Quote:
Originally Posted by Platapus
Pardon my land-lubberness but HUH? 
I am really surprised to learn that. I thought that multiple water tight compartments were always part of a sub.
Could you explain to this lubber of land what is the advantage of only having two water tight compartments on a sub?
Nooblet minds want to know. |
Watertight bulkheads are HEAVY. They have to be able to withstand the same pressures as the hull. As they are flat instead of hemisperical they are actually HEAVIER than a similar section of the pressure hull.
Then you have to have access through the pressure bulkhead. Ventilation, power, piping, etc. All of these penetrations would have to be maintained as SUBSAFE as well. That adds a significant amount to the cost as well.
The more the boat weighs, the slower it goes. The 688 class was suppose to be FAST first and foremost. The Soviet boats of that era were fast but not very quiet. We were just the opposite. We were quiet but not fast. The 688 class was to make us fast AND quiet.
Getting rid of the pressure bulkheads saved mass. That meant a faster boat.
The reactor compartment had to be isolated for obvious reasons. The sole remaining bulkhead was to seperate the engineering plant from the forward end for casualty reasons such as a fire, steam line rupture, etc.
Other considerations were the improvements of weapons. It was expected that a war would go nuclear fast. That meant that you would not get hit with a 600 kilo warhead but the shockwave from a 500 kiloton one. The number of bulkheads will not mean squat then.