Did You Know This!?

This section has something interesting about subs you might not have known about. Some are long articles and others are just a few sentences.

Sub Central's Did You Know This!? #1: US Navy's Mystery Sub 5-12-98

Sub Central's Did You Know This!? #2: 2 Neat Things

Did You Know This!? #1 The US Navy's Mystery Sub 5-12-98

In an article out of "The Day" Newspaper from Wednesday, January 23, 1985 it says the Navy considered making mini-subs. Here is the article:

Mini-sub considered by Navy

By Jacky Flinn-Day Staff Writer

A "mystery sub" is being considered by the Navy that would patrol the coasts just under the ocean's surface with a secret electronic payload possibly geared for surveillance of Soviet submarines.

The surface weapons branch of the Navy is seeking free advice on the feasibility of developing the semi-submersible, but the project has been highly secret. Requirements and specifications of the boat, however, were noted in an edition of Commerce Business Daily earlier this month.

The electronic payload would weigh no more than 150 pounds and indications are that the Navy is more interested in that right now rather than the construction of the sub.

Electric Boat in Groton, the designer of the most classes of Naval submarines including the mini-sub Alvin, is aware of the Navy's "mystery sub" idea, a spokesman said.

"It's under consideration right now, we always review everything," EB spokesman Vincent T. Malcolm said.

Industry sources said the Navy's "mystery sub" idea does not signal the possibility of new submarine construction contracts for shipyards.

It has been dubbed the mystery in Pentagon circles because of the secrecy involved.

The sub - weighing only three-and-a-half tons compared to the 18,750-ton Trident - would be remotely piloted from up to two miles away. The signal would be received from a mast protruding six miles above the ocean's surface.

The advantage to such a spy sub would be its ability for relatively fast travel, 15 knots, by avoiding the drag of waves.

The Navy's consideration of semi-submersibles is not a new area.

In a recent issue of a quarterly bulletin called Submarine Review, Victor T. Boatwright described a tentative Navy design for an experimental semi-submersible that could be used as an ASW platform.

Boatwright, a Stonington resident and retired EB employee, noted the Navy since at least the 1960s has considered a variety of designs for semi-submersibles.

The earlier designs seemed to be geared to be geared toward speed, going as fast as 54 knots near the surface, Boatwright noted, but later ones were considered that would travel slower and carry torpedoes.

In his article Boatwright suggests further study of a "family" of subs be performed by the Navy.

Did You Know This!? #2 In Case Of Russian Attack Go Here

In the mid and late '50s, the fear of a Russian nuclear strike was getting more realistic. So in case of a nuclear attack they would send the president and vice president on the USS Triton, which had two nuclear reactors, and would submerge and go to a secret island base.