Vertical Stabilizers On USS BLUEBACK

[Das Boot]

Can anyone show me a picture of the Blueback with the vertical stabilizers? The old saying is, show me a picture, or it didn’t happen. I’ve already shown the boat had no buoy’s such as the Skipjack. A diagram shows it to be sonar and not stabilizers. Anyone?

[wlambing]

They were stabilizers, with the capability of housing a PUFFS array facing outboard. 637s and 671 had the same design, though PUFFS had disappeared on those units by the mid-late 70s. Sonar upgrades and the advent of towed-array systems made PUFFS obsolete. In certain ships plans there are other locations along the hull where PUFFS were to be located as small "billboard" arrays. I don't believe they were ever installed on more than just a handful of boats. I think the 640 class SSBNs were also designed with arrays in their stabilizers, not sure as I didn't serve on any 640s. I now also recall a now departed friend of mine telling me that Blueback was the only Barbel unit to have the vertical stabs. He was a Sonar Tech on the west coast and built an absolutely gorgeous and accurate Small World Models (Manley) Blueback that ran beautifully.

[Das Boot]

They were stabilizers, with the capability of housing a PUFFS array facing outboard. 637s and 671 had the same design, though PUFFS had disappeared on those units by the mid-late 70s. Sonar upgrades and the advent of towed-array systems made PUFFS obsolete. In certain ships plans there are other locations along the hull where PUFFS were to be located as small "billboard" arrays. I don't believe they were ever installed on more than just a handful of boats. I think the 640 class SSBNs were also designed with arrays in their stabilizers, not sure as I didn't serve on any 640s. I now also recall a now departed friend of mine telling me that Blueback was the only Barbel unit to have the vertical stabs. He was a Sonar Tech on the west coast and built an absolutely gorgeous and accurate Small World Models (Manley) Blueback that ran beautifully.

Thanks. I’ve just never seen a picture of them, and I would have thought they might be visible at the museum site. But I guess no one knew about the ones on THRESHER until they were spotted one on a wreck photo.