3D printed 1/48 Thresher
Collapse
X
-
-
This just in from a seemingly knowledgeable individual on the Sub Committee.
"Just remember, if it is USS THRESHER, never a 7-blade prop. It never had one. Only a 5-bladed prop. The J-damped prop designed for the later class and developed by NAVSES at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was never installed on USS THRESHER. This information came directly from Adm Axene himself in Pensacola, Florida where he lived."
Also from the same source he indicated that the Thresher was launched with the red anti-foul below centerline on the hull.Comment
-
This just in from a seemingly knowledgeable individual on the Sub Committee.
"Just remember, if it is USS THRESHER, never a 7-blade prop. It never had one. Only a 5-bladed prop. The J-damped prop designed for the later class and developed by NAVSES at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was never installed on USS THRESHER. This information came directly from Adm Axene himself in Pensacola, Florida where he lived."
Also from the same source he indicated that the Thresher was launched with the red anti-foul below centerline on the hull.
I'm finishing up a 1/72 THRESHER (mine, not Fred's). I'll do the red anti-foul on the Admiral's say-so.
DavidWho is John Galt?Comment
-
Comment
-
There are some brief views of the underside (1:45 time mark onwards) but as it is inside the building it is quite dark - it looks like it is black but it is difficult to be sure. The actual footage of the launch is nose on, so the underside is out of view.Comment
-
I found this colour film of the USS Thresher in the building shed and launch on Youtube;
There are some brief views of the underside (1:45 time mark onwards) but as it is inside the building it is quite dark - it looks like it is black but it is difficult to be sure. The actual footage of the launch is nose on, so the underside is out of view.
However near the end of the video on a the pier, still braced within its shipping cradle, is a S5W five-blade screw. Portsmouth elected to launch the THRESHER without her screw. Was this the wheel they put on the boat? Likely. There remains controversy if this particular boat ever got a seven-bladed, skewed back propeller before her loss.
I'm about six months away from detailing my 1/72 THRESHER and two things remain in question regarding the arrangement of the boat at time of loss: Was there a red anti-foul coating, and if so where was the demarcation line; and did the boat sport the five or seven bladed screw? The abbreviated vertical stabilizers at the tips of the horizontal stabilizers were affirmed from photos of the wreckage, so I'll have to add those. I want to do this boat right.
DavidLast edited by He Who Shall Not Be Named; 08-26-2021, 08:35 AM.Who is John Galt?Comment
-
Agreed. Jury is still out regarding the below centerline color at time of launch.
However near the end of the video on a the pier, still braced within its shipping cradle, is a S5W five-blade screw. Portsmouth elected to launch the THRESHER without her screw. Was this the wheel they put on the boat? Likely. There remains controversy if this particular boat ever got a seven-bladed, skewed back propeller before her loss.
I'm about six months away from detailing my 1/72 THRESHER and two things remain in question regarding the arrangement of the boat at time of loss: Was there a red anti-foul coating, and if so where was the demarcation line; and did the boat sport the five or seven bladed screw? The abbreviated vertical stabilizers at the tips of the horizontal stabilizers were affirmed from photos of the wreckage, so I'll have to add those. I want to do this boat right.
DavidComment
-
Yeah. In the early days there was PUFFS -- a passive means of getting useful, real-time, range and bearing -- a system that required three equally spaced transducers over the length of the hull. Later the concept matured into the big arrays we see on the hulls of SEAWOLF and later attack boats. The small vertical stabilizers (on some boats of the class?) reportedly housed the after most elements of that system.
This is the BARB, so outfitted.
The follow on class, STURGEON, were pretty much the same hull as THRESHER class, but with an altered internal arrangement, a monstrous sail, and enlarge vertical stabilizers -- likely so big to stabilize the boat in yaw because of the destabilizing effect of the enlarged sail so far forward of the boats center of gravity.
DavidWho is John Galt?Comment
-
Yeah. In the early days there was PUFFS -- a passive means of getting useful, real-time, range and bearing -- a system that required three equally spaced transducers over the length of the hull. Later the concept matured into the big arrays we see on the hulls of SEAWOLF and later attack boats. The small vertical stabilizers (on some boats of the class?) reportedly housed the after most elements of that system.
This is the BARB, so outfitted.
The follow on class, STURGEON, were pretty much the same hull as THRESHER class, but with an altered internal arrangement, a monstrous sail, and enlarge vertical stabilizers -- likely so big to stabilize the boat in yaw because of the destabilizing effect of the enlarged sail so far forward of the boats center of gravity.
DavidComment
-
I did a bit of analysis of Thresher PUFFS end plates a few months ago, based on photos and comparing to drawings in incorporating into a basic CAD model. The thread which includes links can be found here;
I've started researching a bit the different configurations of the Thresher / Permit class & have a couple of questions on the rudder and rear dive plane arrangements. Most plans & scale models of the Thresher / Permit class submarines show the rudders and rear planes rotate around a fixed bearing block with a cutout
The photo's of the PUFFS end plates on the Thresher wreckage are on page 25 and 26 of this report on the Trieste survey of the wreck;
Comment
-
Wow! Most of the wreak photo's I've never seen. Two-inch plate just twisted like a hand-towel. Gives me the willies!
Both items you referenced are now in my hard-drive. Most useful. Thank you, sir. My eventual 1/72 THRESHER will be all the more accurate owing to your good works here.
DavidWho is John Galt?Comment
-
I agree David. I wish we had something more definitive on the Prop. I think all this clearly shows that there were a lot of changes to the progression of these boats during that time as advancements in technology permitted. No pun intended. Good stuff!Comment
-
Who is John Galt?Comment
Comment