Russian crew accomodations

vienna · 04-22-10, 05:08 PM

In Long Beach, California there is a former Soviet sub (Nato: Foxtrot; Soviet: 641) docked next to the Queen Mary. It is dubbed "Scorpion" and is available for on-board tours to the public for a fee. It is 300 feet long, diesel-electric, and the interior very closely resembles the photos posted above. I have been aboard a few times and was also surprised at the cramped quarters, not just in bunk accomodations, but in the the boat as a whole. The crew is listed as 12 officers, 10 midshipmen, and 56 seamen. This makes a total of 78 crew. Frankly, I would have felt uncomfortably crowded with only half that number aboard. On one occasion that I entered the boat, there was a tourist group already aboard and it took a lot of twisting and turning to get through the sub. The overall impression is that the crew in "Das Boot" were living in rather roomy conditions compared to the later Soviet submariners. Claustrophobic need not have applied for duty of those Soviet vessels.

Incidentally, the tour features a short film about the "cat & mouse" Cold War games played by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. The film seems to have borrowed liberally from the movie "The Bedford Incident" but without the nuclear ending.

04-22-10, 05:08 PM	#3
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,524 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	In Long Beach, California there is a former Soviet sub (Nato: Foxtrot; Soviet: 641) docked next to the Queen Mary. It is dubbed "Scorpion" and is available for on-board tours to the public for a fee. It is 300 feet long, diesel-electric, and the interior very closely resembles the photos posted above. I have been aboard a few times and was also surprised at the cramped quarters, not just in bunk accomodations, but in the the boat as a whole. The crew is listed as 12 officers, 10 midshipmen, and 56 seamen. This makes a total of 78 crew. Frankly, I would have felt uncomfortably crowded with only half that number aboard. On one occasion that I entered the boat, there was a tourist group already aboard and it took a lot of twisting and turning to get through the sub. The overall impression is that the crew in "Das Boot" were living in rather roomy conditions compared to the later Soviet submariners. Claustrophobic need not have applied for duty of those Soviet vessels. Incidentally, the tour features a short film about the "cat & mouse" Cold War games played by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. The film seems to have borrowed liberally from the movie "The Bedford Incident" but without the nuclear ending.