Quote:
Originally Posted by Axeman3d
My reading had made me think that from the Skipjack onwards, US SSNs got larger with no real increase in reactor power, so each successive class was more accomplished and stealthy, but a knot or two slower. Then when you hit the Los Angeles they also go backwards on depth to save cash and you end up with a quieter, slower, shallower diving sub. I dont think there's a lot in it, but until the hugely expensive Seawolf it's all backwards. On the Soviet side the only thing they didn't compromise on in their designs was speed and diving depth.
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Skipjack, Permit, and Sturgeon all used the S5W reactor plant giving them equal power. The speed variance between the three is up for debate. Honestly we don't know how fast each boat could go, but I've heard of the Skipjack going as fast as 40kts. So if that speed were true then certainly Permit and Sturgeon would be slower but not only due to more weight, they also were fitted with a different screw. One with it's focus more on stealth than raw speed. So my response stating that speed increased was based more on a 688-Skipjack speed comparison. The Permit could dive deeper than the Skipjack because it was the first boat made out of HY-80. Same with the Sturgeon, only it lost speed compared to the Permit due to it being larger. The 688 could still go deeper than a Skipjack but could also go faster again. So diving depth increases relative to that of the Skipjack. And then came Seawolf and like all things 80's (big hair) it came with a big price tag.