Saturday, October 17 Last weekend we took Kosmos out for a short jaunt just to give her some exercise. This weekend Eric intended to work on some boat chores, but when he got up this morning, he just didn’t feel like it. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and he wanted to go and play. We decided to go over to the Maritime Museum. Christi has never been there and Eric hasn’t been there in years. The main reason we wanted to go there is to check out the Russian submarine they have on display. We are dreaming of owning our own submarine someday.
When we got to the museum we were delighted to see that they have recently added another vessel to their collection, a submarine! It is the USS Dolphin, the only operational diesel-electric submarine in the US Navy’s fleet. The USS Dolphin is 165 feet long, 18 feet wide and has an 18 foot draft. She displaces 800 tons. Her engine is a Detroit 12V71 diesel: 1650-hp and she has only one shaft. She is fitted with “246 Module VRLA Battery”. Under water, she can do 10 knots for a short duration, for sustained time under water she can do 4 knots.
She was first commissioned in 1968 and decommissioned in 2007. Thanks to a special pressurized hull, she is the world’s deepest diving submarine. How deep she has actually gone is still classified information, all the navy will disclose is more than 3,000 feet. In 1969, the USS Dolphin launched a torpedo from the deepest depth ever recorded. Most of her career she was used for research, aiding the navy in the development of submarine-ship communications, Extremely Low Frequency antennas, sonar systems, and ocean floor surveys. Later in her career, she was also loaned out to civilian organizations for special oceanographic studies. Most of its life in was in service in or around San Diego. In 2002, she almost sank. The sub was saved by the brave crew onboard and nearby military vessels that came the rescue. She was seriously damaged and the navy spent $50 million dollars repairing and upgrading her. The retrofit was completed in the summer of 2005 and she went back to work. A year later the navy decided to retire her and a few months later she was pulled from service.
Of course, we made a beeline for USS The Dolphin. The tall hatch that sticks up used to be the only entrance/exit onto the sub. As you can see, the hatch is quite small and steep. When equipment needed to be loaded/unloaded, it had to be disassembled into small bits and reassembled on the other side. The hatch was also the only source of fresh air. There was no snorkel onboard, so when they dove under there was no fresh air source. The museum built a special entrance that is easier to get in/out of. You can see the walkway to the door to Eric’s left.
When we walked in, we were surprised Continue reading →
