A Submarine Too Strange to Really Believe

Background

This post is certainly NOT about the USS JIMMY CARTER (SSN-23).  For prposes of contrast Vigilis notes a recent article The Navy's Most Shadowy Spy Is 450 Feet Long & Named After Jimmy Carter, for readers to consider in relation to what will follow. Although the key point of this background lies in the last sentence of this section, lets start with this SSN-23 image.
 

"So what does the Jimmy Carter do with all its modifications? Like its USS Halibut, USS Seawolf, USS Richard Russell and USS Parche [and perhaps others never publicly acknowledged], which were modified ‘special mission’ subs that came before it, the Jimmy Carter conducts espionage, and could even conduct sabotage, in a variety of manners" 

Remember, all submarines are intended to be "SLIENT AND STRANGE".  Whether you remain mystified by the utility of some or all of the "shadowy" features illustrated above, the link confirms only what cannot be refuted by widely available photographic evidence, which is:

The Jimmy Carter differs from the standard Seawolf Class submarine via a slew of modifications made during her initial construction, including a "massive 100-foot long hull extension".

The Strangeness of the S-80 

Again, lets start with an image of the Spanish Navy's yet-to-be-completed, domestically constructed (by Navantia, Cartagena) S-80 sub.


Construction on the S-80 class submarines began in early 2005. The keel for the first submarine was laid and the steel for the second submarine was cut in December 2007. Construction of the third submarine began in 2009.    VIGILIS NOTES: Wasted space in bow?

Strangeness (should we believe any of it?)

•  In May 2013, Navantia announced that a serious weight imbalance design flaw had been identified which will delay the delivery of the first submarine to the Spanish Navy until possibly 2017.^[15] Excess weight of 75 - 100 tons has been added to the sub during construction and the current design is not able to resurface after diving.^[16][17] A former Spanish official says the problem can be traced to a miscalculation — someone apparently put a decimal point in the wrong place or by the addition of new technologic devices.^[18] 

•  In June 2013, with the S-80 project suffering from an underperforming AIP system (allowing 21 days underway versus 28 planned) the Spanish Ministry of Defense announced that Navantia had signed the U.S.'s General Dynamics Electric Boat to help solve the excess weight problem.^[19] 

• In November 2014, Navantia again reported having completed the redesign work to address the problem of overweight. In all, the hull will be lengthened by seven metres, and the displacement increased by 75 tons. The intended delivery date of the first submarine will be is 2018. ^[21]

•  ^{In April 2015, 70 batteries for the new submarine, worth € 469,000 were stolen. They were recovered by the Guardia Civil in an operation that led to the arrest of five people including the head of Zaragoza recycling companies.}
  

So, nothing totally implausible has reportedly happened. Yet, why would Navantia solicit General Dynamics Electric Boat to solve ballasting problems (which engineers in Spain's fine universities could certainly have done)?  In fact, the original engineer's work could have been verified and regularly updated (and probably was)! 

Such embarrassing lapses (including stolen batteries) would ordinarily not bode well for any country's sub force. Perhaps Spain's unfortuitous delays and HULL EXTENSION are cover stories for an updated capability that is slightly shadowy and secret.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Beyond Popular Reach

Why I never vote for lawyers

(1)

The Vetting Problem

"Jimmy Carter was a famed micromanager, often at odds with his own advisers, and he caught a lot of Beltway criticism for his focus on policy details." - Neil King Jr. and Jonathan Weisman, Aug. 12, 2009,  wsj.com/news/articles, A President as Micromanager: How Much Detail Is Enough?

Carter had been one of Admiral Rickover's hand-picked nuclear propulsion engineers in the submarine navy. In the middle of Carter's presidency the Three Mile Island accident, a partial nuclear meltdown occurred on March 28, 1979.

In May of 1979, President Jimmy Carter gave governors the power to regulate gasoline sales in their states --  including the power to impose odd-even rationing. Lines extended miles past stations and people had to wait hours to fill their tanks for over two months.

By 1980, Carter's popularity had eroded. He survived a primary challenge against Ted Kennedy for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1980 election, but lost the election to the Republican candidate.

How did a micromanager like Jimmy Carter ever get vetted by his party to become a loser president? The DNC's leaders WERE, AND ARE STILL lawyers.   Why Lawyers Can't Manage is linked below.

The criticism is not leveled at Democrats alone. Consider a Republic lawyer, Richard M. Nixon, for instance. I'll let you decide why the RNC vetting of Nixon was equally lacklusrter.  Guess what profession is part of and exerts great influence on the RNC.  

(2)

The Management (Leadership) Problem

 

Traditionally, lawyers are poor managers.  Take it from a Philidelphia lawyer: "Why Lawyers Can't Manage" - Daniel B. Evans (originally published by the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association in Law Practice Management, Vol. 19, No. 7, p. 26 (October 1993).  

President Obama has two leadership problems. From what profession does the president himself and the majority of his cabinet and agency appointments come? They too are lawyers, of course.

(a)

The flawed launch of Obamacare (the Affordable Healthcare Act):   Although it appeared to be up and running, users quickly encountered numerous types of technical problems,^[3] and by some estimates only 1% of interested people were able to enroll to the site in the first week of its operations.^[4] Even for those that did manage to enroll, insurance providers later reported some instances of applications submitted through the site with required information missing.^[5] In its third week of operations, technical problems continued.

Apparently, neither the president nor the various geniuses advising him on launching Obamacare had ever heard about testing new software.  Users of the internet have probably known about beta testing for years:

A very early version of a software product that may not contain all of the features that are planned for the final version. Typically, software goes through two stages of testing before it is considered finished. The first stage, called alpha testing, is often performed only by users within the organization developing the software. The second stage, called beta testing, generally involves a limited number of external users. - webopedia.com

(b)

The IRS  501(c)4 scandal  (a bi-partisan outrage): U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) said, "We should not only fire the head of the IRS, which has occurred, but we’ve got to go down the line and find every single person who had anything to do with this and make sure that they are removed from the IRS and the word goes out that this is unacceptable."

The current past and interim IRS Commissioners under Obama (Werfel, Miller, Shulman) have been, of course, more lawyers.

Submarines are always silent and strange.



  

Belated Answers, Sub Questions of the Week : 22 Sept 2013

Mea culpa: Last Week's answers are late due to unavailability of internet for 3 days during unscheduled travel.

Background, related links, and all of the original questions can be found here.

QUESTIONS of the WEEK & ANSWERs

1.  What entertainment activities may become popular on subs with women on board?  As originally stated in connection with this question, answers will not be given until published or officially reported by the USN.

2.  Is the Navy waiting for new popular entertainment activities to materialize before updating its online version of Submarine Frequently Asked Questions?  As originally stated in connection with this question, answers will not be given until published or officially reported by the USN.

3. A former submariner has set the U.S. record for movie viewership in his peer group.
a)  What was his peer group?  ANS: Presidents of the United States (at the White House).
a)  Who is he?  ANS: James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. set a record for movies watched. - Prez Pop Watch,  September 22, 2013, Parade Magazine.
b)  How many movies did he log? ANS: 480 movies from All the President's Men to Midnight Cowboy.
c)  Over what duration did he establish his U.S. record for movie viewership? ANS: January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981

4.  A former submariner maintains a popular and outstanding blog for and about the sub community; on several occasions he reviewed some of the movies he had watched.
a) Who is the blogger? ANS:  Joel Kennedy, AKA Bubblehead
b) What is the name of his blog for and about the sub community?  ANS: The Stupid Shall Be Punished


NOTES

Joel Kennedy encouraged me to start a blog within the submarine community; so began 'Molten Eagle' in March 2005. 

Belated Happy Birthday, Joel, congratulation on your latest blog anniversary and thank you for your help and answers over the years. The quality of your The Stupid Shall Be Punished has been unsurpassed and I have read them all.


Submarines are always silent and strange.