ANSWERS: Submarine QOTW (29 SEP 2015)

Background 

Related information, photo(s) and links for questions are found in the original posting.

Submarine Questions of the Week with ANSWERS 

1- Is the U.S. submarine identification correct? ANS: No, USS Providence is SSN-719, not SSN-716 as the French publication stated.  SSN 716 was the USS Salt Lake City, which has been decommissioned since 2006.

2- Is the sub's given homeport coast correct? ANS: Yes, although the article was imprecise ("based on the east coast of the United States").  As of 2014, Providence is assigned once again to Submarine Development Squadron 12 and home-ported at US Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, CT.

3- When else was the sub USS Providence in Toulon? ANS: USS Providence was in the port of Toulon, France, from July 13-19, 1990, and made later visits including February 11, 1995, August 5, 1998, May 11, 2001.  reference

4- On what mission was USS Providence at the time of its earlier visit? ANS: On 19 March 2011, the submarine launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan air defenses in Operation Odyssey Dawn.  

5- With what special type of missiles was USS Providence armed during its earlier visit? ANS:  Most notably disclosed was "USS Providence, a submarine also armed with TLAMs, and a range of anti-radiation missiles, are expected to be called into action during this phase of the operation, shortly before the RAF goes in."

6- The purpose of the special missiles is what? ANS:  Anti-radiation missiles (ARM) are designed to detect and destroy the source of certain enemy radio emissions to degrade the enemy's anti-aircraft defenses in early stages of conflict. The anti-radiation effort is made to reduce friendly aircraft losses. Additionally, anti-radiation missiles can quickly neutralize unexpected surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites during air raids. Hence, in Odyssey Dawn", shortly before and while "the RAF goes in."

7- Why would USS Providence return to the French port of Toulon?  Answer "Unknown", as stated when question 7 was originally posed.  Submarines are stealthy platforms that may perform covert missions rarely made public, unless such disclosure serves a higher national purpose.  Example.

SPECIAL Submarine NOTE

USS Providence (SSN-719) has received three Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals, four Navy Expeditionary Medals, six Meritorious Unit Commendations, four Navy Unit Commendations, six Battle "E" awards, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. 

Submarines are always silent and strange.  

Submarine Questions of the Week: 29 SEP 2015

The answer to one of this week's submarine questions will likely be unknown for an unknown period of time (up to thirty years, or longer in a few cases, according to published submarine history).

Background [translated from French language] 

An American nuclear attack submarine (SNA) made a stop at the naval base of Toulon from 22 to 26 September. This is the Providence SSN-716, based on the east coast of the United States. Presumably for security reasons, [there has been no enlightenment from the crew]. The maritime prefecture of Toulon terms the stopover "routine". "Un stop and go", Le mamouth, mardi 29 septembre 2015

Questions of the Week

1- Is the U.S. submarine identification correct? 

2- Is the sub's given homeport coast correct?

3- When else was the sub USS Providence in Toulon?

4- On what mission was USS Providence at the time of its earlier visit?

5- With what special type of missiles was USS Providence armed during its earlier visit?

6- The purpose of the special missiles is what?

7- Why would USS Providence return to the French port of Toulon? 

ANSWERS:  Questions 1-6  --- Monday, 5 OCT 2015; Question 7 --- Unknown

Submarines are always silent and strange.

UPDATED (from 2013) - The Palatka Connection

Background  

• “Let me be clear,’’ wrote Kings Bay Commander Capt. Harvey Guffey Jr., “parachutist intrusions on the base must be eliminated.”  Subsequently,  the offending skydiving business relocated to Palatka, Florida.

•  Skydiver missing near Seattle thought to be dead.  Kurt Ruppert of  Lake City, Florida was reported missing last Thursday when he failed to drop in at the expected landing zone in King's County, Washington. It is important to note that Kings County is adjacent to Kitsap County, home of a Trident submarine base. Friends say Ruppert is an experienced wing suit jumper.  Ruppert has been skydiving seven or eight years and is good at handling a wing suit, said a friend, Art Shaffer, owner of Skydive Palatka in Palatka, Florida.

Evident coincidences of this magnitude will not be ignored by Naval intelligence, this time." -  Molten Eagle  

"Will Ruppert's body eventually be found in the Puget Sound or even Hood Canal?  Or perhaps he will be found in a tree near Si Mountain?  Either way, the likely cause of death will be the same: hypothermia.      more

UPDATE  #1 -  20 June 2015 

The detective says the items had been in the area much longer than 2 1/2 years, so they would not solve one mystery. Wing suit-wearing skydiver Kurt Ruppert of Lake City, Florida, vanished over Mount Si during a jump in January 2013.  more

+++++++++++ NOTE +++++++++++ 

 How close was Ruppert to Kitsap's Trident Sub Base?  What is the range of a wing suit and direction of prevailing winds at his jump altitude (about 6500 feet)?  Was he immediately apprehended by Kitsap Base authorities and held incommunicado for several months like Ariel J Weinmann, who, it was claimed, had been held in secret for four months after his arrest? - M.E.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

ANSWERS - Sub Questions of the Week - 27 JUN 14

Background information and photos provided when the Questions of the Week answered below were originally posted were here:  27 JUN 14.


Q.O.T.W.  with ANSWERS

1 -  Identify the submarine in photo A  (name, nationality, & year launched).  ANS:  Akula (Shark) a Tsarist-era Russian submarine launched in 1911.
2 -  Crew height restriction (< 160 cm) for this early sub were necessitated by space belowdecks.
      How many crew were aboard when it met its unknown fate?  ANS: 35 men were aboard.
3 -  What year was it lost? ANS:  Shark was lost in 1915.

4 -  Identify the mystery object shown in photo B.  ANS:  The walking apron of a purse seiner. 
   - a) What is its purpose?  ANS: Purse seines are a type of netting used to trap and harvest fish.
   - b) What nation is using it, and how many are in service.  ANS:  France currently has 6 seiners.
5 - What kinds of work are being performed by the figures shown (choose c, d, or e):
   - c)  administrative, clerical, photographic 
   - d)  wrangling
   - e)  pescatorial
 - - - ANS:  c) administrative
 
One of the shortest men in CSS Hunley's final crew of 8 men was of above average height for the 1860s period.
6 - What was the inside diameter of Hunley's crew compartment? ANS: About 4 feet 3 inches.
7 - How tall was [one of the shorter men among] the Hunley crewman known by the name Miller?  ANS:  5 ft 8 inches.


Submarines are always silent and strange.

Submarine Questions of the Week - 27 JUN 14

Background 

In a comment about Australia's replacements for Collins-class subs M.E. had recently noted that the average height of a Japanese male is 7.4 cm shorter than that of the average Australian male.


To qualify for service aboard the early submarine ( photo A  below ) sailors had to be under 160 centimeters (about 5 feet 3 inches) in height. 

Today's QOTW relate specifically to two submarines and the mystery device that dwarfs men (indicated by 4 white asterisks) working on a more contemporary object ( photo B ).
 


Q.O.T.W. 

1 -  Identify the submarine in photo A  (name, nationality, & year launched). 
2 -  Crew height restriction (< 160 cm) for this early sub were necessitated by space belowdecks.
      How many crew were aboard when it met its unknown fate?
3 -  What year was it lost?

4 -  Identify the mystery object shown in photo B.
   - a) What is its purpose?
   - b) What nation is using it, and how many are in service.
5 - What kinds of work are being performed by the figures shown (choose c, d, or e): 
   - c)  administrative, clerical, photographic
   - d)  wrangling
   - e)  pescatorial

One of the shortest men in CSS Hunley's final crew of 8 men was of above average height for the 1860s period.
6 - What was the inside diameter of Hunley's crew compartment?
7 - How tall was the Hunley crewman known by the name Miller?

ANSWERS:  Wednesday, 2 JUL 2014

Submarines are always silent and strange.



 

Story of Submarine's Sinking Surfaces

Medal belonging to little-known WW1 cargo ship skipper who sank first German U-boat by ramming into it surfaces after 98 years 21 June 2013   Daily Mail  online UK


"...the skipper and his crew were each given a reward of £860, the equivalent of  £75,000 today."

February 1915 (WW1) - Captain John Bell rammed and sunk a German U-boat after the U-boat had fired a torpedo at his steam collier SS Thordis off Beachy Head.

Capt Bell's small, cargo vessel was the first to take out a German sub in World War One. (In a later action, the U-boat U-12 would be rammed and shelled by a a Royal Navy destroyer off Fife Ness. U-12 was then scuttled with 20 dead.). 

In addition to the £860 (£75k today) Capt Bell was also given Distinguished Service Order medal which is being now auctioned 98 years after his brave feat.

Nearly 100 years after the ramming incident, Capt Bell's DSC and engraved watch are being auctioned in London. The pre-sale estimate of value is £5,000.



Famous painting: John Bell's cargo steamship Thordis is depicted in this painting sailing at full speed toward the German U-boat's periscope, which can just be seen poking out of the water, in the English Channel in 1915

Questions of the Week:

1. What U-boat did Capt Bell sink?
2. What destroyer attacked the U 12 on March 10. 1915?
3. Have you noticed the periscope in the painting above?

Submarines are always silent and strange.