Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 15, 1969)

SNAME And ASNE Sections Discuss Submarines And C-P Propellers E. B. Williams* The Southeast Section of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers is rapidly gain-ing a position of eminence with regard to the quality and impor-tance of technical papers presented under its sponsorship. The recent joint meeting with the Charleston Section of the American Society of Naval Engineers at the Shera-ton-Fort Sumter Hotel in Charles-ton lays emphasis to this claim, but of equal importance to the suc-cess of this or any technical meet-ing is the planning and execution of the program. In this case credit is given to Lt. Cmdr. Thomas A. Marnane, Charleston Naval Ship-yard, under whose guidance the en-tire affair was executed with ut-most precision. It was generally agreed that the two groups would make a practice of meeting togeth-er once every year. Frank DeGrim, estimator. Jack-sonville Shipyards, Inc., served as moderator during the morning ses-sion. Mr. DeGrim is papers chair-man of the Southeast Section. The first paper, "Submarine Pressure Hull Circularity" was presented by John B. Kruse, supervisory naval architect. SSBN & Hull Integrity Branch of Hull Sub-Division, Charleston Naval Shipyard. This paper describes some of the phi-losophy, design conditions and types of hull failures; also the methods of measurement and tol-erances, with respect to circularity, on the pressure hull of a submarine. In the opening paragraphs the basic structure of the submarine is described and illustrated. This is followed by the design considera-*Mr. Williams, former vice-president of American Ship Building Company, was the organizing chairman for the South-east Section of The Society of Noval Architects and Marine Engineers and also was organizing chairmon, several years ago, of the Great Lakes ond Great Rivers Section. tions, pointing out that it is essen-tially an externally loaded pressure vessel, the shell of which is periodi-cally stiffened by ring frames. The effect of non-circularity of these components on the collapse strength is reviewed. An impor-tant feature of Mr. Kruse's paper is his approach to the effects of eccentricity on strength. Actual numbers are not given for any spe-cific vessel because of the confi-dential nature of some of the in-formaion. The paper lists and de-scribes five approved methods of measuring submarine circularity, viz., (1) internal sweep arm, (2) ring template, (3) bridge gauge. (4) optical square, (5) partial tem-plate. Paper No. 2, "Economic Consid-eration of Controllable Pitch Pro-peller With Diesel Main Propul-sion," by D. E. Ridley, vice-presi-dent of Bird-Johnson Company and O. H. Midttun, sales and applica-tion engineer, was presented by Mr. Midttun. This paper considers some aspects of environmental in-fluence, hull deterioration and cer-tain other factors relating to an economic comparison between a controllable-pitch pro]>eller and a fixed-pitch propeller driven by a diesel prime mover. The paper is an economic study, primarily, beginning with the capi-tal acquisition cost differential, comparative operating costs, and following through with certain in-tangibles. reliability and life cycle costs, concluding with the state-ment that "any ship stud}' envision-ing the use of a diesel prime mover should incorporate the use of a controllable-pitch propeller." As stated in the abstract, the pa-per is based upon a literature search discussing various aspects of the subject matter plus infor-mation from various vessel opera-tors. Since this type of propulsion plant has been used much more widely in foreign countries, most of the material comes from these areas. Discussion of this paper con-sumed the remaining time of the morning session. Comdr. E. Ven-ning Jr., USN, member of both societies, in his written discussion, emphasized the importance of a "conscious effort on the part of the hull designer, the propeller de-signer and the powerplant designer to come uj) with a coordinated svs-tem." The moderator for the afternoon session was Capt. E. T. Westfall, USN, production officer, Charles-ton Naval Shipyard. Capt. West-fall is a member of both societies. Paper No. 3, "Adhesive Attached Test Blanks For Installed Sub-marine Sea Valves," was presented by H. H. Nathan, assistant chief design engineer, Marine and Me-chanical Branch, Charleston Naval Shipyard. Naval shipyards have a require-ment to hvdrostatically test sub-marine sea valve to hull joints to 150 percent of design pressure. This paper illustrates several in-genius methods of accomplishing non-destructive tests by means of test blanks attached to the hull with adhesives. The illustrations given in the paper are exceptional-ly clear and deal with various test-ing situations. Actual figures were withheld for security reasons, but the principles involved are equally applicable to commercial work. Following a description of the pa-per, using flip charts, Mr. Nathan pressurized a full-scale joint in a demonstration. Members and guests of both so-cieties were then taken on a bus tour of the Charleston Naval Ship-yard. There were brief tours of se-lected shops and a visit to a dry dock where a fleet ballistic missile submarine was undergoing an over-haul. The tour was followed by a reception at the commissioned offi-cers' mess. Returning to the hotel, a buffet banquet was served. Rudolph F. Matzer, chairman of the Southeast Section, SNAME, acted as toast-master, introducing the officers of the two groups and expressing the Section's gratitude to the Naval Engineers and their ladies who en-tertained the visiting ladies during the day by showing them many of the charming and historical points of interest in Charleston. Capt. Capt. Charles N. Payne, USN, commander of Charleston Naval Shipyard, introducing the dinner speaker at the joint SNAME and ASNE Sections meeting. Charles N. Payne, USN, command-er. Charleston Naval Shipyard, and a member of both societies, spoke for the ASNE and introduced the speaker of the evening, Capt. Wil-liam M. Nicholson, USN, project manager, Deep Submergence Sys-tems Project, Department of the Navy. Capt. Nicholson described the tre-mendous progress that has been made during the last few years and the thrilling plans for the im-mediate future for the deep sub-mergence project, and also present-ed movies of SEALAB II during its 30-day voyage to the bottom of the sea. One of the highlights was Comdr. Scott Carpenter's solo, accompanied by himself on his gui-tar, 300 feet below the surface. Capt. Nicholson described in con-siderable detail, the immediate plans for the submergence of SEALAB III to the ocean floor, 600 feet below the surface. Mr. Matzer closed the meeting with the announcement that the Southeast Section would next meet in Miami, April 25. The H-12 Pan-el (Planing Boats) of the Hydro-dynamics Committee will meet jointly with the Section at the Sheraton Four Ambassadors Hotel in downtown Miami. A11 outstand-ing program of six papers is planned. An interesting note 011 the Charleston meeting is that not only were many members of both ASNE and SNAME Societies present, but also Hollinshead de Luce, chair-man, Committee 011 Sections, New York; Harold F. Robinson, hono-rary vice-president, and Leigh R. Sanford, honorary vice-president and 50-year member. Reviewing Paper No. 1 are, left to right: Lt. Comdr. T. A. Marnane, USN, CNS design Dinner speaker at the joint meeting of the SNAME Southeast Section and ASNE Charles-superintendent; Rudolph Matzer, SNAME Section chairman; J. B. Kruse, author, and ton Section was Capt. W. M. Nicholson, USN, who described the Navy's Deep Submerg-Capt. E. T. Westfall, USN, CNS production officer and ASNE Section chairman. ence Project to date and future plans, plus showing movies of SEALAB II at work. 12 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News