Real Submarine Technology & History Q&A

DaveyJ576 · 02-14-10, 09:13 AM

The location of the conning tower ladder did vary a little bit from one boat to another. However, it never moved very far.

It is important to remember that no two boats came out of the builder's yard exactly the same. There were always numerous minor detail differences from one boat to the next. One of these minor variances could have been the location of this ladder. The general location was fixed by two features that did not vary: the location of the conning tower in relation to the control room, and the location of the conning tower hatch which was always in the forward port corner of the conning tower. Therefore, the ladder leading up to it from the control room was always going to be in the general vicinity of the dive planes and gyroscope.

I think the variation that Luke is seeing is simply a 90 degree rotation aft. Some boats that I have seen has the ladder rungs facing the dive planes. Others have had the ladder rungs perpendicular to the planes. I think what they were doing was rotating the ladder 90 degrees aft along the conning tower hatch rim. This would have gotten it out of the way of the planesmen. This was probably a later mod that was based on operational experience.

One other factor that might be affecting what you are seeing in the photos is the location of the trim and drain manifold in relation to the air manifolds. The fleet boat control room had a "dry" side and a "wet" side. The air manifold for blowing ballast tanks was always on the opposite side of the control room from the trim manifold used to vary the amount of water in the trim tanks. This was usually an Electric Boat vs. Government yard difference; one used a dry port/wet starboard config and the other a wet port/dry starboard config. Which was which is escaping me right now (old age brain fart!!). This difference may have moved the location of the dive planes station a little forward or aft and this may be accounting for some of the differences you are seeing.

02-14-10, 09:13 AM	#11
DaveyJ576 Officer Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 241 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Conning tower ladder The location of the conning tower ladder did vary a little bit from one boat to another. However, it never moved very far. It is important to remember that no two boats came out of the builder's yard exactly the same. There were always numerous minor detail differences from one boat to the next. One of these minor variances could have been the location of this ladder. The general location was fixed by two features that did not vary: the location of the conning tower in relation to the control room, and the location of the conning tower hatch which was always in the forward port corner of the conning tower. Therefore, the ladder leading up to it from the control room was always going to be in the general vicinity of the dive planes and gyroscope. I think the variation that Luke is seeing is simply a 90 degree rotation aft. Some boats that I have seen has the ladder rungs facing the dive planes. Others have had the ladder rungs perpendicular to the planes. I think what they were doing was rotating the ladder 90 degrees aft along the conning tower hatch rim. This would have gotten it out of the way of the planesmen. This was probably a later mod that was based on operational experience. One other factor that might be affecting what you are seeing in the photos is the location of the trim and drain manifold in relation to the air manifolds. The fleet boat control room had a "dry" side and a "wet" side. The air manifold for blowing ballast tanks was always on the opposite side of the control room from the trim manifold used to vary the amount of water in the trim tanks. This was usually an Electric Boat vs. Government yard difference; one used a dry port/wet starboard config and the other a wet port/dry starboard config. Which was which is escaping me right now (old age brain fart!!). This difference may have moved the location of the dive planes station a little forward or aft and this may be accounting for some of the differences you are seeing.