JHCC Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 The USS Cod is a WWII-era submarine in Cleveland, Ohio. It’s maintained as a museum shop by a dedicated group of volunteers, who just came up with a rather cool idea. Since it doesn’t actually go anywhere, they decided to replace some of the missing batteries with 3D-printed copies of their top covers, giving an accurate look of what the Cod looked like when it was in service and also providing a lot of storage space that was otherwise missing. Cool idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 I am glad to see preservation of things like this. Being an old salt, that I am. Although I think batteries were the achilles' heel of them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Actually, no I wouldn't have a better solution.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Well, the “better solution” they eventually developed was changing submarines’ power source from batteries to nuclear reactors, so there’s that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 ....at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Actually the 1st atomic reactor was Chicago-Pile1 in 1942. A true "Pile" of graphite bricks to moderate the neutrons so they could split nuclei and the released neutrons wouldn't go shooting off at near light speed and get lost. Not quite ready to power a submarine but it still generated atomic power and more importantly to the war enriched uranium making the transuranic, U238 Plutonium. While it generated electricity it was less than it used and more one of the experiments. Sorry about the sidetrack. Thank you for the Cod link I'm enjoying it thoroughly and putting it on a possible visit if we get close RVing. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 If you’re close enough to visit the Cod, you’ll be close enough to visit me. I’m just sayin’. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Dang. Kind of wrong again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 2 Author Share Posted May 2 Not really. As Frosty says, nuclear power did not become practical for submarine propulsion until after WWII. Because of reductions in the size and changes in the strategic doctrines of the postwar navy, the “better solution” of nuclear power was something that went into the construction of the next generation of vessels, rather than into retrofitting the now-obsolete WWII fleet. Interestingly, the USS Nautilus (the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine) was commissioned in 1954, the same year that the Cod was decommissioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Only in the choice of words Scott, the first reactors were lab test devices, not power plants and cooling was a real issue. Big boats unlimited cooling ability were perfect for atomic power but it took a number of developments to make it work. Sub and carrier reactors are called tea kettles. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcostello Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Been there, just fyi if You have trouble bending Your knees and such, a submarine may not be the best choice to visit. Especially if there is a line in back of You that is in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike BR Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Another submarine power solution is stirling engines (which NATO now has). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 As a kid I used to visit the USS Silversides (same class as Cod) which was a Naval Reserve training ship in Chicago. It is now a museum ship in Muskegon, MI. And, of course, the U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry which was only a couple miles from my house (I used to ride my bike there). Access is easier since they have cut holes in the pressure hull for folk to enter and exit. I remember my father taking me to see it moved out of Lake Michigan, across the Outer Drive, and to the Museum in IIRC about 1955. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 3 hours ago, Mike BR said: Another submarine power solution is stirling engines (which NATO now has). I had to look them up and now I want one. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s. Semper Paratus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 5/1/2024 at 10:02 PM, JHCC said: Not really I know. That's why I said "kind of"... I've been reading up on submarines. Not for me. String test, creaking and groaning, etc... No way out.... Kind of reminds me of cave spelunkers. No thanks. I'd prefer the ocean spray in my face... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 You've ridden jet liners voluntarily haven't you? A thin walled pressurized aluminum tube built by the lowest bidder cruising at 35,000 feet sounds safer? I'd go for tour in a sub but a see the sights and say you did it tour, not a tour of DUTY! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Sigh...... Ok, I would be curious and probably try it. You called me out. I was trying to be dramatic. I will never learn. But I did watch Das Boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 No spelunking for me; I’m too big for squeezing through narrow cracks. I fly all the time, and I’d love to take a trip on a submarine sometime, especially one of the ones where you can look out the portholes. That said, there’s no way on earth that you’ll get me on an experimental submersible to visit the Titanic. I’m no genius, but I’m not an idiot. 53 minutes ago, Frosty said: A thin walled pressurized aluminum tube built by the lowest bidder “When one door closes, another one opens.” — Boeing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Don't blow the whistle on an airline mfg. How about them Japonese pedal power suicide mini submarines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 When one door blows out we have room for more seats in. Sit up straight, keep your elbows in your lap and your feet under your own seat, Boeing. Has the Japanese foot pedal subs beaten the man powered submarine fatality record set by the CSS Hunley? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Probably not. A quick search said five fatalities. Maybe surface naval warfare was more effective back in the day: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellburners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 The CSS Hunley sank 3 times for a total of 21 fatalities, including the designer Mr. Hunley himself. She did however sink the USS. Housatonic though I don't recall how many US sailors died with her. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 Five USN sailors were killed on the Housatonic, to the eight Confederates killed in the (final) sinking of the Hunley. I don’t know about pedal-powered craft, but the Japanese Kaiten manned torpedoes (which had propellant similar to conventional torpedoes) sunk three vessels with a combined loss of 187 USN sailors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 I don't know. I'm sorry I mentioned those pedal subs. They had many schemes, flea infested planes launched from submarines: "Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night was a Japanese plan to wage biological warfare against cities in Southern California, in retaliation for the U.S. firebombing of Japanese cities, which killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. The Japanese plan called for using aircraft launched from I-400-class submarines to drop “bombs” containing millions of plague-infested fleas." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Every now and then someone finds the remains of one of the "Fu-Go" balloon bombs Japan launched during WWII. Of the 9,000+ launched only one did real damage 6 dead, 5 children on a picnic in Oregon. I believe the US military experimented with flea and mosquito bombs hoping for a biological weapon too. The pidgin guided bomb was another classic brainstorm. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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