USS Nautilus SSN571 STL File Package

[biggsgolf]

Rob, I totally agree, thanks all!

[Das Boot]

USS SEAWOLF had a black below the waterline. Couple of Nautilus. Watch your sail during underwater maneuvers.

[Das Boot]

Dave,
you mean the peaceful person I know as you used to get into drunken bar brawls? I’m shocked.

[wlambing]

I had an XO who was 'sposedly the OOD who did that. USS Essex was not happy about that! Nautilus did not get red underhull until way later, I believe after decomm. I'm getting old like she is, and it's getting harder to recall. ;)

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Dave,
you mean the peaceful person I know as you used to get into drunken bar brawls? I’m shocked.

Well, that was all before Ellie came on the scene and civilized me -- just an occasional yank on the choke-chain and I would conform. She was my rudder. Them island-girls make you toe the line!



I'm much nicer... now.

David

[CC Clarke]

USS SEAWOLF had a black below the waterline. Couple of Nautilus. Watch your sail during underwater maneuvers.

My second boat. In drydock, a ginormous curtain was placed alongside the ship and lowered with the water as the basin was drained. Once on the blocks, the curtain extended to the drydock basin floor and was sealed at the forward and aft ends, and manned 24/7 by armed MINSY PD, who weren't cleared for entry -only the access list, which was a program document.

Unless you needed to know program information to carry out your duties, (all crewman carried a TS/SCI clearance) you were intensionally kept clueless. The "If you had to ask, you didn't need to know" mantra was the general rule regarding curiosity of ship's operations.

I'm knee-deep in a Seawolf design and will print one when I'm satisfied my reference reqmts are met. I correspond with Tom Daughtery occasionally, (he's an exceptionally diligent researcher and we've quizzed each other over the years) and he needed some clarification a few months back, since he was assisting (miro-mir?) to get a small (1/700 I believe) model produced commercially. If it isn't out already, it should be in the near future. He avoided the Special Projects conversion and went with the original hull design. I'm sure a few enterprising modelers will buy it, extend it, and modify it with greebles and nurnies using the totally bogus references available from people who never even served aboard submarines with very vivid imaginations). Keeping it stock is the most accurate (and safest) depiction possible. Anything else presented would be fiction, which I avoid like the Plague.

The only color I ever saw below the waterline, (including the underbody) was a chalky, pale shade of light green. (Originally black, as stated.)

Great crew and boat and the bona fides I got for surviving greased the skids for many other endeavours. I was aboard for the infamous '81 Mission and earned every prematurely grey hair I have left. They started appearing soon after and were very noticeable by the time I was 28! Twelve years later when the P-boat moved to Bangor, (where I had been employed for ten years working on Trident Defensive Weapons Systems) I became the first civillian Ships' Supt for her and the rest of the DevGruOne Detachments at the base. Busy times, but oh, so political with multiple entities jockying for influence. Trident Refit Facility Bangor was a fantastic place to work otherwise. I took my clearance and went elsewhere for the next 24 years until retirement. A very cool life for a snot-nosed kid from nowhere's-ville West Texas, with minimal prospects to look forward to when I turned 18.


Other builds await!​

[Albacore 569]

From all of the accounts I've read of the USS Indianapolis role in transporting the 1st weapon, the Little Boy bomb, (in component form) was loaded at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard after being trasported by air to Hamilton AAF base, north of the Golden Gate bridge. Hamilton was another local base shuttered by BRAC.

I never heard of any involvement from MINSY, but remember the weapons storage bunkers at the south end of the base. While I was there, we always off-loaded weapons at Alameda before returning to MINSY (our homeport).

Here's the first hit that came up when I checked on their involvement, just to make sure before I posted:

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard â Devon Kelley (devonkelleyimages.com)â

CC

Hi Mr Clarke. That is fascinating added info. The story about the bomb components in the shed guarded near the golf course was from the Vallejo Naval n museum. But it's been a while. It maybe it was taken aboard at Mare Island? Indianapolis was docked there for upgrades.

Then also, for Mare Island and Hunters point under navy control was often called Hunters Point Mare Island NSY. in a combined title. If the story the components were indeed stored there it mit have been only very briefly (like overnight?)

Hamilton Field is in the east side of Marin Co. north of San Francisco; Hunter Point is south end of San Francico. In the movie 'Bullitt' th scenes with Steve McQueen and Jacqueline Bisset having their 'discussion talk about how he's becoming callous while on the Bay shore freeway with parked Porche. In the background you can see the gantries to Hunters Point naval shipyard. In fact, you cn see USS Midway CVA 41 getting her huge SCB-110.66 conversion.

I hope they moved the radioactive parts via boat to Hunters point? . Not by truck through the city? Thank you this is fascinating. It would be more direct to transport the components from Hamilton field to Mare Island directly. the roads there are isolated and desolate along the top of San Pablo Bay driving east. IDK.


Below I mentioned how Mare Island photographic department was amazing. Here are examples of USS Indianapolis just before departing with the bomb #1 components, delivering the Bomb to Tinian, the torpedoed, then lost and into history. The photos and of subs too then now released in the National archives down in San Bruno adjacent to the San Francisco International airport. The National Archives at San Francisco | National Archives

Years ago me and two others in the subcommittee researched scanned copies of every known photo Mare Island had on Wahoo and Tang. Morton & Wahoo | O'Kane & Tang :: Legends of the Deep (warfish.com)

[Albacore 569]

I hear ya on Vallejo. It sucks there. We can all blame Representee Ron Dellums passed away in 2018 for the military moving out of bay area. It wasnt too difficult, the bay area was expensive area for navy Families to live. I miss Alameda NAS and Mare Island NSY. I was at closing ceremony for MINSY, Admiral DeMars spoke. (Demars took over Rickover's spot). He spoke of the huge contribution and excellent work NSY did. The yard is now starting repair Naval ships and Coast Guard vessels again. The world situation has changed again I m afraid. I welcome the Yard returning partially back to life again for what it was primarily built for originally.

[biggsgolf]

For the majority of the hull, flat black works. For the superstructure, Light Sea Grey with a little Sea Grey mixed (5:1). Topside is flat black. The plaque on the lower front of the sail, (it changed location a few times) brass, as well as the screws. International Orange knocked down with a little red for the messenger buoys.

The sail you're using is close to the MINSY Mod, but the look-out stations behind the bridge should nbe more oval than rectangular. The front of the sail is the worst offender - it shoud be vertical, not angled like the aft end. The sail port and starboard running lights were recessed by 1955. The should look like square outlines when retracted. The forward running light on the sail was gone by '58. At the time of operation Sunshine, there was one row of plexiglass "windows" on the sail and a slit viewport near the top. Even the ship's whistle moved during the first few years, and stayed on the CL. Here are a few '58 photos to illustrate my points:

I am a rookie so I do not know where each of these is referring to on the Sub: "For the majority of the hull, flat black works. For the superstructure, Light Sea Grey with a little Sea Grey mixed (5:1). Topside is flat black" Sorry!

[CC Clarke]

Definitiions are spelled out in Post #10 of this thread.

[biggsgolf]

Definitiions are spelled out in Post #10 of this thread.

So would this be correct?

[CC Clarke]

Close enough for goverment work.

Lose the thick snorkle plates on the rear of the sail and substitute with the appropriately sized brass plate if possible - as built, those are pretty fugly. The sloped leading edge of the sail is probably the worst offender of all - it should be vertical. The starboard hand railing needs to extend to the leading edge of the sail as well, and the sensor on the leading edge of the bow should be centered - not offset.

The printed bow plane linkages are too flimsy and held in place within the bow planes using little nubs - also too flimsy. Brass tube cut and soldered in an T-shape on top and bottom will slide in the inner rail and secured to the planes with a to pins set in their leading edges - one for the lower end of the "T" and the other to secure the pivot pin (also drilled) that goes thru the superstructure. Dave M has posted how to install similar pins in planes before. The deck has multiple inaccuracies, but few would even know what to look for unless they've worn fish. (High and Low Salvage valves, line lockers, etc. The aft messenger buoy should extend into the superstructure - not fully reside on a section of decking. The bow (with movable shutters which are inaccurate) needed a re-design as well since it didn't do anything for the model. (See pic.)

Even with this being said, it's a decent model designed by someone with minimal knowledge (but excellent modeling ability) of submarines working with multiple/confusing reference versions. (Except for the angled sail, which is a major oversight.)

The thru-holes, (limber holes in the superstructure) are well done in that you can see the pressure hull inside - just like the real deal. I intend to model the Skate and Seawolf (1/72) in a similar manner, except with one-piece hull sections instead of half sections, cutting the labor required for bonding and sanding significantly.




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[biggsgolf]

Close enough for goverment work.

Lose the thick snorkle plates on the rear of the sail and substitute with the appropriately sized brass plate if possible - as built, those are pretty fugly. The sloped leading edge of the sail is probably the worst offender of all - it should be vertical. The starboard hand railing needs to extend to the leading edge of the sail as well, and the sensor on the leading edge of the bow should be centered - not offset.

The printed bow plane linkages are too flimsy and held in place within the bow planes using little nubs - also too flimsy. Brass tube cut and soldered in an T-shape on top and bottom will slide in the inner rail and secured to the planes with a to pins set in their leading edges - one for the lower end of the "T" and the other to secure the pivot pin (also drilled) that goes thru the superstructure. Dave M has posted how to install similar pins in planes before. The deck has multiple inaccuracies, but few would even know what to look for unless they've worn fish. (High and Low Salvage valves, line lockers, etc. The aft messenger buoy should extend into the superstructure - not fully reside on a section of decking. The bow (with movable shutters which are inaccurate) needed a re-design as well since it didn't do anything for the model. (See pic.)

Even with this being said, it's a decent model designed by someone with minimal knowledge (but excellent modeling ability) of submarines working with multiple/confusing reference versions. (Except for the angled sail, which is a major oversight.)

The thru-holes, (limber holes in the superstructure) are well done in that you can see the pressure hull inside - just like the real deal. I intend to model the Skate and Seawolf (1/72) in a similar manner, except with one-piece hull sections instead of half sections, cutting the labor required for bonding and sanding significantly.




âÂÂâÂÂâÂÂâÂÂâÂÂâÂÂâÂÂ

Thanks, figured I needed to use brass

[Das Boot]

Is that a deck hatch I see on the side?

[CC Clarke]

It's part of the torpedo tube WRT (Water Round Tube) ejection system (Port/Stbd). Most boats have them but they are very different for the early US nukes. They allow water into the slide around the tubes to push the weapon out under pressure and provide a path to discharge the water from the tube once the weapon leaves the tube.