Information on Specifics of Modern Submarines

[masonman]

Hi, this is my first post on the forums. I'm a gamer and I love submarines (I may or may not have watched The Hunt for Red October more than 15 times), though I have never actually played a subsim. But regardless, I was hoping for some assistance as I know many - if not most - of you guys are also big fans of subs!

So for years as a 3D modeling hobbyist I've been occasionally working on a streamlined way to model complete interiors and exteriors of modern nuclear submarines. I'm kind of obsessed with actually making a complete one. My first attempt years ago was an Akula class (I intended to import it into a FPS I was playing at the time). It was a very low poly model but I got decently far and learned a bit (though I did pretty much bare mininum research). I gave up on that one though, after having made too many big mistakes that made backtracking essentially take more time that starting from scratch.



I toyed around a bit with making a Los Angeles class, but as I experimented with the control room I realized I had ZERO understanding of what most of the stuff in there did. So I spent some time and came to understand more than the basic stuff I already knew (crew life, most of the unclassified crew tasks, how nuclear reactors work and look, how water is pumped in and out of ballast tanks, basics of ship engines, basics of passive sonar, spectrograms, submarine propellers, navigation, etc.).



For most of the interior details I have relied on photos. Over the past couple of years I have amassed a decent library of submarine interior photos, and I have picked apart every little camera shot taken inside submarines from different documentaries, etc. though obviously those are all of two or three rooms on the sub (mess, staterooms, control room, etc.)

I have been doing a lot of searching.

What I was going to ask of the forums was for suggestions of any online resources or books that would aid in my understanding of modern submarine internals. I know I have gaps in knowledge NOT simply caused by some information being classified. From what I can tell, games like Dangerous Waters (and mods for different sims) seem to have a lot of information about submarines in general, and I think that means the information is out there. Subsim's book section is cool, but focuses more on tactics, history, and stories, and less on the engineering side of things. I've picked up "Blind Mans Bluff" and Clancy's "Submarine" as my starting points, and I have read parts of some of the older manuals on WWII era subs. I also bought "Russian Submarines: Guardians of the Motherland" back when I was doing the Akula, and it gave me some pretty great photos.

My current project is a Ohio Class SSBN. (My new idea for a process that will leave me with good results is to start with a floor plan before doing anything in 3D)



Questions I have been struggling for much time to get any good answers to:

1. What does each of the controls in the following image specifically do? (I know there isn't some guide which would tell me directly, but something that would provide details on what would usually be on a modern submarine control panel, etc.). I know any former submariner would pretty much know what every single one does. I know what the purpose of each panel section does, but I have no clue what the gauges individually tell, or what the different switches do.



2. What is the general design or layout of a nuclear powered ship/submarine engine?

3. Whats the philosophy behind certain machines that clearly only have one or two moving parts still needing like 400 buttons and switches all controlling it? Seriously, pick one part of the auxiliary diesel engine and there are dozens of buttons for just for that small section of it. I've never even been in any sort of engine room so I have no clue what the purpose of that is, maybe its all strictly for emergencies or repair?



If I've simply hit the limit of what can be learned, I suppose that is fine. I appreciate that for all classified sections of any boat (and ALL compartments of Chinese, Russian, etc. subs which have no online photos to speak of) the design will have to be an educated guess. I suppose I am also looking for books that would help make those guesses more educated!

Thanks for reading my rather long post. I promise I didn't start thinking it would end up this long.

[Sailor Steve]

WELCOME ABOARD!

I'm sorry I don't have an answer for even one of your questions. My time in was spent on an old WW2 destroyer, and whatever I learned then has been mostly forgotten after more than forty years.

Originally Posted by masonman

I promise I didn't start thinking it would end up this long.

We never do. But they do.

[Aktungbby]

Welcome aboard Masonman; This really does look interesting! Have you actually contacted the Navy and explained what your trying to accomplish? Can't imagine there aren't a few gamers there too.

[ETR3(SS)]

Welcome aboard! i served on the Kentucky so am very familiar with an Ohio class boat. I can help to the extent of my memory and what's not classified. Now to address your points...

1. You'd have better luck trying to narrow it down to one section at a time rather than showing the entire BCP and SCP and asking what everything does.

2. Classified. No if, and, or buts about it. Everything aft of the engine room watertight door. Hell the plant configuration on the Nautilus is still classified and off limits to the public.

3. That looks like the torpedo fire control panel. Torpedo tubes have more than one or two moving parts. Every button has a purpose on every panel, some get used more than others. To get a complete understanding of all the buttons you'd have to ask someone in that rate that operated said equipment.

[masonman]

Appreciating all your responses.

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Welcome aboard Masonman; This really does look interesting! Have you actually contacted the Navy and explained what your trying to accomplish? Can't imagine there aren't a few gamers there too.

Possibly, though I'm not sure they could divulge any more than is out there. Not to mention these days it seems like a great way to end up on some kind of watchlist.

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

1. You'd have better luck trying to narrow it down to one section at a time rather than showing the entire BCP and SCP and asking what everything does.

True, though I was looking for general information on those kind of main control panels. I know most modern submarines have similar configurations in their respective control rooms.

I guess the aviation equivalent of what I'm asking is "I can see these six main gauges inside this Cessna 172, are there any books or resources out there that provide information about each individual gauge, what its purpose is, what it usually looks like, etc.?"

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

2. Classified. No if, and, or buts about it. Everything aft of the engine room watertight door. Hell the plant configuration on the Nautilus is still classified and off limits to the public.

I figured as much. So all modern engine configurations are completely classified? I was looking into civilian nuclear engine designs (they are considering implementing them on some cargo vessels) as a way to learn the basic layout, though not much out there regardless.

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

3. That looks like the torpedo fire control panel. Torpedo tubes have more than one or two moving parts. Every button has a purpose on every panel, some get used more than others. To get a complete understanding of all the buttons you'd have to ask someone in that rate that operated said equipment.

True, I was using it as an example, I don't have any good images of the diesel room. But there are also places near the ballistic missile tubes that are rows of boxes just lined with buttons. I don't know why I couldn't think of a good example.

This last question is probably the one I need to worry about least as I doubt I'll ever be able to make anything so specific as to have every button and knob accurately placed on different machines, unless I plan on reverse engineering every device myself! lol.

Again, thanks for all your help.

[ETR3(SS)]

Won't find any manuals like you're looking for for anything modern. The picture in your first post for the power plant is a good general example to follow. When you start speaking specifics of a particular plant is when you crossover into the classified info realm. For someone who hasn't been onboard a sub and hasn't qualified in submarines understanding everything can be understandably overwhelming. Pick a panel and then break it down to smaller bits. Will be much easier to understand and like I said I have no problem helping explain what I can.

[masonman]

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

Pick a panel and then break it down to smaller bits. Will be much easier to understand and like I said I have no problem helping explain what I can.

Ok thanks. I guess I'd prefer to start with breaking up the larger chunks of the ship control panel.

How is the panel divided up? Its clearly very organized and separated into sections, but is the left side completely about ballast and the right side completely about control surfaces?

(When I say left side I refer to this



Honestly it just seems like there are more controls on that panel than needed. Its the same concept as flying an aircraft (no windows though, lol), yet this panel has many times the number of gauges and controls an aircraft has.

So my guess is that there must just be a lot of redundant gauges as backups, and a lot of controls that are only used in emergencies or rare situations.

[ETR3(SS)]

I'll get into details in a later post, but for right now I'll tell you that nothing in that picture is redundant. Every gauge, switch, knob etc. has a purpose.

[Commander Wallace]

Welcome aboard Masonman . Like ETR3 said, most information on them are classified. They don't call them the " Silent Service " for nothing