Another stupid question

[SquidB]

OK why do they paint the bottom half of the LA red?

[TLAM Strike]

Its called Anti-Fouling it prevents sea life from growing on it.

[SquidB]

And it only comes in red?

[TLAM Strike]

I think they can do green as well.

[Smaragdadler]

What about modern anechoic rubber hulls? Sealife gets no hold, or have they to clean it regulary or must the sub get 'a new skin' from time to time...? Maybe this rubber already functions as a 'fouling'-protection... should not 'taste' too well... :hmm:
Who not asks, stays stupid.

[Kapitan]

they have this new plasticy stuff dont know what its called but it stops sealife full stop

[TLAM Strike]

Taste doesn’t really have anything to do with it. Barnacles- one of the better-known types of Biofouling- use the ship's hull as a feeding ground (unintentionally, they evolved to cling to rocks not ship hulls). They have arms to capture plankton and stuff when they need to eat, they hold on to the hull with a form of natural cement excreted by a gland. The anti-fouling paint doesn’t allow them to cement themselves to the hull.

[Kapitan]

if a subs underwater most of the time why isnt it all painted with this stuff ?

[PeriscopeDepth]

Originally Posted by Kapitain

if a subs underwater most of the time why isnt it all painted with this stuff ?

Because the only time sea life making an SSN a home is really a concern is when a sub is not moving for long periods of time. And that only happens when it's tied alongside. So only what's below the waterline need be coated. And besides, a completely red submarine would be funny looking. Come to think of it, a completely pink submarine would be even more funny (you've all seen Operation Petticoat...right?).

[Kapitan]

hey i seen a pink chinease romeo class boat so dont laugh

[compressioncut]

Originally Posted by SquidB

And it only comes in red?

Canadian West Coast navy ships are painted a nice bright blue under the waterline. It really depends what paint the contractor wants to use during the refit. It used to be a lead-oxide paint, and it was red color due to the ingredients, but since that stuff is highly toxic, it's not used anymore. It seems the new, environmentally safe paints can be any sort of color.

Originally Posted by Smaragdadler

What about modern anechoic rubber hulls? Sealife gets no hold, or have they to clean it regulary or must the sub get 'a new skin' from time to time...? Maybe this rubber already functions as a 'fouling'-protection... should not 'taste' too well... :hmm:
Who not asks, stays stupid.

After HMCS Victoria, a sub covered pretty much 100% in tiles, transited over here from Halifax, she was covered in sea life of all sorts. When they put her in the base graving dock, the horrible smell of rotting organisms and plant life made it all the way to the main gate and maybe beyond. Dockyard mateys spent a couple of weeks with pressure washers hosing it off. They didn't replace all of the tiles.

I think, too, in the pictures of the USS San Francisco in drydock after her collision show a lot of crap covering her hull.

[Kapitan]

th ship i was on dart 8 goes in for a belly scrub every 5 years and you realy want to see the crap they get off there