Lifelines

[jlabow]

David,
You stated in your Gato DVDs that lifelines were unrigged prior to war patrols however I just reviewed my Floating Drydock Gato/Balao planbook along with other sources and found a number of boats appearing to be sailing and returning from patrol with lifelines rigged. Could you elaborate?

Thanks,
Joel

[trout]

Joel,
I hope you do not mind me jumping in......I had the same question as you and most photos available are subs returning from a patrol, being repaired, and leaving for patrol, not in combat. I did find a photo or video (just tried to re-find it and I could not) of an actual combat photo (few of them) and the railings were stowed. As I understand it, the railings created noise and were stowed in battle patrols. When in friendly waters like home the rails were installed. Post war I am not certain if they were left on or not. There are some photos that show the sub rising from a dive, but most of those are when the sub is being tested prior to first patrol a few are for show.

From a r/c perspective, I have left mine off, but with the option to make them removable. As it is, I break off enough do-dads on my sub.

[jlabow]

Thanks. IMO though the model will be on display for a lot more time than it is in the water and it will look rather plain without the lifelines. I was considering replacing the stanchions with thin brass tubing with a small eye soldered into the end.
Best regards,
Joel

[trout]

I like that idea! I put magnets in my deck and tested it in the bottom of a stanchion. It worked good for the first few times of installing and removing, then the magnet pulled free from bottom of the stanchion. So, I will need to rethink the way i have the stanchions installed. It was suggested that I could use, as you mentioned, brass tubing and wire. I will go that route, but it is at the bottom of my to-do list.
please post pictures!

[Kazzer]

http://www.harbormodels.com/site08/stanchions.html

Here are your railings and stanchions

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks. IMO though the model will be on display for a lot more time than it is in the water and it will look rather plain without the lifelines. I was considering replacing the stanchions with thin brass tubing with a small eye soldered into the end.
Best regards,
Joel

So .... what friendlies were out there in the pacific in the middle of a war-patrol to snap pretty pictures of the boat? Damn few. Plenty of friendly pier side and on the Pilot-boat to take pretty pictures as the boat left or arrived at the base. However, out there in harms way, when on the surface (the boats back then spent most of the time on the surface, America did not employ the snorkel till after the war), the stanchions and life-lines were stowed. An exception would be a boat engaged in heavy deck-use (life-guard duty, underway-replenishment, and the like) the life-lines and stanchions might be rigged.


Pretty pictures (the ones we see in today's books and old film clips) were snapped when the boat is headed out or coming back from op's -- in friendly waters; at times the boat is rigged-for-surface and is not faced with the need for a quick dive to avoid aircraft; times when the boat has the luxury of rigging the man-catching gear. On station the life-lines and stanchions were either in the line-lockers or down below in the bilges.

Life lines are rigged during the 'rig-ship-for-surface' (in port and underway) bill. Each compartment has a bill holder which identifies the duties of that compartments men during specific ship evolutions. As a Torpedoman, and a member of the deck-department aboard both diesel and nuclear propelled submarines, I can assure you, those stanchions and life lines came down as part of the rig-for-dive bill.

About your r/c model GATO: life-lines and stanchions are pretty -- but you'll curse them the first time (maybe your second or third outing to the lake) when your hand, or the hand of someone else, wipes half of them off the deck in a careless moment.

Leave 'em off and save yourself the aggravation.

David