactic was copied by the Greeks in famous fifth century BC and fourth century AD battles with a modification: snake venom was either removed from vipers beforehand or non venomous snakes were thrown onto enemy ships instead.  Apparently, venom removal and look-alikes rendered the dangerous tactic less effective in creating confusion, fear, and chaos aboard enemy vessels so the concept was eventually discontinued.  

NOTE:
As such naval combat refinements continued, Julius Caesar would hold the first simulated naval spectacle in Rome's Colosseum (46 BC).  Actual sailors from Roman naval headquarters at Misenum were used to work the Colosseum's giant sun shades (velaria).^[30]  Otherwise, Caesar's spectacle featured gladiators as the combatants. Some 106 years later (52 AD)  Claudius produced more realistic entertainment in a real body of water (Lago Fucino).

Submarines are always silent and strange.

UPDATE on the Tear-Drop Submarine Hull from 1864

Background

Eight years ago introduced our M.E. readers to the amazing discovery of The Sub Marine Explorer, in a Tear-Drop Submarine Hull Dates to 1864.   A recent article about the Explorer (photo) has the tear drop hull design of post-WWII German, Russian and U.S. submarines like the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) says [emphasis mine]:

"For the first time, a comprehensive sense of how the submarine was built, how it operated, and the incredible level of sophistication inherent in Julius  Kroehl’s forgotten craft was apparent."

  

Among other innovations, Sub Marine Explorer (photo above) had the tear drop hull design of USS Albacore (1953).  The USS Albacore (AGSS-569) pioneered the American version of the teardrop hull (sometimes referred to as an "Albacore hull") of modern submarines that was derived from extensive hydrodynamic and wind tunnel testing. Well, how did inventor Julius Kroehl arrive at the ideal shape almost a century earlier?

Update

Interested readers are urged to digest the full INA article (linked above). Of particular interest are revelations of some sophisticated Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute studies conducted by Dr. Erich Horgan, Mike Purcell and Greg Packard.

While calling the pearl-diver Explorer a glorified diving bell, some of its detractors are quick to describe the confederate sub (Hunley) as high tech for its time, when actually, it was only a crude device used in a visionary manner by some very courageous volunteers.  While the Explorer's hull may now be beyond economical restoration, the INA article reports that, "technology and characteristics of a rare, surviving example of Civil War-era nautical technology have been preserved through the detailed plans prepared as part of this project".

Hat tip to reader Bear Nyhof for requesting this update.

Submarines are always silent and strange.