Re: Conning towers and stuff

["Alan D. Secor" <secor@btv.ibm.com>]

The conning tower is to provide more freeboard at the surface.  If
you notice pictures of most small subs on the surface, the top of
the main hull (cylinder) is barely above the water if at all.  Any
little wave action could cause water to enter the open hatch of the
sub.  The conning tower gets the hatch well above the water line to
prevent this.  I believe the ABS guidelines for sub design specify a
minimum for this to get certified.

Al

>
>Hi everyone. Great mailing list! My learning has accelerated greatly =
>since finding the Psubs site and this list, and of course it has made me =
>realise just how much I have yet to learn. I hope no one minds me asking =
>some basic questions.
>
>I keep hearing about conning towers. The general design that I see and =
>read about seems to be a cylindrical hull with a tower on the top with a =
>hatch attached. Why the tower? Is there a problem with having a hatch =
>amidships on the cylinder? It would have to be a curved hatch to fit, of =
>course, but isn't that an easier option than effectively welding two =
>tubes together at right angles to each other? (I've got a lot to learn =
>about welding as well!)
>

>
>Cheers!
>
>Seb Hunt
>


--
Alan D. Secor
e-mail: secor@btv.ibm.com