Posted by Matty on June 21, 2009, 14:08:43, in reply to "S-BOAT: Details of Form and Fit, into WWII"
Message modified by board administrator June 21, 2009, 14:23:50

As with practically everything else throughout the S-18 class, the sails evolved through substantial modifications, applied in different variants and at different times, to the various boats. The earliest sail, which was apparently standard throughout the entire class, was also one of the more complex-looking sails ever fitted to a sub: Click on Image to Enlarge With its plethora of bars, railings, ridges and rectangular cutouts - often additionally complicated by recognition markings, including such as the dark field under the number, seen here - this early island can be difficult to define, visually. Particularly around the base, where it also becomes confused with railings, etc., on the deck. In actuality, howver, the basic underlying structure appears to have been rather simple: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, as-launched (top-left) the sail appeared like something of civil war vintage; simply a central conning tower surrounded by a housing, the latter divided at the level of the viewports into a lower "foot", surrounding the base, and upper "can" housing an open bridge. Shown clearer at top-center, and -right, note the "foot" is fin-shaped; about waist-high and extending slightly forward of the conning tower, and much further, aft. Note also the front of the "bridge can" has been completely rounded and its height roughly doubled; this refit was apparently given to all the boats either before- or very soon after commissioning. In front of the conning tower, connecting the "bridge can" to the "foot", below, is a vertical cutwater; all the above creating, IMHO, the appearance of nothing so much as an early knight's helmet. Note the streamlining of the "bridge can", including horizontal (fairwater) vanes on its sides, and fairwater around its upper rim, as well as upward-sweeping base, together give the impression of an open boat - and for exactly the same reasons, I am sure. Note from the overhead views that the "bridge can" has a teardrop-shaped plan, with its aft end fairing into a heavy vertical pipe, undoubtedly housing the main (air) induction; a primitive forerunner of the snorkel. The earliest pic of this fit is the one at top-right - showing S-37 - on May 4, 1923, while the latest is at top-center; showing S-40 in the early 1930s. At right, the sails of S-32 and S-33 are shown to have the same fit, purportedly as late as April, 1941, though 1931 would be a much more believable date for this pic. Because the next sail modification - again, apparently received by all the boats - began to appear as early as 1924: Click on Image to Enlarge In this fit, the aft end of the "foot" was more than doubled in height - as demonstrated particularly well by the profile shot, at left, of S-22 (in RN commission) with sailors standing next to it, at center-left. Note the small forward extension remained at its original height. At top-left, -right and bottom-right, note the "foot" contains an access hatch and railing extending forward, ending at a pattern of half-moon shaped footholds climbing up the outside of the bridge can; curiously enabling travel along the outside of the sail, to get from the hatch to the bridge. A line of similar footholds (obscured by black paint in the top pics, but clearly visible at bottom-right) drops from the aft "foot" down to the deck. At right, pics of S-37 at top and upper-middle prove that this fit was present on that boat (at least) as early as October 29, 1924. At right-middle, a pic of S-32 proves she retained this type of sail (at least) as late as 1943, as also pics at left; showing at middle-left, -right and bottom-left, 1943 views of S-22, S-21 and S-18, respectively. Of course, numerous minor field modifications - particularly once WWII had begun - were no doubt fitted as well. One of the more prominent among these appears to have been wind/spray sheilds, on the open bridges: Click on Image to Enlarge Undoubtedly no coincidence that these examples derive from boats deployed to the Aleutians during WWII, note the great difference between the shield fitted to S-23 (top) in 1942, versus that - including viewports - installed on S-32 (bottom), during the same year. Within a year or two, the vast majority - perhaps all - of the boats in the class received the final, and major, refit to their sails: Click on Image to Enlarge As part of what I've dubbed the "modernized" refit, the aft "foot" extension was removed, and the gap under the aft half of the "bridge can" plated over, as clearly seen at left for S-38 (top and bottom-left) and S-41 - the former dated as early as November, 1942. Several apparently custom-variations are shown at center. At top, S-31 appears to have had only partial "foot" removal; its end raked aft and topped with a light platform, additionally supported by a single, heavy post, which is similarly - but not identically - observed on S-32, at upper-middle. Similar light platforms, supported entirely by latticework after complete removal of aft "feet", are likewise depicted for S-35 and S-28 at lower-middle and bottom, resepectively - though again they are not identical; S-35's platform (mounting, notice, a shielded-20mm - or possibly 0.50-cal - AA gun) being sited much lower than S-28's. At right, more views of S-28 reveal that the aft platform was round and, especially when combined with flaring railing and other features of the new sail, created a strong resemblance to a Type VII U-boat, when viewed head-on (bottom-right). (Small wonder that WWII submariners were very wary - and justifiably so - of "friendly fire" aircraft attack.) This may indeed be a major reason why later refits (to other classes, at least), either omitted such platforms or placed them ahead of the conning tower, rather than aft. In any case, they did not appear substantial enough to support any really effective (i.e., 40mm) AA weapons. So there (in general) you have it; an evolution in fit of the sails creating appearances ranging from civil war monitors all the way to Type VII U-boats! Cheers, -Matty

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Posted by Matty on June 13, 2009, 20:39:54, in reply to "S-BOAT: Details of Form and Fit, into WWII"
Message modified by board administrator June 14, 2009, 12:04:26

Undoubtedly the most dramatic change(s) experienced by the S-18 class boats - roughly on a par with the transformations, at about the same time, undergone by the Lexington class carriers - was the refit evolution of the upper aft casing - ultimately affecting even the aft deck, as well. Originally, the S-18 boats were launched with a dorsal skeg; a long vertical "fin" connecting the aft tip of the deck to the top of the rudder: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, note the skeg is the only exposed part of the stern; its dagger-like appearance, especially in the upper-middle pic, belying the extensive underwater hull and stabilizers, just below the surface (the latter actually faintly visible in the cloudy water). All but the bottom pic date from the early '20s, the one at lower-middle being the earliest I found, depicting a complete skeg; on S-37 in October, 1923. At bottom, a pic dating to the early '30s reveals the skeg on S-38 (inset) remains virtually identical - right down to the lashing ring, which is also just visible on S-40, at bottom-left. So (at least) these boats retained the skeg, unchanged, for (at least) a full decade, after launching. However it appears that several nose-down sinkings and/or strandings during the '20s prompted the installation of a stern escape hatch/trunk; necessitating (at least partial) removal of the skegs, in a "safety program" of refits. Most boats appear to have undergone it in the late '20s - early '30s, however the 3 graphics to the right, above, clearly prove that some (at least) started losing their skegs far earlier. At center-left and -right, S-32 reveals her (apparently uniquely) modified skeg; with just a section simply removed from the middle; the yard pics at center-right undoubtedly showing the actual refit work, dating it to October 2, 1923. At far right, a pic captioned "S-30 - S33 - S-20" may show the start of the more standard, full-skeg removal, dated also in the caption to "October 2" of either "1926", -"28" or -"23" (the last number being illegible, but most resembling a "6", IMHO). Whatever the precise start date for each refit, once begun each boat apparently proceeded along the same evolutionary path of refits, extending up to WWII: Click on Image to Enlarge The first modification, which I dubbed the "slant-chopped" appearance, seems to have been just that; the skeg was simply chopped off, and with it the extreme aft tip of the deck, and slice of underlying casing, leaving a tiny flat, forward-sloping "transom" - shown particularly clearly at top. The forward slope angle appears identical for S-31, -32 & -33 at top, as well as S-36 and her close sisters (including S-37) at middle. However the lead ship of the class, S-18, at bottom - as well as several others of the class (not shown) - clearly got the chop at a significantly lower angle. The top pic is dated "1930s", which is consistent with its inter-war gray/black paint job, as also seen at middle and bottom; only the latter being implausibly dated to February 4, "1943" - though -34 would be far more likely. By the early- to mid-'30s It appears all boats in the class had progressed through the above and on to the next stage of refit, which I dubbed the "cannister-chopped" stern: Click on Image to Enlarge A full-height, stern escape trunk was added, and transom refined adjacent to it, as clearly shown at left; the top pic showing S-36 (right), S-32 (center) and (S-42 class boat) S-47, in 1936. Likewise, at upper-middle, lower-middle and bottom, S-31 dated "1932", S-28 dated "mid-'30s" and S-37 with her near-sisters, undated, respectively, show the "cannister-chopped" fit as well. Note it includes a small wedge-like hump atop the aft tip of the deck, creating, from some angles the appearance of two escape trunks, though there was only ever one, AFAIK. The all-black paint and (white) block numbers - plus other features visible in the latter pics - belie the above dates; arguing instead for the early- or immediate pre-WWII period, and the graphic at right proves unequivocally that (at least) some, probably most, of the boats exhibited the "cannister-chopped" stern well into WWII, including at top, S-41 in 1942; at middle, S-22 under RN operation in April, 1943; and at bottom, S-21 circa 1943-44. Circa 1943, apparently most boats, on their first wartime return stateside for major overhaul, received the final, and by far the most radical refit to (among other things) their aft ends: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, this transformation, which I dubbed the "modernized" fit, is shown for S-35 on May 2, 1943. Riding high, she reveals the escape trunk has been cut down (or removed), and the aft casing apparently removed yet further forward. Note also the sole remnant of the original skeg is simply a raked vertical stabilizer for the rudder. At bottom, in more typical, stern-down trim, S-28 on January 23, 1943 appears, from this low angle, to resemble the original, complete-skeg boats, at the stern. This is yet more pronounced in pics of her at center; the top two from the same date as above. Of course, other features identify the fit as the "modernized" type, but, from a distance the clearest recognition is from overhead, as shown for S-21 and again S-28, at lower-middle and bottom, respectively. At right, an apparently common - if not predominant - variation of "modernized" refit included a gentle but distinct hump, just before the aft end; ergo, my ad-hoc naming of it as the "humpbacked" fit. At top-left and -right it appears to good advantage on S-38 and S-41, respectively; moored opposite sides of the same pier and photographed (I decided) on the same day in April, 1943. At middle, a low side-view of S-38 in November, 1942 leaves no question of her identity as a uniquely "humpbacked" refitted boat, and at bottom, even the forward quarter-view of S-38 - again from the above photo-shoot in 4/43 - reveals the hump to create a bulging, more rounded look to the aft casing than on any of the original-fit boats. The "modernized" fits were the last to be seen by the class during WWII, after which all were (finally) decommissioned. Meantime, it had been quite an "evolutionary history" of stern refits - the Tale of The Tail(s) - for this class, eh? Cheers, -Matty

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Posted by Matty on June 1, 2009, 10:38:53, in reply to "S-BOAT: Details of Form and Fit, into WWII"
Message modified by board administrator June 3, 2009, 16:18:56

Going into WWII there was a second, minor casing bulge, forward of the deck gun platform, which appeared on just a few S-18 boats - but those included the S-37 boat which I am building: Click on Image to Enlarge At left is the sole implicating pic of S-37; undated, but the all-black camo indicating an early- or immediately pre-WWII time frame. Likewise, at right, during WWII the same conical flaring of the forward casing, approximately abaft the crew access hatch, is seen; at top, on S-41 in 1942, and on S-28 in all the other pics, taken in June, 1943. At first, I took this casing bulge to be enclosing an enlarged forward escape trunk, or similar, uniformly surrounding the forward hatch. However, close inspection of the above, overhead pic of S-28 (right, at bottom-right), revealed it to be located starboard-side only; accommodating a second hatchway or trunk, covered by a circular plate, located just aft and outboard of the crew access hatch, and of roughly the same diameter. I also realized that, In pics from any other angle(s) than above, this second hatch/trunk would appear all but undetectable. So I re-examined all available S-18 pics, for traces of this feature: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, pics of S-28 - all from dates we know she carried this forward trunk - show how subtle are the indications of it, when viewed from less advantageous angles. Viewed head-on (upper left; top inset), the trunk hatch or cover plate appears - behind the clutter of stanchions - just to the left of the dark, raised disk of the forward hatch; it appears as a light, similarly-sized disc, not raised but instead slightly countersunk into the deck. At bottom (and middle inset), viewed across the deck from portside, appearing in about the right place is what looks like a slightly raised cover (with sailor apparently handling it), having a bellows-looking skirt or shroud apparently suspended underneath. At right, earlier pics allow us to begin to set boundaries on the dates when these trunks were installed. At top, a pic of S-28 misdated "mid-late '30s" must, due to the all-black camo and other features, date instead from the early '40s; either just prior- or early in WWII. Although a heavy stanchion (from the foreground sub) directly screens the view, an open, forward trunk shaft - with no cover apparent - can be perceived, as well as the casing bulge to accommodate it. Note again, the rim appears slightly recessed into the deck, and mooring (or electrical) cables appear to be going down it. At bottom (and middle inset), S-28 is moored inboard (foreground) on May 4, 1923, clearly showing no evidence of the trunk; neither any countersunk feature(s), nor any bulge(s) in the (far side of the) casing. Do note, however that S-28, and S-25 next to her, both exhibit angular hatches/doors opening out of the deck just aft of this area; a large one opening forward, and smaller one, just ahead of the gun platform, opening outboard to starboard. Clearly, the forward trunks in question did not appear until after - by all indications long after - the boats entered service: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, the boats were launched - like S-37 on June 20, 1919, at top-left - absent, of course, the forward trunk or in fact any casing bulge(s) at all. Instead, what appeared in its place was a recessed cleat, as seen at top-right (upper insets) on other boats (S-38 & -40) as late as the "early '30s". The overhead view of S-37 at center (middle-left inset) reveals no evidence of the trunk - neither a round cover, nor casing bulge (behind the sailor coming out the forward hatch) on its date of 10/29/24. More to the point, the bottom pic, again dated "early '30s", clearly confirms no forward trunk but instead the recessed cleat, described above. Likewise, at right, two pics taken (undoubtedly minutes apart) the same day in the early 1930s, reveal S-41, moored outboard S-38 and -40 to show no trace(s) of the trunk in question, but instead faint indications of the starboard-side cleat, and mooring lines tied to it; behind S-38's deck gun sights (bottom-right inset). Thus, none of these three boats - S-28, -37 nor -41 - appears to have gotten this forward trunk before (at least) after the early 1930s; very likely, not even until the early '40s. Finally, evoking "variations on the variations" within this class, there is subtle but repeated evidence of a yet smaller, forward "mini-trunk" on (at least) two boats: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, S-31 from overhead, dated "1943-1945" is in the mid-WWII refit and shows what looks (despite the graininess) like a half-moon cover - cut straight along the outboard edge; flattening the casing bulge accordingly - in precisely the forward trunk location. At bottom, in March of 1929 it was absent from S-31; the earlier starboard-side cleat appearing (in an equally grainy view) in its place. At center, similar observations hold for her immediate-next-of-kin sister, S-32, appearing, at top, on January 31, 1944 with a small but distinct slanting ripple in the casing; consistent with a flattened bulge (i.e., bisected cone) at precisely the right spot. At bottom-left, a closeup dated 1942 is again (maddenigly) obfuscated by a sailor's hooded head, but clearly shows deck planking interrupted by a rounded patch of smooth plating - possibly also with minor outboard bulging of the casing - and a notable lack of mooring lines going to this spot, as well. At bottom-right, still earlier, in April, 1941, mooring lines do tie into a starboard cleat at this spot, however just aft there is indication of the (light) casing bulging slightly, as well as a (dark) possibly open cover; directly behind the keister of the squatting sailor. At right, yet earlier pics of S-32 - the top two before (at least) March, 1932, and center again from March, 1929 - all confirm the lack of any forward trunk and/or presence of the (black-painted) recessed cleat, in its stead. However the top two do exhibit bright patches possibly consistent with the early, further-aft door, shown open on S-32 in the bottom-right pic; undated but identifiably early (per the style of limber holes). Located just ahead of the gun platform - i.e., just aft of the future forward trunk site - I strongly suspect that something(s) of its contents, exposed earlier to free-flooding in the casing, were moved forward and down into the protection of the pressure hull by the forward trunk- and "mini-trunk" refits, installed just before WWII, but in any case not widely adopted by other boats of the class. Cheers, -Matty

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Posted by Matty on May 30, 2009, 23:15:17, in reply to "S-BOAT: Details of Form and Fit, into WWII"
Message modified by board administrator June 3, 2009, 16:16:10

Although "Nothing Standard" should be the motto of this class, there was one feature which was nearly consistent; on almost all the boats, for the great marjority of their service lives: the forward casing bulge, to accommodate the deck gun platform: Click on Image to Enlarge This roughly cylindrical flaring of the casing expanded to support the basically circular gun deck, fairing back into the casing fore- and aft both smoothly and fairly gradually. Its vertical sides (as opposed to outward-flaring sides, in other classes) are seen clearest from ahead or astern; appearing as early as the mid-'20s - as on S-40 in the early '30s, at top right - clear through to the WWII refits, as on S-28, -38 and -41 at top-left, bottom-left and bottom-right, respectively - all photographed during 1943. However I did identify two exceptions - one general, and one individual: Click on Image to Enlarge The general exception appears to be that most boats - including S-37, as shown at top-left - if not all of them, were launched without any gun platform, and no casing bulge(s) of any kind. Whether the platform and accompanying bulge were added during fitting-out, before commissioning, or refitted shortly thereafter was not explicitly learned. However the second, individual exception I ran across - shown in the larger pic; of S-30 moored outboard S-32 (& -33) in April, 1941 - may provide a further clue. Note S-30, over two decades after launching, still does not yet have the full, standard bulge, but instead a much smaller. more sponson-like support; looking more "bolted-on" than integrated smoothly into the casing. The fact of its retention on S-30 - (at least) up until WWII - argues strongly that it functioned adequately; meanwhile the absence of this fit on any other S-18 boat, ever, argues equally strongly that it must have "taken second place" to the more widely adopted design, above. Thus, I conclude S-30 represents evidence of retrofit-prototyping program; to develop the best gun platforms and install them sometime after commissioning, but before the mid-'20s, certainly. In fact, the next class of S-boats - the S-42 class - would adopt a smaller, sloping bulge for the gun platform; looking like a hybrid just about exactly halfway between this S-30 fit and the standard (vertical-sided bulge) of the rest of the S-18 class. Cheers, -Matty

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Posted by Matty on May 17, 2009, 17:58:26, in reply to "S-BOAT: Details of Form and Fit, into WWII"
Message modified by board administrator June 1, 2009, 10:41:50

In most builds, the biggest question about deck planking is what color it was - less of an issue for most subs - but in this case, the question is of the very existence of planking; exactly where was it installed (if anywhere), on a given S-18 class boat? So far, all reference pics suitable - i.e., taken close enough and sharp enough - to show planking, agree on only one thing: Click on Image to Enlarge It appears that, in all cases, prominent planking was laid around the base of the (sole) deck gun; as seen here for S-32 (right), and S-30 (left), in a pic dated April, 1941. On both subs, note the adjoining decks areas - ahead as far as the forward hatch, and behind all the way aft - exhibit practically no texture at all; if they are planked, then it must be with extremely fine, flush-mounted planks (see below) - virtually undetectable here. From the hatch forward to the tip of the bow, S-32 clearly has no planking; but instead rows of rivets and/or small flood holes, unmistakeably indicating a bare (steel) deck. But very different foredecks are readily in evidence: Click on Image to Enlarge Note in all these shots, planking continues, seamless and uninterrupted, beyond the gun platform; extending both forward (at least) to the hatch, and - where shown - aft to (at least) abaft the sail (and actually past the sail, as subsequent pics, below, will show). At top-left and -right, pics show S-40 in 1935 and earlier, in 1930, respectively, while at bottom S-23 is shown, in 1942. By far the majority of relevant pics indicate such extended, foredeck planking: Click on Image to Enlarge At top, no doubt shot the same day as the 1935 pic of S-40, above, this pic reveals S-38 and S-41 nested alongside her; all three displaying extended foredeck planking, with the views of S-38 and -40 revealing it to be raised, in very much the same fashion as the gun deck planking observed on S-30 and -32, above - except now extending forward to just short of the hatch. At bottom-left, a closeup of S-32's bow, revisited in 1942, reveals planking now extended forward to just ahead of the forward hatch - as is also the case at bottom-right for S-28, seen head-on June 10, 1943. In addition, beyond the ends of the raised planking, on S-40 and S-38 (top), as well as S-32 (bottom-left), the pics present faintly visible textures suggesting that additional, very fine planking - flush-mounted and very tight; like parquet flooring - continues forward perhaps as far as the sonar head (globe-on-a-stick, in the mid-war pics). Regarding my own build, a couple pics of S-37 date from far too early, but may prove helpful to the more general description, particularly regarding the deck further aft: Click on Image to Enlarge This pic (with insets at full-resolution), dated 10/29/24, reveals 4 distinct deck surfaces, IMHO. There is a black (-painted) circular gun platform - presumably with heavy, raised planking as on S-30 and -32 in mid-1941, above - and the (steel) tips of the extreme deck ends are likewise painted black. In between, the deck transitions through three shades of gray; the lightest of which exhibits no texture, extending from the bow back to, again, about the location of the sonar head, while both of the darker tones are accompanied by a faint texture, again suggestive of a delicate/flush type of planking. The darker of the two appears to begin at the forward hatch and to extend - interrupted only by the gun decking - clear back to the aft hatch, the next lighter shade again resuming to continue back to the (black) steel aft tip. Thus, it appears at least two - and quite possibly three - types of planking cover this deck almost completely, from he bow sonar aft. However, a still earlier pic of S-37 presents yet another contradiction: Click on Image to Enlarge Removing casualties following a mishap in October, 1923, the men looking down mark the location of the after hatch; the deck visible in the foreground is well within the fine-planked area presumed above, yet in this pic - which is easily close enough to see - there is absolutely no indication of planking. So, either S-37 was, in her early years planked only around her deck gun - again, just as S-30 and -32, as late as April, 1941 - or S-37s deck had been extensively reworked - almost completely planked-over from the original steel - sometime between late 1923 and late '24. Given the range of modifications definitely known to have been applied to these boats, I consider either scenario to be quite plausible. Ironically, this earliest of my reference pics, depicting an unplanked steel deck aft, is consistent with the latest pics; showing the mid-war refits: Click on Image to Enlarge At left, the aft deck of S-28 on June 10, 1943 appears very smooth, flanked by rows of limber holes, lining the deck edge. On the foredeck, a faint texture clearly suggests planking, and extends to just ahead of the forward hatch, just as observed earlier, from head-on. At right, S-41 (top) and S-38 (bottom) in April, 1943 (no doubt on the same day; while moored opposite sides of the same pier) - confirm steel decks aft, and, beginning shortly aft of the sail, a heavy, raised deck; no doubt consisting of coarse planking. Together, the above - spanning a full two decades, and numerous different boats - argues that there simply was no "standard evolution" of deck layout for these boats, but instead that each went through its own unique evolution, per its own unique timeline. If any generalization is possible, it would be that - for most boats, most the time - the foredeck was continuously planked with a heavy, raised planking; extending forward from just behind the island to the vicinity of the forward hatch, and - particularly by late 1943 - bare steel decks, aft. Of course, it was prior to this time that these boats performed all their most historic exploits - for which the precise appearance could be "anybody's guess"; depending entirely on the particular boat, and date. And this is regarding just the decks so far; believe me, this is just scratching the surface, regarding these subs! Cheers, -Matty

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