Q1, Bob Sharpe. (860) (Cell)

Transcription

1 Q1, 2018 Presidents Message T he USSVI National Convention for 2018 will be a Caribbean Cruise aboard Holland America Line s MS New Amsterdam cruise ship out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. The USSVI National Convention is the normal place for our scheduled annual meeting. If sufficient membership of the club attends the Caribbean Cruise Convention we will conduct a meeting. Although this meeting is in doubt, I ll provide an official cancellation in the next newsletter. So for planning purposes, the next SubvetRVer s annual Business and Membership meeting is currently scheduled to be held on-board the at the USSVI s 2018 National Convention. The USSVI National Convention in 2019 will be in Austin Texas. Dewy Reed is currently investigating the local RV campgrounds and will recommend an RV site suitable for our purposes. Due to the success of having our meeting at these conventions, my recommendation is that the SubvetRVer s annual Business and Membership meeting should be scheduled to be held at the USSVI s 2019 National Convention. I opened the 2017 SubvetRVer s annual Business and Membership meeting on 8 January We received report from the secretary and the treasurer on our Google Groups page. I allowed an extended period of time for members to review and comment. The remaining items on the agenda were opened, reviewed and closed. This meeting should have taken no more than two weeks. However, with very limited inputs, feedback or discussions, I allowed two months to elapse before I adjourned the meeting. Without everyone taking the time to participate, I am not sure about the feasibility of conducting another one. It appears, probably due to the lack of usage, has also caused the SubvetRVer s Facebook page to depart on eternal patrol. Our SubvetRVers Google Groups page is still the best way to promote discussions and notifications. Currently, John Mosher has a discussion opened about a gathering in Portland, OR September Some of the big submarine events for 2018 include; the USS Scorpion SSN th Memorial Anniversary ceremonies, locally near you and on Memorial Day weekend, Norfolk, VA. The 4th Annual Subfest, celebrating USS Cobia s 75th July in Manitowoc, WI. The Old Salt s Pig Roast held on August 3-5 in Rhode Island. The USSVI s National Convention Cruise in October followed by the Submarine Veterans of World War II Memorial Ceremony in November in Kings Bay, GA. There are more submarine related events planned this year throughout the country. If possible, find one in your travels Bob Sharpe or your area that fits bobsharpe@hotmail.com your schedule and (860) (Cell) attend. 1

2 From the Treasurer Nothing spectacular going on in the Finance department the last quarter. Jim is looking to sell his motorhome which is in excellent shape. Call him if you have an interest. Checking 12/01/2017 Beginning Balance $ Ending Balance 12/31/2017 $ Savings 12/01/2017 $ Savings interest $00.31 Ending balance 12/31/2017 $ Checking 01/01/2018 Beginning Balance $ Check for web site # 107 Stan $79.00 Ending Balance 01/31/2018 $21.00 Savings 01/01/2018 $ Savings interest $00.31 Ending balance 01/31/2018 $ Jim Van Vranken Cell (707) olfatman@sbcglobal.net Checking 02/01/2018 Beginning Balance $21.00 Transfer from savings 02/19/2018 $79.00 Ending Balance 02/31/2018 $ Savings 02/1/2018 $ Savings interest $00.28 Ending balance 01/31/2018 $

3 If there was anything going on here from a RV standpoint, it is only that I've missed all the fun. I spent some of the last months of 2017 removing all of the bits and pieces from the front of my motorhome so I could replace the Harmonic Dampener from the front of the engine. As you all probably know, it consists of a hub and a rim, fastened together with an elastic substance that dampens the destructive vibrations in the crankshaft. Well, the rim spun about 90 degrees from its factory position which meant that the ignition timing could not be determined. That is an automatic failure in the smog test here in California. Fortunately the rim just spun rather than coming off and tearing up the surrounding expensive bits. I have it reinstalled and now, after derusting and painting all the parts in front of the radiator, I'm just waiting for warm From the Secretary weather to install them. Oh, and the engine was running too rich so that would have failed the test too. So I get to delve into the mysteries of the Quadrajet carburetor because nobody knows how to work on those anymore. Then, the last time we took the RV out, the refrigerator filled itself with ammonia gas so I either have to replace the cooling unit or replace the refrigerator or install an apartment refrigerator which seems to be all the rage in new RVs (I suspect because they are so much cheaper than the absorption units.) Then, I can get the genset running again. I suspect the brushes need replacing and the carburetor needs rebuilding. Then I need to check the brakes and replace eight tires. You know, it might be cheaper to just give the RV to a charity and buy another one! Aren't RVs fun? Mike Rehmus ( mrehmus@byvideo.com This is how my old boat looked just before my discharge. Went from a Fleet Boat to the first Radar Picket to a SSK when I was first on it and then this is after we converted to an Experimental boat and you can see all the extra sonar gear. The 13 ton device welded to our pressure hull just behind the Sail is now referred to as a SOSUS where over 5,000 of them populate the sea floor around the world. You can imagine how many around Japan and Korea by now. Submitted by Skip Adrian 3

4 Get Rid of the TV Dome Here is another way to watch TV on the road and even, as a cable cutter like me, at home. I have researched them all and tried most of them and DirecTV NOW is a winner. It has local channels and most of the better good cable channels. You can watch it on any computer, tablet or smartphone, with their app and on your TV set with Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire. Which means that on the road you only need a WIFI or a good cell tower signal. There is no contract so you can stop it at any time. Now you can try it for three months at $10 a month. After that, it is only $35 a month. How is that for as savings? Most programs are also available on demand. Kind of like a DVR. I wish we had this years ago. Here is a link to get started: CUT THAT CABLE! Stan Cook stan@stancook.com. Jim Delgado, an archaeologist, and diver found a magnificent wreck almost 14 years ago. He was on a ship passing the San Telmo Island in Pearl Archipelago, Panama when he came to know that this area was known for a Japanese submarine which sank during the World War II. He was intrigued by the story and the history of the wreck. Delgado decided to initiate a mission to find the submarine. He saw from his ship that something was towering on the island. It was all rusted out and Delgado thought that he had to investigate it. 4 He managed to find a beached submarine in the area which was mentioned in all the stories that he had heard previously. However, later he found out that the submarine was not Japanese and not from WWII either. The submarine was much older than WWII. Upon finding this, Delgado was much intrigued than ever, so he decided to investigate more on the matter of mysterious submarine. It took him two years to find the name of the submarine. Delgado s colleague helped him find an old blueprint from an old 1902 magazine. The magazine stated that there was a wreck near the San Telmo Island. He also found a New York Times article dated 1866 which talked about an event which happened on a New York river. The article stated that Julius Kroehl, who was a German- American, invented one of the first submarines which can fully submerge and travel underwater. It had been testing out his ship in the river when it sunk. If this story was true, then the sunken submarine is Kroehl s Sub Marine Explorer.

5 However, if it was Kroehl s then why would it be in Panama and not in the New York river. After further research, Delgado found that the trial was actually successful and the submarine was then taken to Panama to collect pearls. The submarine lasted few weeks and collected pearls but something went terribly wrong that it was left in the middle of an ocean to rust. In 1869, another New York Times article stated that one of the pearl-harvesting missions brought almost 10 tons of oysters and pearls which were estimated at almost $2000. During the missions, it was found that all men who were on the submarine caught fever and had decompression sickness. The submarine was declared as harmful to the health of crew members. A year after the submarine reached in Panama, Kroehl died from decompression sickness due to diving in the submarine. The submarine was taken to the island where it remained beached till found by Delgado after 130 years. Credit: Undersea Warfare News This plan of the Sub Marine Explorer appeared in a 1902 article on the history of U.S. submarine development in Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers 5

6 How One Cheap Submarine from Sweden 'Sank' the U.S. Navy in 'Battle' How was the Gotland able to evade the Reagan s elaborate antisubmarine defenses involving multiple ships and aircraft employing a multitude of sensors? And even more importantly, how was a relatively cheap submarine costing around $100 million roughly the cost of a single F-35 stealth fighter today able to accomplish that? In 2005, USS Ronald Reagan, a newly constructed $6.2 billion dollar aircraft carrier, sank after being hit by multiple torpedoes. Fortunately, this did not occur in actual combat, but was simulated as part of a war game pitting a carrier task force including numerous antisubmarine escorts against HSMS Gotland, a small Swedish diesel-powered submarine displacing 1,600 tons. Yet despite making multiple attacks runs on the Reagan, the Gotland was never detected. This outcome was replicated time and time again over two years of war games, with opposing destroyers and nuclear attack submarines succumbing to the stealthy Swedish sub. Naval analyst Norman Polmar said the Gotland ran rings around the American carrier task force. Another source claimed U.S. antisubmarine specialists were demoralized by the experience. How was the Gotland able to evade the Reagan s elaborate antisubmarine 6

7 defenses involving multiple ships and aircraft employing a multitude of sensors? And even more importantly, how was a relatively cheap submarine costing around $100 million roughly the cost of a single F-35 stealth fighter today able to accomplish that? After all, the U.S. Navy decommissioned its last diesel submarine in Diesel submarines in the past were limited by the need to operate noisy, airconsuming engines that meant they could remain underwater for only a few days before needing to surface. Naturally, a submarine is most vulnerable, and can be most easily tracked, when surfaced, even when using a snorkel. Submarines powered by nuclear reactors, on the other hand, do not require large air supplies to operate, and can run much more quietly for months at a time underwater and they can swim faster while at it. However, the two-hundred-foot-long Swedish Gotland-class submarines, introduced in 1996, were the first to employ an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system in this case, the Stirling engine. A Stirling engine charges the submarine s seventy-five-kilowatt battery using liquid oxygen. With the Stirling, a Gotland-class submarine can remain undersea for up to two weeks sustaining an average speed of six miles per hour or it can expend its battery power to surge up to twentythree miles per hour. A conventional diesel engine is used for operation on the surface or while employing the snorkel. The Stirling-powered Gotland runs more quietly than even a nuclear-powered sub, which must employ noise-producing coolant pumps in their reactors. The Gotland class does possess many 7 other features that make it adept at evading detection. It mounts twenty-seven electromagnets designed to counteract its magnetic signature to Magnetic Anomaly Detectors. Its hull benefits from sonarresistant coatings, while the tower is made of radar-absorbent materials. Machinery on the interior is coated with rubber acoustic-deadening buffers to minimize detectability by sonar. The Gotland is also exceedingly maneuverable thanks to the combined six maneuvering surfaces on its X-shaped rudder and sail, allowing it to operate close to the sea floor and pull off tight turns. Because the stealthy boat proved the ultimate challenge to U.S. antisubmarine ships in international exercises, the U.S. Navy leased the Gotland and its crew for two entire years to conduct antisubmarine exercises. The results convinced the U.S. Navy its undersea sensors simply were not up to dealing with the stealthy AIP boats. However, the Gotland was merely the first of many AIP-powered submarine designs some with twice the underwater endurance. And Sweden is by no means the only country to be fielding them. China has two diesel submarine types using Stirling engines. Fifteen of the earlier Type 039A Yuan class have been built in four different variants, with more than twenty more planned or already under construction. Beijing also has a single Type 032 Qing-class vessel that can remain underwater for thirty days. It believed to be the largest operational diesel submarine in the world, and boasts seven Vertical Launch System cells capable of firing off cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Credit: The National Interest