Best Submarine

MSG Glenn

MSG Glenn

Active member
Even though I retired from the Army I started my military career in the Navy. Submarine Service of course.

The best-the very best boat-to ever have sailed beneath the surface of the ocean was the U.S.S. Chopper (SS 342).

Any others?

MSG Glenn, former EN1(SS)(DV)(P)
 
For World War II, the German Type XXI. Streamlined hull, improved electric batteries, faster underwater speed, improved torpedo loading system.

For modern subs, I'll take the Kursk class. Think of all the titanium I can sell to the scrap dealer.
 
The Seawolf class of the US. It has 8 torpedo tubes, stronger stell hulls (Hy-100 is stronger than HY-80 that most subs use). It can carry up to 50 Tomahawk UGM-109 missiles, and has other superior features than other subs.
 
The German Type VII\41C and The US Balao Class (a improved GATO class).

The Type VII\ had better range and could dive much further and faster.
The Balao was faster (both surface and underwater) and carried a much more powerful armament (10 Torpedo tubes vs 5).
 
The Chopper came right after the Balao Class.
There might be better classes of submarines but for crew integrity & efficiency it was tops. We had the Battle Efficiency E, the Engineering E & the Commo C & kept them for my time aboard at least.

After all these years the crew stays in contact with each other. The boat was half way across the Pacific when WW II ended so it never saw wartime action but all of the crew aboard her then were combat patrol vets & some are still alive & in contact.

It was made into a Guppy after the war like most of them were.

My cousin was on the USS Tusk (SS 429) & my buddy on the USS Blenny(SS 324) & they have no contact with any of the former crew members. That tells it all.
 
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Navy photos of USS San Francisco in Dry Dock. after running aground. That this boat ever made it back to port is a tribute to its designers, builders, and especially to the crew and captain who was probably forced to resign.
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namvet said:
forgot to tell you pal they offered me subs in Nam but i delcined.

here's the Chopper website:[URL="http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08342.htm"]link[/URL]
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Yep yep. Know the site well. Also SubVets. I won't say I'm overly active on either but I check in at least once a month. That way I find my shipmates who recently went on eternal patrol.

Sub duty is great but it's not for everybody. The reason I left was after I went to Underwater Swimmers School I had an opportunity for UDT & jumped at it. At that time the only way to get out of Submarine Service short of DQing yourself was to go to a higher priority job. I missed Subs but I was also very comfortable doing what I was doing & it also gave me the opportunity to go to Army Airborne School which served me well in my transition to the Army 14 years later.
 
Speaking of the USS San Francisco, let us not forget the USS Los Angeles class subs, a good reason to cause the Soviets to pause and think before acting. They held the line for a long period of the Cold War.
 
Canada has the best subs in the World I heard :lol: Yeaupeeee we bought them from the Brits all 4. Till this date non have left dry Doc since One of it's Crew was killed,
And they leak.

Its crew is safe, but Canada's newest submarine is without power and rolling on high seas in waters of the Irish Sea, after a fire broke out on-board on Tuesday morning.
The 57 crew members on HMCS Chicoutimi are reported safe as they wait for rescue by British war ships that are now heading towards the stranded submarine.
"The submarine is currently without propulsion northwest of Ireland. The Canadian Forces are working in co-operation with the Royal Navy to assist Chicoutimi as required," said the Department of National Defence in a news release.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/10/05/hmcschicoutimi041005.html#ixzz0emIOOazk


2004: On its maiden voyage as a Canadian vessel, a fire breaks out in the electrical equipment room of HMCS Chicoutimi causing "extensive damage to cabling," says Commodore Tyrone Pile, commander of the Canadian Fleet Atlantic. Nine members of the crew suffer smoke inhalation. Three crewmen are transferred by Royal Navy helicopter to a hospital in Ireland. Lieut. Chris Saunders, 32, dies on the helicopter.
The navy orders the three other Victoria-class submarines to dock while an inquiry takes place to determine the cause of the Chicoutimi fire.

The Department of National Defence announces that repair work on HMCS Chicoutimi won't start until 2010. The announcement pushes back the Chicoutimi's scheduled launch date from 2007 to 2012.



We can't even afford to buy New Subs, What a Shame


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I think the heyday of Submarines is past. at least in the war against terrorism. However there's nothing like a few FBM boats scattered around the various oceans to act as a deterent & attack boats make good SpecOps platforms. As commerce raiders they just aren't needed anymore.
 
MSG Glenn said:
I think the heyday of Submarines is past. at least in the war against terrorism. However there's nothing like a few FBM boats scattered around the various oceans to act as a deterent & attack boats make good SpecOps platforms.
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In the war on terrorism, the sub is in more demand than ever! Following ships possibly carrying nuclear materials or contra-bands of different forms. A rogue nation threatens its US friendly neighbor and threatens to drop mines to prevent the US fleet from approaching their shores. Subs go in and find out if indeed there is a minefield and if so, where they are located.
US subs in use more now than they were during the Cold War! Their missions are more varied than before but, they provide a world of intelligence.
 
Here is a new class of US submarines that have joined the fleet since 2006.

"Description
Ohio class guided-missile submarines (SSGN) provide the Navy with an unprecedented combination of strike and special operation mission capability within a stealthy, clandestine platform. Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, SSGNs are capable of directly support dozens of Special Operation Forces (SOF) in America’s global war on terrorism.
Background
The 1994 Nuclear Posture Review determined that the United States needed only 14 of its 18 SSBNs to meet the nation’s strategic force needs. The decision was made to transform four Ohio class submarines into conventional land attack and Special Operations Forces (SOF) platforms. This allowed the Navy to leverage existing submarine technology while at the same time expanding capability to meet the current and future needs of U.S. combatant commanders.

The SSGN Program Office converted four SSBNs into SSGNs in a little more than five years at a significantly lower cost than building a new platform and in a similar time span. USS Ohio (SSGN 726) entered the shipyard on Nov. 15, 2002, completed conversion in December 2005 and deployed for the first time in October 2007. USS Florida (SSGN 728) commenced its conversion in August 2003 and returned to the fleet in April 2006. Conversion of USS Michigan (SSGN 727) started in October 2004 and the ship delivered in November 2006. USS Georgia (SSGN 729) returned to the fleet in March 2008."

http://www.news.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4100&tid=300&ct

 
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From the SSBN's i'd say Ohio is definitely the best. As for the SSN's, it's difficult for me to chose between type 971 "Akula" and American Los Angeles class.
 
Shmack said:
From the SSBN's i'd say Ohio is definitely the best. As for the SSN's, it's difficult for me to chose between type 971 "Akula" and American Los Angeles class.
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Again I would vote for the LA Class because, it had a far greater impact on the Cold War plus the total number of subs built (I think something like) sixty-two or more were built. Serving from 1977 and still forms the bulk of the US submarine fleet. Even "if" the Sea Wolf and the Virginia Classes had been built in the numbers originally intended, the "688's" would still form the bulk of the US submarine service. There are forty-four that are current in service, twenty-three of them are the "688Is".
The Akula Class was the Soviet answer to the "688s" started service in 1986, fifteen were built and only nine are currently in service.
 
Well, i wouldn't say it's correct to compare the number of subs here, because for the United States the Navy was and still is more important than for Russia/Soviet Union. If it was something like we are to drive in as much nuclear subs as possible into North Atlantic, while you are to prevent us from doing so, it became obvious that we didn't need and still don't need that large fleet as you did and still do.

I'd like to remind you that Akula is slightly quiter than Los Angeles, it was quiter than any sub of its time. It was the first submarine that could pass by the SOSUS line. Also, after some action in Adriatic sea (something in Yugoslavia) your CNO noted that Akula is absolutely undetectable at 10 knots. Still... Akula is a bit bigger than LA and has much bigger underwater displacement which gives more chances to detect it with mangetic anomaly detecter, also i've read that Akula was much more expensive to build in comparison to Los Angeles. Well, one could right a scientific work just to compare these 2 subs. :)
 
Shmack said:
Well, i wouldn't say it's correct to compare the number of subs here, because for the United States the Navy was and still is more important than for Russia/Soviet Union. If it was something like we are to drive in as much nuclear subs as possible into North Atlantic, while you are to prevent us from doing so, it became obvious that we didn't need and still don't need that large fleet as you did and still do.
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In a conflict such as NATO versus the WP, American re-enforcements would come by convoy just like WW-2. Russia needs submarines for defense, to insure that no foreign navy (ie. -the USN) does not use the seas to take advantage of the Russian Army! (Much like the USN using its amphibious capability to help break the stalemate in Italy during WW-2 by landings troops at Anzio.)
American, United Kingdom, Japan and, a few others are three nations whos survival depends up free use of the seas. USSR or Russia is a "land power", its allies share a common border with it and important potential enemy (the PRC), its major imports and exports come and go by land.
These realities affect their perception of war, what is needed and, what is not.

Shmack said:
I'd like to remind you that Akula is slightly quiter than Los Angeles, it was quiter than any sub of its time. It was the first submarine that could pass by the SOSUS line.
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The noise levels are something that has been and will be debated. Some measure noise at a distance of one meter, others some other
distances. Some at low frequencies, others higher frequencies and, others at several frequencies. There appears to be little effort to standardize the noise measurements. The Akula is "said to be" more quiet at speeds below ten knots while the "688I" is quieter as speeds above ten knots.
I am aware of Adm. Boorda's statements to Congress, I also remember what the USAF generals told Congress after the Cope India exercise.
 
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