USS Torsk (SS-423)

Here is another of the historical ships moored in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. This is the USS Torsk, a Tench-class submarine from WWII.



The Torsk is famous as the last US Navy vessel to sink an enemy warship in World War II. Torsk is one of the 26 Tench-class submarines built for the Navy in 1944-1951. Originally, there were plans to build 146 Tench-class boats, but 115 were cancelled after Imperial Japan's defeat. Only ten ever saw combat service in the war. The Tench class was an evolutionary improvement over the older Gato and Balao classes- larger, stronger and better laid out internally.


The Torsk was built in Portsmouth, Maine in the summer of 1944 and commissioned on 16 December 1944. Her first commander was Commander Bafford E. Lewellen.
She trained in the waters off New London Connecticut for two months and then sailed to Port Everglades, Florida to take part in antisubmarine research for four days. She then transited the Panama Canal and sailed to Pearl Harbor, arriving on March 23, 1945.



Torsk then began the work she was built for. She arrived off the northeastern coast of Honshu on May 13 and began her patrol after linking up with the subs USS Cero and and Sand Lance. Little was discovered other than Naval mines until the Torsk finally found an enemy ship, the very mine layer that had seeded the area with mines. She fired six torpedoes that the ship was able to maneuver away from and then she dove to escape the area. She then returned to Pearl Harbor for refitting and new equipment and began her second patrol on July 17. On August 11, after rescuing seven Japanese merchant seamen adrift from the wreck of the Koue Maru, she made her first kill, torpedoing a coastal freighter from periscope depth.

On August 14, Torsk sighted a 745 ton Kaibokan-class patrol escort vessel and its charge, a medium-sized cargo ship. She took up position near the mouth of the harbor at Kasumi Ko and launched a new Mark 28 torpedo at the warship. They scored a hit and the vessel rose some 30 degrees at the stern and sank quickly. Less than half an hour later the freighter attempted to enter the harbor and Torsk fired but missed, possibly hitting uncharted reefs. Torsk waited and another hour or so later another frigate was sighted, coming to reinforce the harbor. Torsk fired another Mark 28, having already been detected by the frigate. The order was passed to dive and rig for silent running by Commander Lewellen. She reached a depth of 400 feet, (which was getting close to as deep as subs of the era could dive) and launched another torpedo. This one was a Mark 27, able to acoustically home in on the enemy's propeller sounds. The crew heard the explosion of its impact on the frigates' hull and about a minute later, a secondary explosion and the tell tale sounds of a ship breaking up. The Torsk and her crew had proved themselves, sinking two enemy warships in one encounter. This would turn out to be the last Japanese warship sunk in the war. She was forced to dive due to patrolling enemy planes and ships, and remained submerged more than seven tense hours before surfacing and leaving the area.

Escape trunk from the Forward Torpedo room. It could hold four men at a time and was then flooded with seawater to equalize the pressure. The process was then repeated until all the submariners had abandoned ship. Sounds like fun, right?

Forward Torpedo room with six 21 inch torpedo tubes

One thing I have found amazing about subs I have been on is how busy and crammed the inside is. Everywhere you look there is machinery, bunks, gear. I can't imagine what it was like on a combat patrol with supplies and sailors everywhere. To be honest, the whole ship smelled like oil and diesel. Can you imagine what it was like with the engines on? How about with 81 dudes breathing and farting in it?

Engine room with two Fairbanks Morse diesel engines

After Torpedo room with two 21 inch torpedo tubes

BTW a torsk is a North Atlantic fish, related to the cod

(from Wikipedia) General characteristics
Type:	Diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,570 tons (1,595 t) surfaced 2,416–2,429 tons (2,455–2468 t) submerged
Length:	311 ft 8 in (95.0 m)
Beam:	27 ft 3 in (8.3 m)
Draft:	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum
Propulsion:	4 × diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 2 × low-speed electric motors two propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed:	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	400 ft (120 m)
Complement:	10 officers, 71 enlisted
Armament:	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 28 torpedoes 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Torsk received two battle stars for its service in WWII and a Navy Commendation Medal for service during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

She set the all-time record of career dives, at 11,884.

USS Torsk, taken from the deck of USS Constellation with the National Aquarium in the background (which is also nice)

Iranian Midget Submarine

Well, from Iran's terrible taste in camouflage and their imminent status as a nuclear power, we move to Iranian Naval power. The above is the Ghadir-class midget submarine. The powers that be in Iran have sought for several years to find a way to fight the Navies of the West, especially the US, in the waters near Iran. Despite the rather huge disparity in Naval power, the Iranians have several advantages in this theoretical battle. The waters of the Persian Gulf are relatively shallow and busy, making it harder for big subs to hide and hard for them to use acoustic methods to search for enemy subs. Also, in a potential conflict, the West must not only defeat the Iranians, but also keep open the vital sea lanes and prevent an ecological disaster from destroyed oil infrastructure. Whereas the Iranians would have a major victory in the eyes of many if they are able to sink even a few Western warships.



Well, to the specifics of this craft. The Ghadir is a class of midget diesel/electric submarines manufactured in Iran. It is fairly accepted that despite the Iranian propaganda machine's claim that the sub was designed by Iranian engineers, the sub was built from North Korean plans and with their technical expertise. And before we snicker into our hands about our friends the North Koreans, keep in mind that they were able to sink a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, with a similar sub.

The Ghadir is named after Ghadir Khumm a Shiite holy site in Saudi Arabia.

There are 11 Ghadirs in service and more on the way, with new subs delivered in 2009 and 2010. They are about 90 feet long and have a crew complement of 18. While the sonar and sensors and so forth are unknown at this time, we can probably expect them to be based on older Russian and Chinese equipment, like most of the Iranian arsenal. The Iranian state-owned media claims that the subs are "stealth" and capable of evading sonar, but I am going to chalk that up with other, similarly wild claims about the indigenous weapons from Iran. The sub has two torpedo tubes and could likely only carry two torpedoes. It has been said that the Ghadir can also fire tube launched missiles. While the Ghadir is not the state of the art, it could still be a formidable weapon, especially employed in groups. Recently, a war game showed that swarming tactics using small, fast, torpedo and anti-ship missile armed boats could be a serious threat to a US Carrier Group. However, the US Navy is pretty much the world master in anti-submarine warfare, and in any kind of large scale combat, I would expect the loss rate of this little sub to be very high. If it was located, its chance of getting away is small, and if hit with any modern ASW weapon, it would likely sink in a minute or two, if it was not immediately torn in half. Its only hope is that its size could help it hide in shallow water. The Ghadir and the North Korean Yono-class are not to be underestimated, but you wouldn't get me into one. It is apples and oranges, but no Japanese midget subs survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, and that was hardly the best day for the US Navy.

North Korean Yono-class submarine

Typhoon-class Submarine

Today's subject is the Typhoon-class Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine. The Typhoon was known in Soviet service as the Akula, which is Russian for a shark. We called it the Typhoon because we (being NATO) had a thing for renaming every single bit of Soviet or Warsaw Pact weapons and equipment. It probably gave a job to an entire office building. But I digress.



With a displacement of 33,000 tons, the Typhoon was the largest submarine to ever enter service. It is just huge. Famously, unlike every other cramped boat that ever went under the waves on purpose, it was gigantic, including adequate (for a submarine) crew spaces. It even had a gym with a pool and sauna. (The pool was really small though) As it is a nuclear ballistic missile submarine, the job of the Typhoons in the event of war is to hide in the polar ice cap until they receive orders to launch their multiple reentry vehicle nuclear missiles. Why hide under the icecap?
The problem is that there are only a few ways for the Soviet Navy to enter the North Atlantic. The Greenland-Iceland United Kingdom gap (GIUK gap)was watched by subs, planes, satellites, and underwater sensors. Because few Soviet submariners would survive fighting in the North Atlantic. The Allied victory against the Wolfpacks in WWII and the cat and mouse of the Cold War taught the Russians that. With many different types of assets guarding the approaches to the North Atlantic, watching Soviet sub bases and shadowing the fleet, the Soviets needed a way to ensure they could strike the USA.

The Typhoon class was one of the best designs to come out of Soviet Russia during the Cold War era. It made significant leaps in being was quieter than previous Soviet missile boats and was well armed. Attention to crew comfort could make a very real translation to a more motivated and sharp crew. At least to a degree. The Typhoon class also features six torpedo tubes, with four of those having the ability to launch the standard Type 53 torpedo or the SS-N-15 (RPK-2) anti ship missiles. The other tubes, which might have been located in the rear (just a guess) could lay mines in addition to using the Type 65 torpedo and the RPK-7 missile.

The Typhoon has multiple pressure hulls to increase survivability. This is part of what gives the subs their massive size. They have a very wide beam, much greater than the U.S. Ohio-class (the black and red sub in the pic below). Like most nuclear powered subs, the Typhoon can stay underwater nearly indefinitely, it is said to be able to stay under at least 180days, and I imagine that could be continued further, right up until they ran out of borscht and potatoes. The primary armament of the Typhoon is 20 R-39 missiles ( SS-N-20 in NATO designation) with up to 10 MIRV nuclear warheads on each. They are using the last of the Typhoons as a test bed for the new SLBM and it was likely a Typhoon that launched the missile that malfunctioned a few months ago.



Of all the Typhoons built (6), only three still exist, with one in service (the Dmitriy Donskoy) and the other two. Arkhangelsk (TK-17) and Severstal (TK-20) are likely currently in an un-seaworthy condition. All the R-39 missiles have been retired. However, with Russia's resurgence, they may one day be refitted to carry cruise missiles and modernized to be a SSGM for future service, or perhaps even sold to another nation. The Typhoons are slated to be replaced by the Borei class starting in 2010-11.

Typhoon Submarine, being guarded by the best of the Russian Navy

Nuclear Weapons

I came across these pictures of nuclear weapons and their delivery methods. I thought they were very interesting, so I decided to share them with you. Everything shown here is American-made.

B-29 Superfortress

B-36 Peacemaker

B-46 Stratojet

B-52 Stratofortress

B-1B Lancer

B-2 Spirit "Stealth Bomber"

Interior views of Atlas ICBM silos

Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Conning tower of an Ohio-Class Ballistic Missile Submarine

"Little Boy"- The Hiroshima Bomb - 13-18 kiloton yield

"Fat Man" Nagasaki Bomb - 22 kiloton yield

Mk 6 Fission Bomb - variable yield 8, 26, 80, 154, or 160 kilotons

"Physics Packages" of implosion-type Fission Bombs

Space Gateway or Russian Missile Launch Failure?

These photos were taken in Tromso, Norway on December 9, 2009 at 8:45AM local time. The strange, swirling, and spiraling light was visible for about 12 minutes. There was some speculation as to the origin of these strange lights, my favorites being, that it was a black hole,or a gateway to another galaxy/dimension. Sadly, it emerged a few days later (after the customary denials of course) was that the lights were the result of a failed missile launch. This was a Russian Bulava missile, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, launched from a Ballistic Missile submarine submerged in the White Sea. This was the 12th test launch of the Bulava and the seventh time the firing has ended in failure, according to Interfax news agency.

Underground Soviet Submarine Base

I don't have a lot of information on this site, but damn is it cool. I mean, Bond-villain cool.
It is a disused Soviet-era submarine base, in the Ukrainian city of Balaclava. The base was operational until 1993, and is open for tourists today. It was designed to be a hardened site, resistant to nuclear attack. Although, to look at its construction, I doubt it would.

Kaiten Special Attack Submarine

The Kaiten class submarine ( or piloted torpedo) was an attempt to stem the tide of the American and Allied advance on the Japanese Empire in the last years of WWII. The Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Coral Sea had inflicted costly and overwhelming defeats of Japanese surface and air Naval power. The Japanese were desperate to stop or impede the advance of the powerful Carrier groups and amphibious assault groups of the USMC and US Army.

Much like the Kamikaze air attacks that began in the battles for the Philippines, the Kaiten (Turning of the Heavens) submarine was designed to use a small amount of resources and a fanatical, brainwashed young man about to die to inflict hopefully catastrophic damage to the enemy.

The Kaiten was piloted by a single sailor laying on a canvas chair. It was of crude construction, prone to mechanical failures and leaking. It did however, have more than 3,000 lbs of explosive in its nose. The propulsion unit was out of the excellent Type 93 24 "Long Lance" torpedo, probably the best torpedo of WWII.

The Kaitens were carried in groups of 4 to 6 on the backs of submarines and launched, as many as available at surface targets, often convoys of troopships. The Kaitens were launched from the mother submarine from beyond 5000 meters, ran underwater for awhile, then came up to periscope depth the re-target and make corrections to their course and dive. The only real advantage of the Kaiten is the unlike a regular torpedo, if they missed the target they could conceivably come around for another run and re-target themselves. The Kaiten were considered by US Navy personnel who evaluated them after the war to be difficult to control, and prone to uncontrollable dives, broaching, and other accidents.

Kaiten submarines did make some kills in 1944 and '45 though, most notably the USS Underhill (DE-682), a Buckley-class Destroyer escort. However, much like the Kamikaze, they were overall ineffective and mostly only served to futilely end the lives of more than a hundred pilots.

US Navy diagram of captured Kaiten Subs

Kaiten on display in the Washington Navy Yard

Kaiten torpedoes attached to the deck of Japanese sub in 1945