I have been busy preparing a presentation on the WW II German 2-man Seehund submersible for the upcoming PSUB Conference in Vancouver (if we ever get hotel info). Looking to give a brief operational history of the submersible class, review the engineering aspects of its design, and document why it would not make a good PSUB. Lots of images and plans to show! Recently Dan Lance met with me at the NJ Naval Museum located in Hackensack, NJ. This is the home of the USS Ling, a Seehund, and a Japanese midget sub. Dan and myself were given access to the interior of the small sub which we climbed aboard and photographed extensively. This Seehund is one of two that were brought to the States immediately after WW II for technical evaluations. She had been previously on exhibit at the Washington Navy Yard in D.C. The other Seehund now resides in Quincy, MA after previously being on exhibit at Submarine Museum in Groton, CT. Through the Internet have made the acquaintance of a gentleman who is probably the U.S. expert on Seehunde. He has been a wealth of information and images. He recently took the time to travel to Battleship Cove in Falls River, MA. and Submarine Museum & Library in Groton to let me review various materials he has collected over the years on these small warships. As an added bonus, he has allowed me to copy a large stack of detailed Seehund plans. After extensive clean-up (these are copies of copies of copies), they should be available for the Conference attendees to look over. I still have to contact a German who wrote the definitive text on the Seehunde (unfortunately this is in German) but have to await approval from our Industrial Security as he is a foreign national. I understand that he was the source for the plans that I am currently holding to copy. I expect lots more of information from this source. Another member of the list some time back sent a series of high resolution scans of two clean Seehund plans that I have since digitally stitched back together. One of these is an internal view of the submersible that is highly detailed and 6 feet long! The call-outs are in German but I have a translation table to go with the drawings. R/Jay Resepectfully, Jay K. Jeffries Andros Is., Bahamas Save the whales, collect the whole set. |