Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)

Thursday, March 01, 2007

NR-1 In Texas

The nuclear-powered deep submergence vessel NR-1, the Navy's oldest active submarine, arrived in Galveston this week in preparation for "an expedition to survey the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and other sites of interest in the Gulf of Mexico." Here's a picture of her leaving Groton earlier this month:

Some other pictures of her taken recently are here, here, and here. The expedition starts on Friday; much more information can be found here and here.

I'm hoping that someday they'll open up the NR-1 for filming so the public can see what a remarkable piece of engineering she really is. I took a tour when I was in SOAC, and I can tell you that she's quite cramped. The only picture I could find from inside the boat was from this page (which also has a diagram of the compartments on the sub -- note that the RC is aft of the Engine Room); the picture shows the Ship's Control Panel, and also shows that the OIC's underway rack is right behind the shipdrivers:

Good luck to everyone involved in the expedition! (Maybe they'll try the infamous "Twinkees At 2900 feet" experiment again.)

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is your new "About Me" photo supposed to be your head in a bubble (bubblehead)?

3/01/2007 12:17 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How long will the NR-1 be in the Galveston area? And can the public view her? Only a 3 1/2 hour road trip

3/01/2007 2:07 PM

 
Blogger Bubblehead said...

Birdie,
Yes, it is; it's a picture from my recent vacation, taken in front of the wall for Disney's new submarine ride. I thought the photo made me look like a kewl and mysterious guy...

3/01/2007 8:52 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting that! Brought back a lot of good memories. I was an engr at EB 1971-1981 and spent a lot of that time minding NR-1 systems. Amazingly good people involved. Considering that the boat is closing in on 40 years old, the technology is holding up really well.

3/02/2007 8:17 PM

 

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