[REL] Real Fleet Boat 2.0

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Personally I like the idea, need two slots open for dive planes.In stock I remember gar/tambors would have one sailor sitting at dive planes when placed in slots, looked damn silly, very important station that needs to be manned.I always move most of my deck watch into the control room when I dive anyway.Sure it can be a pain but from everything I read the control room was not fully manned on each watch, the OOD and lookouts slid down the ladder and took out.Chief on watch prob began the process by opening vents and all.

That's pretty much how it worked in reality. From all of my research, this is how I gather the conning tower and control room watches worked:

• Sonar: the WCA sonar unit was typically not manned while on the surface, unless the CO ordered otherwise. When submerged, one man would man the right-hand set of controls. At GQ, a second man would man the left-hand set of controls.
• Radar: SJ radar was manned on the surface only or at radar depth.
• The Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD) was stationed either in the conning tower or on the bridge while surfaced. Upon submerging the JOOD would assume the role of diving officer and move to the control room, and the OOD would take his place in the conning tower.
• The helmsman typically steered the boat from the conning tower. From what I can gather, the steering station in the control room was used only in emergencies.
• The chief petty officer of the watch was typically either CPO or 1st class machinist whose watch station was at the Xmas tree in the control room.
• As described above, there was an EM at the switchboard and either a machinist or fireman at the ballast controls.
• The dive planes were manned by the lookouts when either (a) the boat was submerged or (b) the boat was at GQ.

Note that I did not mention anything about the navigator. Contrary to what SH4's interiors show, there was not a chart desk in the control room, at least in the Gato and later boats.

[Hitman]

Are you sure about that Luke? I recall having seen pictures of Balaos with the navigation table clearly present, with a glass surface and illuminated below. Was that an after-war addition, when subs spent more time underwater?

See this: http://www.maritime.org/tour/cr.php?pano=fl

Isn't the charts table what is next to the green table with a rounded porthole (I think that green table is the Gyrocompass)?

In any case, where was the assitant officer that made the plot on a maneuvering board based on the captain's range/bearing estimations as called by the guy who readed the scope bearing vernier/stadimeter? I think he was in the CT, but where?

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Are you sure about that Luke? I recall having seen pictures of Balaos with the navigation table clearly present, with a glass surface and illuminated below. Was that an after-war addition, when subs spent more time underwater?

See this: http://www.maritime.org/tour/cr.php?pano=fl

Isn't the charts table what is next to the green table with a rounded porthole (I think that green table is the Gyrocompass)?

What I meant to say is that the location of the two "chart tables" in the Gato SH4 interior are entirely spurious. Compare the pano view above (specifically the port side forward and starboard aft corners). One doesn't see a chart table in either of those locations in any surviving Balao or Gato class boat.

In any case, where was the assitant officer that made the plot on a maneuvering board based on the captain's range/bearing estimations as called by the guy who readed the scope bearing vernier/stadimeter? I think he was in the CT, but where?

Probably at the dead reckoning tracer, located at the aft end of the conning tower.