--Originally Posted 3/24/09--

S-37 (SS-142) was one of the Asiatic Fleet subs caught in the Philippines at the outbreak of WWII:

Forced to fall back with her squadron and regroup at Soerabaja, Java, there she and her compatriots drew a defensive line against the advancing Japanese, such that, on 2/8/42, she intercepted a convoy of IJA troop transports, escorted by 4 IJN DDs.

Unable to get in position for a shot at the transports, she loosed a single torpedo each at the 4 DDs in quick succession, as a sort of parting gesture before diving to save her own very vulnerable hide. Or so it seemed to me, reading her DANFS history. Incredibly, one of the obsolescent S-boat's even more obsolete, excruciatingly slow MkX torpedoes found its mark squarely amidships the Kagero-class DD Natsushio, breaking her back and sinking her in short order.

Thus, S-37 won the distinction of being the first USN sub to sink an IJN DD in WWII - and her master, Lt.Cdr. James Dempsey, a rare example of a USN sub skipper applying his weapons system with sufficient aggression, which was sorely lacking in the submarine service in those early, demoralized days of the Pacific War.

So, let's build S-37!



S-37 was an S-18 class boat; LOA=230.75'; beam=20.67':


Click on Image to EnlargeSince the precise length is easily adjustable through the substantial additions required both fore- and aft, the determining factor regarding scale will be - as usual - the beam of the mold. At 1.467" the beam of the Revell Nautilus indicates a scale of 1:169 for this S-boat conversion. When I saw that number, I almost fell off my chair, as it's only 5% larger than the scale of the Revell Lionfish fleet-boat mold, at 1:178! So, accepting a discrepancy of 0.074" too much beam - an error so small it isn't even worth correcting, at this scale - I printed some S-18 class plans (top) at a scale of 1:178. Thus, the build will be 15.56" long - and 100% compatible for display alongside the classic Revell Gato.

However, note also the belly of the Revell Nautilus does not drop down nearly as far as on the S-boat, and so has to be deepened, which I undertook to do in 3 major segments; chopped and repositioned in two major steps:


Click on Image to EnlargeMarking (top) for these cuts was facilitated by two waterlines already in the mold: an upper, and a lower one, scribed rather deeply. In Step 1 (middle), a cut from amidships along the lower line, and removal of a large wedge forward (red), allows the forward hull to be rotated on a pivot-point (black-and-white wedges) to drop its belly down to the required depth (see below).

Once the forward end is secured in its new position, Step 2 (bottom) involves a cut along the upper waterline, starting circa the 13th-14th limber hole aft of sail, and removal of a wedge from there aft (red), to scissors the entire aft end (excluding the deck) down like an accordion; with the top pivoting on the forward point, and bottom on the aft point. A 0.3" high spacer under the very aft tip of the deck sets up the geometry to drop the entire configuration by the right amount.

The large gaps opened up in both the above steps were "plated" in with hull pieces from the spares box (see below) which had similar curvature:


Click on Image to EnlargeAlthough I went perhaps a hair too deep in the belly, you can see that - even with modern sail still attached - we are already in the ballpark, and the Revell Nautilus now strongly resembles a pig-boat. Note also the line of limber holes aft are approximately right for an S-18 boat - and removal of the wedge aft has left the stern flattened (bottom right); exactly what is needed for the "whale fluke" stern of this class. (Note I was wrong when I concluded, earlier, that this type of stern was discontinued with the S-4 class.)

OK fine - but, you ask, where do you seemingly by magic come up with the crucial, extra hull pieces:


Click on Image to EnlargeFrom China, that's where! In this case, the CN-brand, 1:200 scale Alfa mold (identical to their 1:300 scale Akula mold), which is (or at least, once was) both very cheap and - by virtue of its relative crudeness - expendable for just such purposes, IMHO. I particularly like these CN hulls, as the plastic is soft - think: just a bit harder than Airfix - and thick, which is a tremendous advantage in subsequent fairing/shaping. However, any hull pieces with sufficiently gradual curvature would suffice - followed by minimal puttying to correct the mismatch (as will be required in this case, as well).

OK so, we're off and running to build a decent representation of S-37. Now to finsih her, in less than a year!

Cheers,

-Matty