Submarine sea trials

Loading comment count Commenting is closed. Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed. Stories that may interest you Norwich Public Schools to be closed Friday due to staff shortages The superintendent said staff members have called in absent as of Thursday night but there were only 40 people to cover for them.

Proposed Stonington school budget up 2. Sedition case against Oath Keepers one of few in U. RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan will remain in prison am. Biden all but concedes defeat on voting, election bills pm. Braxton counts his blessings.

Why The Day? Back to Top. Connect with us. Stonington High School principal to resign. After confirming you're a real person, you can write your email below and we include you to the subscription list. We report under full editorial independence and have no external interference.

Donate to our independent journalism. Editor: thomas thebarentsobserver. Skip to main content. Gigantic special mission submarine starts sea trials in White Sea. The nuclear-powered Belgorod K is the largest submarine built in the last 30 years. Thomas Nilsen. Son of Fred B. I have not been able to find an obituary that has his name attached.

If he is still alive, that will mean he is 97 this year. Pretty remarkable. The book they published covers the whole development of the nuclear submarine program and the nuclear Navy. It is still available so I would encourage you to find a copy of it if you want to do any serious research. This is the test of the boat and the crew that will ensure the builder has done their work and the Navy has trained the crew sufficiently.

It is to the eternal credit of both builder and Navy that our submarine force has such an amazing record. What follows is a pretty remarkable record of what many of us went through to become part of a rare group of submariners. Plankowners are those on board during the building, testing and early deployment phases of a new submarine. Once you have done that, the boat is forever yours.

Other crews will come after you and operate her. But only that first crew takes such strong ownership that lasts a lifetime. This article is for those men and now women. The submarine was operated insofar as possible as a Navy ship and more than ever the tests were those of both the crew and the vessel operating together.

In all respects the submarine was ready for sea with her full crew, stores, and essential spares. No one except the assigned officers and crew was on board. The captain had an opportunity to check the condition of his ship and the training of his officers and men. His only communication with the shore was by telephone, by which he reported at least daily to Rickover. The purpose of the fast cruise was to make certain by actual operation that the ship was ready for sea trials. Failure of equipment or crew during the fast cruise was sufficient cause to postpone further trials.

The readiness of the ship at the time of the fast cruise usually made it possible to begin actual sea trials a few days later. The typical complement of riders on a submarine built at a private yard and containing an S5W propulsion plant included several engineers from Code , the Code representative at the yard, senior company officials and engineers, the supervisor of shipbuilding, a few officers from the technical desks in the bureau, a captain from the submarine force, the Bettis resident engineer, some contractor and vendor personnel, and Rickover himself.

Even by he had become something of a legendary figure in the Navy, and his arrival aboard ship visibly affected the entire crew. Quickly boarding the ship in civilian clothes Rickover customarily climbed to the bridge to observe the departure. Later Rickover inspected the propulsion plant. During most of the trial he worked in his cabin and appeared in the attack center or the maneuvering area as the reactor control compartment was called only during critical tests.

One of these was the submerged emergency stop, an evolution which placed a heavy strain on the propulsion plant. The signal for a crash stop came when the ship had been steaming below the surface at full speed for several hours. Usually there was a flurry of disciplined activity as the men at the control panels spun steam throttle wheels and manipulated switches so that the plant could answer the order for full speed astern.

Rickover and a few of his technical group crowded into the small maneuvering area to observe the instruments or performance of the crew. Occasionally Rickover might reprimand one of the officers for improper procedures in giving commands or in crew response.

Aside from the dials it was usually difficult to tell that the submarine was coming to a stop. The sudden loss of power was another important test. The intentional tripping of an alarm shut down the reactor and left the entire ship on emergency power. By following proper procedures the well-trained crew could bring the reactor back into operation without delay.

Rickover watched every move of the men at the control panels, ready to criticize the slightest hesitancy or careless action. The emergency drills were performed on a real ship at sea, below the surface of the ocean. There was an actual, if remote, possibility that a crew error or an equipment failure could endanger the ship. Sometimes, though rarely, the unexpected occurred.

During the sea trials of the Triton the submerged emergency reversal brought the ship close to danger.