New Member, Tom Clancy, and AIP

[Coast Guard Kiteman <exfloridians@ecsu.campus.mci.net>]

At 09:15 PM 3/10/1998 -0800, you wrote:
>Permission to come aboard,Sir
        <snip>
>Fair winds and following seas,
>Mike Young 
>ex-MSSN3(SS)


        Hello, Mike.  Welcome to the list.

        I've got a "real" submarine question, and maybe you can answer it.
I probably could have asked here before and someone else would know,
but I just thought to ask it now.

        WHERE on a submarine (at least a nuke boat) are the ballast
tanks located?  What I mean is, are they concentric around the entire
hull, or located forward and aft of the 'inhabited' portion of the boat?
I'm reading "SUBMARINES: A Guided Tour Inside A Nuclear Warship",
by Tom Clancy, but as far as I can tell, he doesn't go into detail about
that.

        BTW, for all the rest of you:  Although Clancy's book is mainly
about nuclear subs, there are some references to subs with non-
nuclear "AIP" [Air Independent Propulsion] systems in use or being
developed.  Some are Sterling-engine based, and others are based
on H2-O2 fuel cells.  This goes along with that fictional novel I 
mentioned reading a few months ago, dealing with subs, especially an
AIP sub being used by the USN.  [Can't remember the title or author,
and the book's no longer here.]

-Allan "CGK" Gaines
 North Carolina, USA