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Originally Posted by John Pancoast
True, but I assume the tower/control room hatch(es) are inside the same area, and if so, they'd be exposed (suddenly) to the full pressure of the depth the sub was at ?
I'm sure they're (hatches) built to take pressure, but again, just seems like a bass ackward way of doing things.
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The hatch is inside there, but it wouldn't suddenly be exposed to any pressure; as the fin is free flooding it has the full sea pressure both inside and outside it's structure from the moment the boat dives - in the same way as the casing structure. They're there to protect periscopes, masts etc when they're extended and to smooth out the hull which is in reality covered in loads of pipes, hull glands, exhaust pipework etc.
I don't disagree that that weld looks awful, it looks to me like it could even be a gap that's filled with some type of epoxy and then painted, this would agree with Kapitan's explanation that the fin splits to release the escape pod - as could the conveniantly split handrail around the fin.