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Posted by Don Murphy on May 24, 2009, 23:45:23, in reply to "WOW - yes, very helpful - and PROVOCATIVE!"
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and when subs were taking down the first IJN warships, they became the Navy's golden boys and pretty much got whatever they wanted. The boat skippers then became like NASCAR drivers getting whatever tweaks they wanted. Imagine the pain when S-44's skipper gets more supplies and toys than a brand new Tench skipper!
So there was probably some weird stuff going on in the yards, both from combat experience and (in Fluckey's case) just plain old "hey, what if we do this?..." This is what makes boat research so interesting. I know Plunger's skipper commented that the squishing noise made by his wet wooden planks almost gave him away. As a result, Plunger's yard period was pretty much a master-class in how to build the perfect boat, with every Navy bureau looking at her with a fine tooth comb.
O'Kane's list of "why doesn't my boat do this" complaints was also read with a microscope. Sometimes, field mods would be done ahead of the proper gear. Case in point being rubber washers nailed everywhere to "sound mount" certain pieces of gear, pending the arrival of the new silenced equipment.
Cheers,
Don
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