Big, Bigger, Biggest: Submarines

[Aragorn]

DESCRIPTION

At 171 metres long, the USS Pennsylvania is the biggest submarine in the US Navy. It can dive deeper than a thousand feet, sail for 20 years without refuelling, and remain submerged for up to 6 months. The vessel carries a crew of 155 men and a deadly nuclear arsenal.

The film investigates how this submarine was made possible through a series of six historic engineering breakthroughs. We explore the inner workings of six landmark submarines, including the tiny Turtle and colossal German U-Boats. Each features a major technological innovation that allowed engineers to build bigger submarines, including the development of underwater breathing, torpedo’s, missile launch systems, and stealth technology. Using computer-generated imagery this film reveals the incredible stories behind these machines and the inventions that have allowed them to grow in size. Six ingenious leaps forward enabling submarines to evolve, from BIG, to BIGGER, into the US Navy’s BIGGEST.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 03:11 Breathing Underwater – Turtle Submersible Vessel
• 13:23 Manoeuvrability – H L Hunley
• 19:48 Torpedo – U-66 German U-Boat
• 25:32 Power – USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
• 32:08 Nuclear Strike – USS George Washington (CVN-73)
• 39:49 Stealth – USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735)

DURATION

47 minutes

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Esapb0gT3w

[Diabolical Boids]

The Hunley is a creepy story. Kind of like it's doomed or haunted. It's development during the Civil War basically killed all its crew over three tests--30 in all IRRC. Right after it sank the Houstanic the Hunley sank too killing all crew members on board. No one was really sure why until recently. They brought it up from the sea floor in 2000, and nothing appeared amiss. It's believed the percussion from its own torpedo killed all crew and sank it for good. All fascinating stuff but eerie too.