Welcome to New Hampshire. My Dad, 81 years old, served on the Albacore from 1965 to 1968. At his age he still likes to give tours of the boat on weekends. He has a bit of dementia sneaking in on him, but ask him a question about the Albacore, he is sharp as a tack.
Cannot believe the size difference between this sub and a Virginia class sub. Or I'd like to see it next to an Ohio class. God bless the men that served on the USS Albacore & RIP for those no longer here. We greatly appreciate your service.
Massive!!! Sorry, I got a kick out of that. I rode submarines for a number of years and that boat is anything BUT massive! The Tennessee was massive. That boat is tiny and I have the utmost respect for the men that took that to sea! On a side note, I have to say that the contra-rotating screws are kinda neat. I would love to see the machinery that drove them!
@@Scott-hb1xn NH resident here. I’m 5’7” and it’s definitely a snug squeeze. Couldn’t imagine being in there with 50 other dudes. Still a lot of fun! Definitely recommend going if you’re ever in the area.
Back in the day, acoustic analysts such as myself and others in the Navy learned and memorized each generation of the propulsion systems used in the service life of the USS Albacore and the acoustic signatures for each. I'm not certain why, probably just because we did the same for every submarine type built anywhere on the planet since 1935, and it was on future tests. She's the only submarine I know of to have run at high speed running hydrogen peroxide on diesels while submerged. Fantastic test vehicle she was for the teardrop hull form! Thank you, I'd only known that sub in the past as math formulas and visual harmonic families.
Both my brother and brother-in-law were sonar tech Chiefs starting in the early sixties. I had a chance to see the inside the 650 Pargo that my brother was on. I even worked at the shipyard for a short time.
One of the most secret elements of modern submarines are their propellers. They are the key to stealth for a submarine. When a modern submarine is dry docked you will often see them with the prop[ellers covered in a drape. There is a video here on RU-vid with more details.
Worked on Fast Attack Subs while on USS Dixon out of Point Loma San Diego, liked the work but NEVER had the desire to get Underway on one. MM2 3 ships 12 years.
Very interesting tour, Larry. My uncle was a cook on a submarine in the '50s and suffered a massive stroke in the Sea of Japan. Had to be medically discharged due to paralysis but he loved his sub duty. I asked him why he volunteered for sub duty and he said he made about $40 more a month for the hazardous duty pay. In the '50s, that was considerable bucks, especially with a young family. Great job. Just by way of suggestion, pan a little slower in detailed areas to give the viewer time to take it all in. You have a NEW SUBSCRIBER !!
This is arguably the most influential submarine every built. Its very shape allowed for underwater cruising speeds over 25 knots, and there are rumors it may have reach as high as nearly 37 knots during speed trials!
Very nice tour. I think we have to remember, our fathers and grandfathers who served during WWII, were smaller were smaller, in general, than their sons. My Dad, who served in the Army Air Corps, stood 5'8" and 140lbs. at the time, and was considered only a bit smaller than the norm. The average probably being around 5'10". As teens, all of us kids, including the girls were just larger because we were healthier growing up. The point being, the good men who served, were smaller and this was cramped for them...
I knew a guy on the USS Blueback, SS581, (a very small boat) who was 6'5" and 250 pounds. He was so big he almost filled the hatchways, people would call, "hatch closing...hatch opening" as he walked through the boat. You didn't have to be small, just willing and able.
@@fw1421 I worked at EB for about six months in 1976 between getting out of the service and starting school. I worked mostly on the 694 Groton and the 688 class were easy to get around. I saw the first sections of the Ohio come together while working there. I also did some work on the 650 Pargo in the dry dock and it wasn’t as easy to get around and I was 5’11” then. I had a 2 am breakfast in the Chief’s Mess on that submarine in Rota, Spain a few years before.
Technically, modern submarines do not have conning towers as the structure above the hull is called a “sail”. The sail is simply a housing area for the periscopes, antenna, etc. and also provides access to the outside bridge atop the sail. In a WW II style submarine like a US Fleet Class or U-Boat, they would have a conning tower which was pressurized and could have a small number of the crew who could essentially steer the submarine, use the periscope and fire systems.
