The Ship Model Forum

I am very interested in USS Narwhal (SSN 671) because of her unique propulsion arrangement: a natural circulation reactor with a direct drive turbine and reactor coolant scoops like a Russian submarine making her the quietest SSN in the world until Seawolf. I was wondering if anyone had any plans, diagrams or drydock photos of Narwhal, as I've have been unable to find any such documentation. I checked the USS Narwhal veteran's website: nothing there. I tried to look through the photos on the Narwhal vet's facebook page (this technique has gotten me some fantastic drydock photos), but it's a closed group. There was nothing particularly interesting on Navsource either.

Also, Friedman's Submarines Since 1945 says that Narwhal had a 37.5 foot beam and I am inclined to believe this because the S5G reactor had to be a lot taller than the S5W for natural circulation to work. However, nearly all other sources claim she had the same beam as the 637s. Maybe the cause is that many people think Narwhal is a 637 because she has the same sail and general layout forward of the reactor.

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Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

Narwhal had the same beam as a Sturgeon (33 feet), and was basically an enlarged Sturgeon, longer than the 302 ft. "long hull" version at 314 feet. I believe a few of the hull openings and fittings were in different locations. Internally, it had a low speed direct drive turbine set, and the S5G natural circulation reactor.

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Tom Dougherty
Researcher for: "Project Azorian”
https://www.amazon.com/Azorian-Raising-K-129-Michael-White/dp/B008QTU7QY
"Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129" Book
https://www.usni.org/press/books/project-azorian

Tom,

After reviewing a lot of different references, the beam of Narwhal does indeed seem to be 33 feet, so Friedman was wrong. However, this is not the same beam as the 637s, which had a beam of 31'8'' (the same as the Permits and Skipjacks). So she was beamier by 1'4'' (which means that she did not share the same pressure-hull forward of the reactor with the 637s). Her pressure hull also didn't have the wasp-waist of the other 2nd Generation boats, so she was half-way between the 637s and 688s in this respect. She was the quietest American SSN until Seawolf, which is a pretty astonishing fact given that she was commissioned in 1969. I sure wish I had some drydock photos of her (I really want to see those scoops).

_________________
Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

I would love to see both Narwhal, Lipscomb and Triton in 1/350. It seems that all other U.S. Nukes have been modeled with the exception of previously mentioned and a few class variations.

I think Lipscomb would be fairly easy as you could just take one of the Mikro mir kits, cut it in half and insert a 2.5 inch plug. What I really want is a 1/350 Parche both before and after her late 80s modifications. I suppose I could use the Mikro Mir kit, but making the turtle-back and sail would be a little difficult. Fun fact, Parche used the sail fairwater planes as the Los Angeles class, and I have an extra pair of these laying around from my Riich 688I.

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Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

There was another Sturgeon that had a small superstructure behind the sail but i cant remember off the top of my head. Nice fact about the fairwater planes. I suppose it would make sense since they would need to be bigger with the hull not tapering in below them like a standard sturgeon.

USS Richard B. Russell (SSN 687) was the fourth American special projects boat and she had a fairing aft of the sail for a towed communications buoy (it was called a bustle, as in "Russell's bustle"). Parche had a very similar fairing from the mid 1970s to the late 80s.

_________________
Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

Does anyone have a photo of the Narwhal's aft planes?

I read that the Narwhal's seawater scoops might have been part of her aft planes, as on the British Swiftsure, Trafalgar, and Astute-class submarines. This would make sense given that the British also told the US Navy about rafting.

Jacob

_________________
Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

Found this little write up online:


How authoritative is that description of the scoops? I have no idea. I know the direct turbine drive is correct. Scoops on the stabilizer fins would make for a long piping run internally, with the pipes under sea pressure. No wonder SubSafe ruled out any followup builds with that design.

Here's the site URL: https://www.pinterest.com/offsite/?token=246-75&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usmilitaryart.com%2Fsubmarines.htm&pin=6755468165952242&client_tracking_params=CwABAAAADDY4MDE3ODY1NjQ1NwA~0

_________________
Tom Dougherty
Researcher for: "Project Azorian”
https://www.amazon.com/Azorian-Raising-K-129-Michael-White/dp/B008QTU7QY
"Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129" Book
https://www.usni.org/press/books/project-azorian

Pintrest links don't always play well (I get a 404 error with the one you posted), so I believe this is the page it was referencing: http://www.usmilitaryart.com/submarines.htm

There, it cites the following right after the text you posted:
Whether that refers to just the drawing or also the text description, though...

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De quoi s'agit-il?

Thanks, Tim for the link correction. Looking closely at the drawing, I can see the inlet on the horizontal stern plane.

_________________
Tom Dougherty
Researcher for: "Project Azorian”
https://www.amazon.com/Azorian-Raising-K-129-Michael-White/dp/B008QTU7QY
"Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129" Book
https://www.usni.org/press/books/project-azorian

I might be going crazy, but if I squint my eyes, it looks like the Lipscomb has a dark oval on the leading edge of her stabilizer:

https://i.imgur.com/A1po5Ow.jpg

Could this be a seawater inlet? I have never heard any references to the Lipscomb or any other American submarine besides the Narwhal having seawater intakes, and I believe that the Lipscomb was identical to the other Sturgeons besides the power plant. It might be that the Lipscomb's design was begun after the SUBSAFE regulations and she wasn't able to have them, but it's possible her design originates from before big seawater intakes were outlawed. Unfortunately, I have no other photographs or plans of the Lipscomb to investigate further.

Jacob

_________________
Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

After reading the statements about the reactor plant (which is nonsense) "...natural circulation not pressurized" S5G was a PWR, which means pressurized water reactor. There are coolant pumps but like the later S8G core they were used to start circulation and then only for High Power operation. While i was never at Idaho Falls, I was at KAPL and was EEOW and Engineer qualified on S5W (S3G core three) and S8G submarines along with the MARF (S7G) prototype, MARF was the "Rodless Wonder" in it didn't have control rods and was one of Hymies pet projects. I interviewed with him prior to my Naval Career, he was to say the least different. I can't really believe the linked post which shows a lack of knowledge by the person who set up that site. If one this is definitely wrong everything else is also suspect.

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Our CO prior to flying to the boomer: “Our goals on this patrol is to shoot missiles and torpedoes.”
Junior Nuke Officer (me) : “Captain, don’t we really want to be like Monty Python and ‘Not be seen’?”
CO “You seem to be missing the big picture”
“Oh”

So to check, Narwhal is the width of a 688, a bit longer than a long hull sturgeon, towed array fairing on the port side, sail a further aft than on Sturgeons, and she does have the sturgeon type end plates on her stern planes? in addition to the scoops of course.

I'm checking cause my plan to build a 1/700 USS Narwhal is to get a hobbyboss Los Angeles class, with the incorrect stern planes that have the end plates, chop a section out of her middle to shorten her the right length, fill the recess for the sail and move it to the right place, plus some plasticard elements to enlarge it, then some thin brass for the towed array tube to run from the fairing to the end plate on the port side, and I'll probably notch or drill small ports In the stern plane fins for the seawater intakes, since no one has found actual dry dock pictures, that's our current best guess.

Does that sounds like a solid plan for a 1/700 Narwhal?

The PUFFS fairings (end plates) are pretty much identical to those of a 637, and yes, the diameter of the hull is 33' just like a 688. The sail is about in the same position as a 637 and is nearly identical to that of a 637. The towed array fairing is on the starboard side and looks just like one on a 637. The scoops are just small oval holes in the leading edge of the stern stabilizers. Another little detail is that her propeller had a diameter of 12'6" in diameter instead of 15' like a 637.

Jacob

_________________
Under Construction:
1/350 Typhoon
1/350 Skate
1/350 USS Nautilus
1/350 Tang
1/350 November
1/350 Hotel II
1/350 Alfa
1/350 George Washington
1/72 Type VIIC

Awesome, thank you v much

Here is my 1/700 Narwhal, made out of a 1/700 HB Los Angeles, removed center section approx 20.9 mm, moved sail up and raised it, trimmed and moved fair water planes, still need to add towed array tube between fairing and stern plane, and a brass etch screw and paint.

Model kit of Narwhal coming soon. Stay tuned.

_________________
Tom Dougherty
Researcher for: "Project Azorian”
https://www.amazon.com/Azorian-Raising-K-129-Michael-White/dp/B008QTU7QY
"Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129" Book
https://www.usni.org/press/books/project-azorian

1/72 Sail WIP

CC, Very nice work on the sail! The idea for a Narwhal originated with you, since you pointed out that it was a "forgotten" Special Projects boat. I suggested it to the manufacturer based on your comments.

How did the 1/72 Nautilus project go?

_________________
Tom Dougherty
Researcher for: "Project Azorian”
https://www.amazon.com/Azorian-Raising-K-129-Michael-White/dp/B008QTU7QY
"Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129" Book
https://www.usni.org/press/books/project-azorian