Bow Torpedo Loading Hatch Missing

[skirich]

Over the past several weeks I have been watching WWII movies and documentaries about these subs and I just realized that every model of US sub is missing the Bow Torpedo Loading hatch on deck.


The Stern one is there, but the bow one is not, and based on the pictures and movie reel footage I have seen, they all had them exactly like the stern.


Shame. Now I cant unsee this.

[propbeanie]

You, as skipper, are supposed to stay in the boat. Do not go looking beyond the bridge... besides, it's probably hiding below the wooden decking... ??

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by skirich

Over the past several weeks I have been watching WWII movies and documentaries about these subs and I just realized that every model of US sub is missing the Bow Torpedo Loading hatch on deck.


The Stern one is there, but the bow one is not, and based on the pictures and movie reel footage I have seen, they all had them exactly like the stern.


Shame. Now I cant unsee this.

Mr. PB is exactly correct.
on US boats the forward torpedo loading access hatch is part of the pressurized hull and covered by the outer hull.
when you watch a US movie, you will see wooden-slate-grating which is part of the outer hull that covers the pressurized hull and allows seawater to wash over and through the outer hull.
this is the best photo i could find.

[skirich]

Makes sense.

A long nagging question I have about wooden decking ...
Why wood for the decking? Wouldnt metal be better and longer lasting without any maintenance?

[propbeanie]

Thuh sea bee a meean mistressss misssterh... ye bee main-taining the slick steeel yee wood bee... so thar!...

Most ships were built with certain wood decks for the stability of being able to walk on it, ease of replacement, and actually, ease of maintenance. Dad used to be on all sorts of ships during WWII in the Philippines, and he said they were painting something anytime they weren't at battlestations, and not just for busy work. All they had to do with the wood deck was wash it, whereas they were painting the steel portions, and the bulkheads and gunwales, since the saltwater ate at it so strongly. A subs wood deck is spaced slats for the water to flow through, of course.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by skirich

Makes sense.

A long nagging question I have about wooden decking ...
Why wood for the decking? Wouldnt metal be better and longer lasting without any maintenance?

One disadvantage of iron/steel decks is that they were very slippery when wet. decks wet with seawater, rainwater, or blood, the only anti-skid material available was sand and sand on wet steel didn't make much of a difference. in fact sand made footing worse on iron/steel-plated decks. At the time, there weren't any special adhesives or non-skid paints like those we have available today. for example, late 20th-century US boats had a special anechoic coating over the entire exterior to help absorb sound waves and make the subs more impervious to passive and active sonars. in fact the US Navy was experimenting with a coating that was so good at absorbing sound that it would actually create a sonic blackhole in the ocean which is like a huge sign pointing to something man-made. but i digress.

wood also absorbs sound better than steel which is an advantage for a sub.

Another reason was that an iron/steel deck got extremely hot when exposed to the sun.

That was all corrected by putting a layer of wood over the iron/steel deck or deck frames. teak was favored because it has rot resistance qualities.

[skirich]

This is one of those facts that has escaped me since I built my first model battleship as a child.
Now I know. Thank you!
Filled away in the noggen where my wife tells me my head is full of useless facts that I randomly regurgitate and she wonders how I know these things.