USS Albacore: Пионерская исследовательская подводная лодка США

United States research submarine

USS Albacore (AGSS 569) is a unique research submarine that pioneered the American version of the teardrop hull form (sometimes referred to as an "Albacore hull") of modern submarines. The revolutionary design was derived from extensive hydrodynamic and wind tunnel testing, with an emphasis on underwater speed and maneuverability. She was the third vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the albacore. Her keel was laid down on 15 March 1952 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 1 August 1953, sponsored by Mrs. J. E. Jowers, the widow of Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Arthur L. Stanton, lost with the second Albacore (SS 218), and commissioned on 6 December 1953 with Lieutenant Commander Kenneth C. Gummerson in command. The effectiveness of submarines in World War II convinced both the Soviet Navy and the United States Navy that undersea warfare would play an even more important role in coming conflicts and dictated development of superior submarines. The advent of nuclear power nourished the hope that such warships could be produced. The effort to achieve this goal involved the development of a nuclear propulsion system and the design of a streamlined submarine hull capable of optimum submerged performance.

Late in World War II, committees on both sides of the Iron Curtain studied postwar uses of atomic energy and recommended the development of nuclear propulsion for ships. Since nuclear power plants would operate without the oxygen supply needed by conventional machinery, and since techniques were available for oxygen generation and carbon dioxide removal, submarine designers turned their attention to vessels which could operate for long periods without surfacing. Veteran submariners visualized a new type of submarine in which surface performance characteristics would be completely subordinated to high submerged speed and agility. In 1949 a special committee began a series of hydrodynamic studies which led to a program within the US Bureau of Ships to determine what hull form would be best for submerged operation. The David Taylor Model Basin in Maryland tested a series of designs. The best two—one with a single propeller and the other with dual screws—were then tested in a wind tunnel at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. To avoid interference from the various departments of the Navy, Admiral Momsen proposed to build a submarine as a practice target for aircraft carriers to practice Anti submarine Warfare against, and directed the Bureau of Ships to design an unarmed sub for speed. The single screw version was adopted, and construction of an experimental submarine to this design was authorized on 25 November 1950. The hull of the Albacore utilized HY 80 high strength steel Other components were made from high tensile steel (HTS). The submarine departed Portsmouth on 12 October 1955 and sailed via Block Island for Key West, where she arrived on 19 October 1955 to commence antisubmarine warfare evaluation and to provide target services to the Operational Development Force's Surface Antisubmarine Development Detachment. On 4 November 1955, Admiral Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, embarked on Albacore for a brief demonstration cruise. Lord Mountbatten accompanied Admiral Burke on the cruise. On 19 November 1955, Albacore sailed for a rendezvous point off the Bahamas where she conducted special operations until 24 November 1955 and then returned to Portsmouth. From December 1955 to March 1956, Albacore underwent stern renewal. Until this time, her propeller had been surrounded by the rudder and stern plane control surfaces. With her "new look", she resembled a blimp, with her propeller aft of all control surfaces. Operation with her new stern configuration started in April 1956, and continued until late in the year. In May, Albacore visited New York City and participated in the television production Wide, Wide World, during which she submerged, with an underwater camera mounted on her forecastle, the first live telecast of a submarine while diving.

In November 1956, Albacore reentered the shipyard for engine conversion. She departed New London on 11 March 1957, for operations out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The submarine returned to Boston, Massachusetts, on 2 April 1957 and operated locally out of Boston and Portsmouth until entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard early in 1958 for an overhaul which lasted until June. The ensuing tests emphasized sound reduction and included extensive evaluation of Aqua Plas, a sound damping elastic which had been applied to the ship's superstructure and tank interiors. In October 1958, her bow planes were removed to further reduce noise. The submarine ended the year with a fortnight's run to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and back to serve as a target ship for Canadian warships. In 1959, a newly designed 14 foot propeller was installed and tested. Subsequent post 1959 design went into the Barbel class submarine design, of which three boats were produced. These three submarines looked generally the same as Albacore, although longer. Only one survives today, the USS Blueback (SS 581).

On 21 November 1960, the ship entered Portsmouth for a major overhaul and conversion in which she received: a new, experimental, X shaped tail for increased control; 10 dive brakes around her hull, a new bow which included modified forward ballast tanks, new sonar systems, and a large auxiliary rudder in the after part of her sail. sponsored by the Naval Ship Research and Development Center at Carderock, Maryland. The ship left drydock on 16 April 1971, commenced sea trials on 22 July 1971, and completed them in August 1971. Early in October, she operated off Provincetown, Massachusetts, to calibrate her sonar and radar equipment.

After frequent diesel engine failures had caused repeated delays in her operations, her deployment in support of Project SURPASS was canceled, and preparations for her deactivation were begun. She used the General Motors EMD 16 338 lightweight, compact, high speed "pancake" engine. These had also been used on the , but were replaced on them due to problems, and their "pancake" engines were used as spare parts (the engines were not replaced on Albacore due to space constraints). The unreliability of the engines and lack of spares led to the decommissioning of Albacore as further cannibalized parts became unavailable. A dockside retirement ceremony was held at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 1 September 1972, attended by Rear Adm. J. Edward Snyder, who delivered comments on behalf of Robert A. Frosch, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development, referring to Albacore as "the submarine that gave its body to science." Albacore was decommissioned on 9 December 1972 and laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1980.

A non profit group, the Portsmouth Submarine Memorial Association, was formed to bring the Albacore back to Portsmouth and place her on permanent display, designed to be on dry land so the entire submarine would be visible. The Albacore was towed back to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in April 1984, by an Army Reserve tugboat in a journey of 575 mile (925 km) that took 70 hours. In May 1985, she was moved across Portsmouth Harbor towards a permanent display site. followed by a catastrophic derailment of the temporary marine railway that had been constructed to bring her out of the water. Albacores service as an active experimental submersible for more than two decades steadily increased the Navy's knowledge of both theoretical and applied hydrodynamics which it used in designing faster, quieter, more maneuverable and safer submarines. The Navy's effort to build hulls capable of optimum operation while submerged was wedded to its nuclear propulsion program in the submarine Skipjack which was laid down in the spring of 1956, and these two concepts have complemented each other in the design of all of the Navy's subsequent submarines. Albacore is located at Albacore Park, 600 Market Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and is open to the public. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark on 11 April 1989. In 2005, the United States Submarine Veterans of World War II inducted the Albacore into the Submarine Hall of Fame. In 2016, the basin area around the submarine at Albacore Park was completely reconstructed.