I spy!

[Von Hilde]

Insulator for wire going to jumper bock harness

[redboat219]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n108913[/ATTACH] May be late chiming in on this, it's not that it took 4 years to figure out, that"thing" on the tower is not a camera. It's an insulator in that hole. For a wire that goes up to the jumper.

Time to clear the mix-up. You are correct with the insulator in the recessed area at the rightside of the tower right under the dragon head emblem. The thing that was mistaken for a camera housing is the connector for the snorkel mast on he leftside of the tower.

[Von Hilde]

Time to clear the mix-up. You are correct with the insulator in the recessed area at the rightside of the tower right under the dragon head emblem. The thing that was mistaken for a camera housing is the connector for the snorkel mast on he leftside of the tower.

yeah, I had mentioned that particular observation several years ago. Even posted a picture of a Model of U 995 showing it as well. I looked back thru several old posts that had disinformation, but that. one was only the initial first of the thread. Hate to see the faucet left to drip. Somebody hast to sweep up now an then, to keep this place shipshape.

[greenman407]

Going to be sunk as a target in a live fire exercise.

NOPE, its just Orange primer right before the Black paint went on. I think they said this was shot in Key West.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

NOPE, its just Orange primer right before the Black paint went on. I think they said this was shot in Key West.

I think it was painted that way for some in-water visibility studies. They did the same with the X-1. Red lead on the entire above waterline? ... I don't think so! You've seen Operation Pettycoat too many times, pal!

M

[Von Hilde]

NOPE, its just Orange primer right before the Black paint went on. I think they said this was shot in Key West.

That picture is Greyback, being towed to target practice in the PI . pettycoat boats were Baleo, and Archerfish, Baleo being the Pink painted "Sea Tiger" Archerfish was used as the Sea Tiger early shots in the movie. The real WWII pink boat was the USS Tigerfish, that wasn't really pink. She was attacked by Japanese bombers while moored in the Phillippeans next to another sub. That sub was hit and set afire and burned all the black paint off Tigerfish, which immediatly debarked on patrol without repairs, basically the singed black paint pealed off to the redlead, which faded after a period of time. Thus Tokyo Rose, broadcast the "pink submarine" the Americans had was a special boat painted to confuse the IJN, and it wasn't going to work. In 62' I went aboard the Baleo, and there were still places on the boat still pink from the movie, 2 years before. Some up on the Con in areas behind the blowpipes and on some ladder rungs that the haze grey had worn off and back aft around the prop guards.

[greenman407]

I think it was painted that way for some in-water visibility studies. They did the same with the X-1. Red lead on the entire above waterline? ... I don't think so! You've seen Operation Pettycoat too many times, pal!

M

According to this article, it was painted in Orange primer that had to be allowed to dry for three days before the black could be put on. SO THERE....you would be doubters!

http://ussnautilus.org/blog/uss-albacore-agss-569-rhapsody-in-orange/

[greenman407]

“The waters in Key West were very hard on our topside paint, so the 1^st Lieutenant decided to paint the ship during a week in port. He got the primer and the crew painted her out. The paint had to dry for three days before we could paint the black coating, and it was during this time that the pictures were taken. We were taking a lot of gas from the destroyer sailors when a fleet boat returned from an under the ice expedition. Prior to its trip, it had been the submarine used in the movie ‘Operation Petticoat’ and had been painted pink. Operational requirements did not permit its going into drydock to get repainted, so it was painted white for the under the ice trip. When it returned, large patches of the white paint had peeled off, exposing the pink, and it looked down right leprous!! Needless to say, the kidding shifted from us to them. The CO of the ship was a close friend of Capt Rae’s, and his wife had been the stand-in for the nurse for the swimming scenes!! All in all, that was a very interesting summer!!”
Thanks to Lee “Skip” Vellom and Friends of ALBACORE for this story.
For those who are curious, Operation Petticoat employed the services of three U.S. submarines. USS ARCHERFISH (SS-311), used for interior and exterior shots around Key West, was allowed to retain her black paint. So was USS QUEENFISH (SS-393), which was used in the opening and closing scenes and for seagoing shots filmed off the coast of San Diego. Only the unfortunate USS BALAO (SS-285) was subjected to the indignity of pink for exterior shots around Key West.

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2 Responses to “USS ALBACORE (AGSS-569): Rhapsody in Orange”

• ranjith says:
  September 1, 2014 at 6:33 am
  great article….
  
  Reply
• Date Sheet says:
  September 2, 2014 at 3:52 pm
  Thanks for sharing informative article.
  
  Reply

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[Von Hilde]

Ok, belay the scuttlebutt, now hear this!, The USSAlbicore AGSS 569 was painted here in Key West waterline up international orange for Surface warfare ASW dev. Group. Not primer. Target for sure, not to be destroyed, only a few weeks that color in the Toung of the ocean at the Andros island facility, then pressure washed all the latex paint off. Reason for the dry time. Temporary color. Can't really go into any more detail on the project, but you can be assured, I know the facts.

[Von Hilde]

What's missing aft on the USSSeadragon?

[Von Hilde]

Clue,? Dingie, and work float, wouldn't be where they are. The missing item, is in the Gato, brass kit to replace the plastic set.

[trout]

Are you referring to the prop guard?

[Von Hilde]

Are you referring to the prop guard?

exactomundo,. The Seadragon and the Sealion, were in the Phillippeans when Japan started the War. Seadragon and Sealion were deployed , and in Manilla bay, tied up together, at the Cavite navy yard, getting ready for refit.when the Japanese attacked on Dec 10. Sea lion, was the first sub lost,, and Seadragon, the first sub in battle. They had the guards off as part of the yard preparation. Seadragon went on patrol right after the attack without putting them on. Went on several patrols without, until picking up a set, from a tender. She patrolled a couple years, without paint, waterline to deck, and tower were faded redlead and rust. The real "pink" submarine. Japanese thought it was, a dazzle paint scheme, said it didn't fool them. The Mare Island yard picture is right after the new Measure 9 paint scheme in 1943. By the looks of it, the yard crew, may have them ready to install, because of the float, and skiff's positioning.

[greenman407]

I SPY a boat from a Birdseye view. What am I?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I'm a KILO. And I wish one of those idiots on deck would get into a punt and scrap some of this rust off my ass. This is embarrassing! Enough smoking-and-joking, how about some ships husbandry, guys!

M