Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Nisgeis
Also, after having a look at the pictures of the sections being constructed before assembly, it appears that the bulkheads are a single sheet welded at the ends of the pressure hull. Were the bulkheads made to fit inside the pressure hull, or were they the same diameter as the pressure hull. IE, when two sections were joined was it pressure hull - pressure hull, or was it pressure hull - bulkhead - pressure hull?
I also have a question about Normal Fuel Oil Tank number one. Was it completely sealed externally, with only valves to drain and fill from the inside in the forward topedo room? Even the fuel filling lines seem to be routed throught the torpedo room, so were there any hull openings at all through the pressure hull where Normal Fuel Oil Tank number one is?
Finally, how thick are the dividers between the ballast tanks? The drawings seem to indicate that they are fairly thick - were they?
|
Okay here is part three:
1. The bulkheads were built internal to the pressure hull sections and those sections were welded directly to each other. To do it the other way would have effectively doubled the number of critical welds. For obvious quality control reasons, this number was sought to be kept as low as possible.
2. NFO tanks were "sealed" from the sea. They did not have vents or flood ports like a FBT. However, as mentioned before these tanks were compensated to sea pressure in order to maintain proper ballast. Thus they did not have to be built heavy to resist full submergence pressure. Keep in mind though, that one side of these tanks
was the pressure hull.
3. I do not have specific figures for the thickness of the divider between MBT's. Note that this "divider" was actually the ship's keel, so being a primary strength member for the boat it was pretty strong. There were limber holes cut in the keel so that the water could freely move from one side of the tank to the other, so in essence the tanks were not really divided.
Whew! That was a long series of questions. Time for a nap!
