[PSUBS-MAILIST] Re: Blowing ballast (was: question about general design?)

["Michael B. Holt" <mholt@richmond.edu>]

Ed Greany wrote:
> 
> How about a nice big rock. That way, if you have to drop, it doesn't
> clutter up the enviroment with junk on our waters floor. I don't want to
> look at your jettisoned ballast from my sub but a nice rock would be
> pretty to see.

Long ago, I was actually thinking about using gravel as emergency
ballast. I had the idea that a thick trash bag nested in a frame 
of metal would survive most normal operations, and I'd drop the 
ballast by having a blade that would tear the bag.  The gravel 
would  cascade out of the frame, tearing the bag to shreds. 



Mike