Heavy Metal

32 people died - RIP to them and bless their families. This aint supposed to happen.

This was a remarkable Heavy Metal feat of recovery. Diifficult and fascinating. The Costa Concordia

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Towed off to drydock for salvage and Five years later here's whats left.

source: Costa Concordia wreckage torn apart for scrap 5 years after the cruise liner capsized | Daily Mail Online

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Videos for additional detail of the hows, why's, and salvage operation (last video, you gotta got to YouTube to watch after you click on it here)


 
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We haven't done a lotta subs here. Just stumbled on this one .. a relatively small one (500 tons) -- lost and now found.

My interest in this only because about 20 years ago there was an older guy (guess back then he was about my age now) from the UK that worked with me when I was in Europe (for the "General") Well his Dad was on the HMS Urge, when his mom was pregnant with him.

It stuck with me because a sub called "Urge" was funny-sounding so i remembered it, but more for the stories/letters his Dad told his Mom about the very time the Urge was lost.

Anyway, again, lost and now found after 77 years:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/lost-submarine-wwii-found-scli-intl-gbr/index.html

CNN) — The wreck of a British submarine that went missing during World Ware II with 44 people on board has been found off the coast of Malta.

HMS Urge -- part of Britain's 10th Submarine Flotilla -- left the Mediterranean island of Malta on April 27, 1942 but never made it to its destination of the Egyptian port of Alexandria. Until its discovery this summer, both the reason for the ship's disappearance and its final resting place were unknown.

According to the researchers who located the wreck, the vessel was sunk by a mine off the island. It now lies on the sea bed, approximately 400 feet down

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Displacement: (British U-class submarine - Wikipedia)
  • 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load surfaced
  • 730 tons submerged
Length: 191 ft (58 m)
Beam: 16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Draught: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 shaft diesel-electric
  • 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors
  • 615 hp (460 kW), 825 hp (615 kW)
Speed:
  • 11.25 knots (20.84 km/h; 12.95 mph) surfaced
  • 10 knots (19 km/h) submerged
Range: 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h) surfaced
Complement: 27 to 31
Armament:
 
My Dad was a Gunner’s Mate on a quad 40 mount on the USS California, BB44. She was sunk at Pearl Harbor, refloated and totally rebuilt at Bremerton Washington. She left the rebuild at 44,000 tons (almost 10,000 more than originally built), and only recognizable feature afterwards, were the 14” main gun turrets (she was the last US battleship built with 14” guns. She was part of the huge fleet in the Philippines and in October of ‘44 she was in the battle line at the battle of Surigao Strait. It was historical in that it was the last ship to ship surface gunnery duel. In January of ‘45, still on station in the Philippines, she was hit by a Kamikaze. A 20mm mount and crew were obliterated, the aft fire control station was holed and set afire. A wide area around, including my Dad’s gun mount, was also showered in burning aviation gas and ripped by shrapnel. After the Japanese surrender, many ships were involved in bringing our military personnel home. For some reason California, sister ship Tennessee, and some destroyers made up a task force that went home the other way around the world, ending up at the Philadelphia Navy yard, where everyone disembarked. The rebuild made her too wide to fit through the Panama Canal, so she stayed there and went into reserve. In ‘59 when she was struck from the Navy list and sold for scrap. My Mom and Dad got married after he came home from the war and she said early on he would sometimes wake up yelling and crying. As a boy, I remember seeing scars on his legs and back, but like a lot of combat veterans, he didn’t talk about it. Its a shame the old girl was scrapped. She would have looked great tied up in San Diego with the other old ships on display there, and I surely would have loved going aboard for a tour.
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Lets do some subs anyway.

The 5 biggest: source Navel Technology: The world's biggest submarines. Four of the five are Russian.

Link above is to Naval Technology.com...a fantastic and reputable source with MUCH more detail on these subs and other vehicles. Brief description of each sub is below each picture.

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1. Typhoon Class, Russia
The Typhoon has a submerged displacement of more than 48,000t and is the world’s biggest submarine class. It is a nuclear-powered submarine equipped with ballistic missiles. Dmitry Donskoy, the first of the six submarines in the class, was commissioned in 1981 and is still in active service with the Russian Navy.

Typhoon Class submarines have a length of 175m, a 23m beam and a 12m draught. It is powered by two nuclear water reactors, two 50,000hp steam turbines and four 3,200KW turbogenerators. It can sail at a speed of 22.2kt on the surface and 27kt below water.

Multiple pressure hulls make the Typhoon wider than any other submarine. Crew members can comfortably live aboard for as long as 120 days.

The submarine carries 20 RSM-52 intercontinental three-stage solid propellant ballistic missiles capable of holding 100kt of nuclear warheads each. It is also equipped with six 533mm (21in) torpedo tubes and type 53 torpedoes.​

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2. Borei Class, Russia

The Borei Class ranks as the world’s second-biggest submarine, along with Oscar II Class. With a submerged displacement of 24,000t, it is a nuclear-powered missile carrying submarine serving the strategic naval forces of Russia.

The first Borei Class submarine, Yury Dolgoruky, was inducted into the Pacific fleet of the Russian Navy in January 2013. It was designed by Rubin Design Bureau and constructed at a cost of $770m. Two more Borei Class submarines named Vladimir Monomakh and Knyaz Vladimir joined Yury Dolgoruky by late-2014.

The 170m-long Borei Class has a 13.5m beam and a 10m draught. Its power plant consists of an OK-650 nuclear reactor, one steam turbine, and one shaft and propeller. It sails at a speed of 15kt on the surface and 29kt when submerged. The submerged endurance is dependent on the availability of food stores.

The submarine carries 16 missiles and 45t Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The armoury also includes six multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle warheads, six 533mm torpedo tubes and RPK-2 Viyuga cruise missiles.
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3. Project 949A Antey/Oscar II Class, Russia
The Project 949A Antey (Nato reporting name: Oscar II) class is a successor to the Oscar I class submarines. The Russian Navy currently operates four Oscar II submarines, while four more are being converted into the 949AM standard to integrate 3M54 Kalibr supersonic cruise missiles.

The third-generation nuclear-powered submarines feature a double hull divided into ten major compartments. Each 155m-long and 18m-wide boat has a submerged displacement of 24,000t.

The Project 949A submarines are armed with 24 P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles and six torpedo tubes while the 949AM submarines can carry 3M54 Kalibr supersonic cruise missiles.

The Oscar II Class is powered by two pressurised water-cooled reactors and two steam turbines. The propulsion system ensures a surface speed of 15kt and a maximum speed of 32kt when submerged.

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4. Ohio Class, US
The Ohio Class submarine is the fourth biggest in the world. The US Navy operates 18 Ohio class nuclear-powered submarines, which are the biggest submarines ever built for the US. Each sub has a submerged displacement of 18,750t.

The first submarine of the class, USS Ohio was built by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton. It was commissioned into service in November 1981. All the other submarines were named after the US States, except USS Henry M. Jackson, which was named after a US senator.

Each Ohio Class submarine has a length of 170m, a 13m beam and a 10.8m draught. The gliding speed on the surface is 12kt and underwater is 20kt. The submarine class includes one S8G pressurised water reactor, two geared turbines, one auxiliary 242kW diesel motor and one shaft with a seven-bladed screw.

The submarine is capable of carrying 24 Trident missiles. The armament also includes four 53cm Mark 48 torpedo tubes.
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5. Delta Class, Russia
Delta Class is a large ballistic missile submarine constructed by Severodvinsk. The Delta Class includes Delta I, II, III and IV sub-classes. The submerged displacement of the Delta IV submarine is 18,200t.

The first Delta Class submarine was commissioned into service in 1976. Delta Class III and IV submarines are currently in operation with the Russian Navy. Five Delta III and six Delta IV submarines are currently active.

The submarine has a length of 166m, a beam of 12.3m and draught of 8.8m. The power plant includes two pressurised water-cooled reactors and two steam turbines driving two five-bladed fixed-pitched shrouded propellers. The submerged speed of the submarine is 24kt.

The armoury includes D-9D launch tubes for 16 R-29D SLBMs, four 533mm and two 400mm torpedo tubes.​
 
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Soviet/Russian Alpha class. NATO designation Alpha, Soviet name Lyre (harp). 7 built. Not even close to the heaviest or largest: 3,200 tons submerged, 267ft long, 31ft beam. But they were the fastest: 41 knots or 47 mph submerged. Built with a titanium hull that allowed it to go very deep, up to 1,300 ft. This combination made them almost invulnerable to the countermeasures of the day. Six 21in tubes, could fire a mix of conventional or nuclear tipped torpedoes, or cruise missiles. The drawbacks were that they were noisy and easily detected. They also had a liquid metal cooled reactor that was compact, but was high maintenance with a short lifespan. This meant they had to spend most of their time in port. So their role was to dash out of port at high speed and attack US carrier groups. In service from 1971 to 1996. Retired because of their extreme maintenance and refit costs.
 
I watched a movie about the
Russia sub Kursk. (OscarII). Called the Command.
About the explosion and botched rescue.
It was interesting.
 
What's left of what they could salvage (that a remarkable story in itself on how they did it - sawed the snout off, blew it up, raised the rest fom 350 ft of ice cold water) the Kursk. I think we did something on the Kursk earlier in this thread.

Kursk submarine disaster - Wikipedia

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The Russian government committed to raising the wreck and recovering the crew's remains in a US$65M salvage operation. They contracted with the Dutch marine salvage companies Smit International and Mammoet to raise Kursk from the sea floor. It became the largest salvage operation of its type ever accomplished.

The salvage operation was extremely dangerous because of the risk of radiation from the reactor. Only seven of the submarine's 24 torpedoes were accounted for. The unknown location of the lost torpedoes along with the presence of seven unexploded torpedo warheads (about 225 kilograms (496 lb) TNT equivalent each), the 22 SS-N-19 Granit cruise missiles aboard (about 760 kilograms (1,680 lb) each), plus a missile ejection charge (about 7 kilograms (15 lb) TNT equivalent) in each silo.

Salvage divers from Halliburton first detached the bow from the rest of the vessel because it may have contained unexploded torpedo warheads and because it could break off and destabilise the lifting. The divers installed two large hydraulic suction anchors into the seabed and attached a high-strength tungsten carbide abrasive saw that was pulled back and forth over the bow between the anchors. It took ten days to detach the bow.

After the bow was cut free, the salvage crews raised several smaller pieces of wreckage. This included a piece of a torpedo tube weighing about a ton which was analysed to try to learn if the explosion occurred inside or outside the tube. They salvaged a high-pressure compressed air cylinder weighing about half a ton,[o learn more about the nature of the explosion.

They also raised a part of the cylindrical section of the hard frame and part of the left forward spherical partition, to determine the intensity and temperature of the fire in the forward compartment. Finally, they brought up a fragment of the sonar system dome.
 
World's Longest Car... hugely and wildly impractical and piece below says never road-legal at 100 ft long.

cannot find its whereabouts today .. though I think it had to have met an ignominious end -- to get any specs on it. I vaguely recall it had only one engine but that knowledge is vintage 1995-ish

source: The longest car in the world is dead, but it's coming back to life

"The limousine could be driven in its straight-as-an-arrow state, or reset to bend in the middle. The separate driver’s cabin was rather necessary in order to negotiate any turn, and the ‘backseat driver’ would steer the rear axles.

Expectedly, this movie car and display vehicle was not road legal, and period photos show that the American Dream was detachable in the midsection and could be trailered on flatbed trucks from location to location.

But its ‘longest car in the world’ claim to fame apparently couldn’t save it from an eventual demise. The American Dream was leased to a company which used it as a promotional vehicle, and upon the end of the lease, its caretakers abandoned it in a New Jersey warehouse.

The car resurfaced in 2012 at a salvage auction needing major repairs - damage to the body, tears in the roof, broken windows, and a rusty jacuzzi - it didn’t look promising.

However, the story has taken a positive turn. In 2014, New York’s Autoseum Automotive Teaching Museum announced that the American Dream limousine had been acquired and will now be used to help teach students to fix, build and fabricate cars. Given its sheer size though, this restoration project may take some time."
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I always like these. many of these diesels I never heard of. I was impressed with what the VW V10 TDi did though

 
This one was hard to watch .. seemed like none of them were gonna start. Sometimes exhaust from one pipe and not the other until they "catch". Sounded like the starter died .. just before the truck started.

Those of you who know ... is this typical for cold-weather starting?

 
Everytime I see these Chinooks .. i just know the rotors are gonna hit each other. apparently that's pretty rare so i read


 
Any aerophiles describe what's going on to light these props up?

I did some light reading, electric starter turns a large inertia flywheel then the starter is disengaged and stored energy turns the engine over. In the video when the engines turn a few rotations and stop, that is clearing any oil from the lower cylinders. When the engine is cranking a few revolutions then the mag is engaged and fuel is added, then blam, we have a running engine. Radial start up in a nut shell.
 
Everytime I see these Chinooks .. i just know the rotors are gonna hit each other. apparently that's pretty rare so i read



After I got out of my Air Force, my Dad got me a job at the precision gear works where he was a machinist. We made the gearboxes for the Chinook. I got put to work on the hardening furnaces. Pallets of casts and forgings would go through the various operations, machining, hardening, shot peening. My job was loading the big gears and the shafts into the furnaces and putting them in the quench afterwards. I also ran pieces of stock that were the same grade as the parts which I would cut and polish to show the depth of the hardening. The finished parts were taken to the building next door where the gearboxes were assembled. A couple of times I watched a completed assembly run on a test rig with simulated loading. It was pretty impressive.
 
electric starter turns a large inertia flywheel then the starter is disengaged and stored energy turns the engine over.

I've seen a tank started like that. (WWII - Korean vintage) The guy running it explained what was going on. I don't remember what it was, or even country of origin, but that's exactly how it started. Rev up the flywheel and drop the clutch. Almost as cool as starting a tractor with a 12ga blank.
 
something like this maybe --- greatly simplified i am sure compared to what spins up the B-29

 
After I got out of my Air Force, my Dad got me a job at the precision gear works where he was a machinist. We made the gearboxes for the Chinook. I got put to work on the hardening furnaces. Pallets of casts and forgings would go through the various operations, machining, hardening, shot peening. My job was loading the big gears and the shafts into the furnaces and putting them in the quench afterwards. I also ran pieces of stock that were the same grade as the parts which I would cut and polish to show the depth of the hardening. The finished parts were taken to the building next door where the gearboxes were assembled. A couple of times I watched a completed assembly run on a test rig with simulated loading. It was pretty impressive.

fascinating mechanism. three transmissions.

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