81 Personal photos from the USS Pampanito

[Mush Martin]

Originally Posted by ATR-42

Sub Prop, forgot which sub its from though...

Five Bladed .... interesting:hmm:

[ReallyDedPoet]

Nice pics Thanks for sharing


RDP

[ATR-42]

Originally Posted by Mush Martin

Five Bladed .... interesting:hmm:

lol i knew someone was gonna say that! you got me thinking mush, i love these high res shots, i was able to zoom in on that plaque.

the prop shown is from the USS Darter a Tang class, built in 1953. The prop weighed 2000 pounds. was 7' in diameter.

The Prop on the Pampanito was a 4 blade prop, almost 8' in diameter and weighed 3000 pounds

[elanaiba]

The radars are SJ-1 and SV, so there's no SD onboard.

[Fishie]

Cool pics dude!

If ya ever make it to Pearl, be sure to go on the Bowfin- she's in just as good condition.

Gawd, I wanna grab a bunch of guys, take one of 'em out, and see if those torpedoes still work!

[stuntcow]

Thanks for posting the pics. They are all great shots.

[sonar732]

So...which one is the sonar station?

Anyhow...this sub was used on Down Periscope.

[elanaiba]

The sonar - supersonic listening that is - and radar stations are located in the Conning Tower and not accessible to the public AFAIK.

BTW, did I say "very nice shots" ?

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by sonar732

So...which one is the sonar station?

Anyhow...this sub was used on Down Periscope.

I was going to mention that.

Great pics. Makes me want to get a tattoo on my thingy.

(SF would probably be the place to get it, too)

[DaveyJ576]

Originally Posted by ATR-42

lol i knew someone was gonna say that! you got me thinking mush, i love these high res shots, i was able to zoom in on that plaque.

the prop shown is from the USS Darter a Tang class, built in 1953. The prop weighed 2000 pounds. was 7' in diameter.

Gentlemen,

The prop in question is the only surviving major piece of my old boat, the USS Darter (SS-576). When I visited the Pampanito in 2003 I was shocked to see it sitting on the pier. The Darter had been sunk as a target in 1992 and I was unaware that any piece of her still existed. If you look closely the prop has a nick in one of the blades that probably drove our Sonar Techs nuts with the whine it created.

The Darter was a unique boat of her own class. Commissioned in 1956, she was an update of the preceeding Tang class, her major innovation was the introduction of airplane style controls, set against the forward bulkhead of the control room as opposed to the port bulkhead in all previous submarines. This enabled rapid changes in depth to be combined with banking turns, greatly increasing maneuverability. The Darter also incorporated three conventional and reliable Fairbanks-Morse 38ND8 1/8 diesel engines from the very start, the Navy having learned their lesson with the accursed GM 16-338 Pancake diesels in the Tang class. She was supposed to have two sisters, the Grayback (SS-574) and Growler (SS-577), but these boats received major modifications to become Regulus cruise missle submarines.

The original design proved to be a bit cramped, and in 1966 she received a 16 1/2 foot addition between the after battery and the engine room, along with some other upgrades. The Darter provided the USN with outstanding service for 35 1/2 continuous years, currently a record for USN submarines. She was a good boat that is fondly remembered by her crews.

For some good photos, check out the following link:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08576.htm