Type 1 Kaiten (Heaven Shaker)

[CC Clarke]

Thanks for the kind words. That was a fun little job and I learned a lot. The quality of the workmanship displayed throughout the Type 1 exemplifies just how tough the situation was for the IJN at that time. Better was the enemy of "good enough".

Keyport/NUWES always exhibited a country club atmosphere compared to the surrounding naval bases, which are mostly ship-repair related. Very laid back, with a lot of "thinkers" exhibiting plenty of motion but very little movement. I attended a lot of my night college classes there when I worked at nearby Bangor.

The torpedo recovery group worked like dogs to get the expended fish off the range (or in the case of air-dropped fish - out of the mud) and back to the shop for refurbishment. Anyone who rode their seaplane to Nanaimo, was likely traumatized for life.

Acoustic range operations have moved to the quieter waters of Alaska: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ngton%20State.

And I couldn't agree more - the PNW is gorgeous. I first arrived there from Pearl to offload A-3s in November '79 and instantly fell in love with the beauty of the place.

CC

A shot taken during my last week working at Bangor. The Michigan came in for a PERSTRAN in the Strait of Juan DeFuca and I was onboard a torpedo retriever permanently moored at John Wayne marina near Sequim. I drove up, jumped on the TR and we met them a few miles offshore to give them mail and fresh produce. I walked to the hatch and they handed me a locked satchel of classified data - (no ID check!) then I returned to my POV and drove back to the base as they reversed course to complete their patrol. A typical day at work and a fun way to spend four hours.

[CC Clarke]

Did a gratis 3D modeling/animation job a decade ago for the Undersea Warfare Museum which was ten minutes from my house. Here are a few reference shots and some of my test renders. It's a great museum (free too!) just outside the gate of the Keyport Weapons Station. Their Type 1 is the only known example remaining, Half-submarine with a Long Lance torpedo afterbody; they were cheap and quick to manufacture. If anyone ever needs reference material to build one of these, I have a lot of hi-res reference shots from "behind the ropes".

The single occupant was the CO/Navigator/Engineer/Weapons and Diving Officer. For trim, it's likely he shifted his (very large) cajones fwd and aft while sitting on the CG.

CCC