I thought the Astute's hull looked slightly odd (somewhat fatter) but had put it down to the angle of the photos.
Funny how there are so many different hull designs for subs.
Logically, one would think, a cylindrical hull would be better at distributing pressure evenly over the hull. It might also be easier to build. But apart from the USN, nobody else seems to be making cylindrical hulls.
Some of the ssk hull designs seem to be even more weird. e.g. The Collins, Gotland and the Type 209 (esp. the earlier versions) - wonder what the thinking for those designs was (increased surface range maybe?)
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