The ugliest sail ever...

[LoBlo]

The ugliest sail ever...

http://www.dt.navy.mil/pao/hi%20res%...v_Sail4LSV.jpg

Please don't tell me this is the future of sail design. I know, I know, form meets functions, but this thing is but ugly...

[goldorak]

The future of sail design is that there won't be any sail.
Imagine a sub sleek as a cigar, without any protuberances, now thats revolutionary.

[ASWnut101]

Originally Posted by goldorak

The future of sail design is that there won't be any sail.
Imagine a sub sleek as a cigar, without any protuberances, now thats revolutionary.

Well, that would look like a....well...nevermind. You will probably figure out what I would say next.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by ASWnut101

Well, that would look like a....well...nevermind. You will probably figure out what I would say next.

Ok, just look at history :

At the end of the 1960's the US Navy looked for new concepts for submarine design for its SSN.
One of them was to have a sub without sail, the sub would only have a small bridge and all the masts and periscopes and the small bridge structure would fold within the hull when submerged.
You can see some images in the book "cold war submarines" from polmar & moore.
I tried googling for some images but nothing turned out.

[LoBlo]

Originally Posted by goldorak

You can see some images in the book "cold war submarines" from polmar & moore.I tried googling for some images but nothing turned out.

Hmm.... why is that book so expensive? $40 bucks?.. ... Is it worth the price? I might buy it if its good...

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by LoBlo

Hmm.... why is that book so expensive? $40 bucks?.. ... Is it worth the price? I might buy it if its good...

The book is a gold mine on sub design from the end of the second world war up to the end of the cold war.
It examines both soviet and american design filosophies as well the actual subs that were construted, and those that were imagined but never went beyond the design stage (The CONFORM project in particular was way too advanced for the technology of the time, a sleek sailless sub).
It is definiteley worth the price, if you're not sure about the book you can always ask someone else about it.
I think XabbaRus or Kapitan have it.

[LoBlo]

Originally Posted by goldorak

The future of sail design is that there won't be any sail.
Imagine a sub sleek as a cigar, without any protuberances, now thats revolutionary.

You know... Their was a USN task force a few years back that examined the "next SSN," meaning after Virginia, that recommends the same thing... US Defense Science Task Force on Submarine of the Future. Along with sail'less subs they also recommended bombay's and external weps...:hmm: Sounds like its geared to be a giant monstrousity to me.