ANSWERS: Submarine Questions from 29 JUN 2016

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

Questions of the Week with ANSWERS

1 -  Whose eponymous work, often found in the wardrooms of commissioned U.S. submarines (for example) has one author become renowned for in the context of open source intelligence (OSINT) (author's name and volume's title)?  
ANS:  Early military gamer (John) 'Fred T' Jane (6 August 1865 – 8 March 1916) authored All the World’s Fighting Ships (known currently as Jane’s Fighting Ships). Its volumes catalogued warships of each country, providing details of armaments, crew composition, etc.

2 -  When did the author referenced above first publish his naval version of such works?
ANS:   Jane's published the first volume of All the World’s Fighting Ships was published in 1898, by the American publisher Little, Brown and Co.

3 -  What was the late author's nationality? 
ANS:  Jane, born in Richmond, Surrey, was English.
 
4 -  In what science fiction novel did this author decribe a 'matter transmitter' for space travel (title and year of publication).
ANS:  To Venus in Five Seconds: An Account of the Strange Disappearance of Thomas Plummer, Pillmaker.  To Venus in Five Seconds was published in 1897.
 
5 -  What Medical Doctor and university professor currently curates a digital library of world naval operational news from open source intelligence (name, specialty and university where tenured)?
ANS:  Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D., Professor of Radiology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Pediatric Radiologist, The University of Iowa Children's Hospital
 
6 -  What is the name of the web address and name of the digital library referenced in 5-? ANS:  NOSI – Naval Open Source Intelligence™

Below [ss shown originally] are two examples of photographic open source submarine history from other OSINT sources. One taken before a tragedy, the other after a different tragedy.

7 - Identify the two subs and describe the fates of those crew members shown.  ANS:

"In 1939 the Sargo-class submarine USS Squalus (SS-192) sank off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive. On May 23, the diesel-electric submarine went down resulting in the death of 26 sailors. Thirty-three [photo above] survived." source
 
Submarines are always silent and strange. 

Open Source Questions of the Week: 29 JUN 16

Background

In a temporary departure from our Questions of the Week, which have related almost entirely to naval submarines, this edition's quizzes the vital, underlying concept called OSINT (open source intelli-gence):

"Open-source intelligence under one name or another has been around for hundreds of years. The significance today of OSINT in the USA is the conflict between military, government, and the private sector as to how the bulk of intelligence should be obtained. With the advent of instant communications and rapid information transfer, a great deal of actionable and predictive intelligence can now be obtained from public, unclassified sources." - Wikipedia, open source intelligence

OSINT Questions of the Week

1 -  Whose eponymous work, often found in the wardrooms of commissioned U.S. submarines (for example) has one author become renowned for in the context of open source intelligence (OSINT) (author's name and volume's title)?

2 -  When did the author referenced above first publish his naval version of such works?

3 -  What was the late author's nationality?

4 -  In what science fiction novel did this author decribe a 'matter transmitter' for space travel (title and year of publication).

5 -  What Medical Doctor and university professor currently currates a digital library of world naval operational news from open source intelligence (name, specialty and university where tenured)?

6 -  What is the name of the web address and name of the digital library referenced in 5-?

Below are two examples of photographic open source submarine history from other OSINT sources. One taken before a tragedy, the other after a different tragedy.

7 - Identify the two subs and describe the fates of those crew members shown.

ANSWERS:   MONDAY, 4 JULY 16

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Panic and Hidden Confined Spaces Within Subs

Background 

A submerged submarine is always a confined space from which emergency escapes have been very limited and practiced only in tightly controlled circumstances.

Even when not submerged, submarines incorporate hidden confined spaces whose access is fairly routine though somewhat more hazardous. Accessible confined spaces within a sub are familiar to the entire crew from qualification training, routine watchstanding or related maintenance necessities (e.g. battery wells and nuclear reactor containment areas).

Many more confined spaces are hidden from ordinary sight and so are seldom seen much less entered by crew members. Storage tanks for various purposes (potable water, pure water, septic waste, oil, etc) comprise a large of the hidden confined spaces.  Maintenance requirements on the latter, except in the most dire emergency, are usually handled in shipyard environments. Although, Vigilis recalls a particularly rigorous entry conducted pierside to effect a repair in a sub's largest sanitary tank.  

We have all seen firsthand or from photos the familiar confined passageways of U.S. subs.  Aesthetic paneling, tiled deck plating and dual-purpose insulation gives sailors cramped livability.  What has been hidden are areas civilians and nonmechanical women could well do without seeing.  Here, for instance is the access to a water tank hidden somewhere in nearby an interior of USS Albany (SSN-753).

Thought it was over

As part of the procedure, one worker stays outside the tank and uses a temporary cover made of aluminum to seal the tank while the other worker sandblasts inside.

"[The cover] became stuck between the piping and the studs around the opening and could not be completely installed or removed," an official report of the incident compiled by the shipyard says. "The tank watch and the breathing air watch attempted to remove the aluminum cover from outside the tank for several minutes with no success."
 
“I'm in there panicking, I'm going crazy. I'm asking them please don't let me die in here and I'm shaking the tank, shaking the lid to get out and we can't get out. I can't get out.” - - Deshaun Fuller, former sandblaster, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, April 23, 2014.

Medical records show Fuller now suffers from anxiety as a result of the accident, and no longer works as a sandblaster. He is now a shipyard electrician. 

"The current emergency and rescue procedures contained in reference (c) require that the NNSY rescue team (Navy Region Fire and Rescue) be called any time someone is in distress in a confined space," the bulletin says.

A spokesman for Norfolk Naval Shipyard responded to 13News Now's request for comment late Monday afternoon:

"During the time the employee was in the potable water tank, he was in constant communication with Tank Watch and Breathing Air Watch personnel, and was provided water. Further, the cover did not fully block the opening which allowed both watches to remain in visual contact with the employee and monitor and ensure the person's well-being.  more

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Anti-submarine Q.O.T.W. 11 APR 2014

Questions of the Week refer to the photo below ...



1.  An "anti-submarine" vessel is shown transiting a "cut". The nation which launched this ship has no destroyers in its entire navy. What are the ship's nationality and type?  

2.  What are the name, hull number, and top speed of this ship?

3.  What is its crew complement (officers and men)? 

4.  With what anti-submarine equipment is this ship armed?

5.  What are the vessel's draft and the canal's mean depth (in feet)?

6.  What is the purpose of that buoy to which the ship appears tied?

7.  What is the name of the canal and how does its length compare to the Panama Canal?

8.  Did the pictured canal have strategic value in WW2?

9.  This canal has a fairly unusual submarine feature; what is it?


ANSWERS:  Wednesday, 16 APR

Submarines are always silent and strange.