The Ship Model Forum

The term "Special Projects" is used pretty loosely. It was originally assigned to denote the Polaris program office under Raborn.

Any submarine can perform CNO-designated Special Projects. My first boat, a boomer was involved in one, and it was study performed by some scientists we had onboard for a few days.

Narwhal conducted many Special Projects due to her low acoustic signature. TB-29 testing was but one that has been acknowledged publicly. The array was much longer than a TB-16, and the pronounced hump on the stern likely housed the array and some of its handling equipment. It was assigned to an East coast DevRon.

The Ocean Engineering program was called CNO Special Projects on my transfer orders. I didn't have a clue as to what OE meant until after I checked in. All OE boats and other assigned assets on the West coast were assigned to COMSUBDEVGRUONE, based in San Diego. The MINSY platforms were assigned there because of the cleared shipyard work force and industrial and design capabilities MINSY offered. They pulled off some amazing feats that may someday be revealed.

Nautilus was a hit and I'm on the the next set of hulls.

If you get a chance, post some photos of your Nautilus here. I would love to see it in 1/72! What new hulls are in progress? (Besides RBR, that is)

I just wrote a three part article for American Submariner magazine on the establishment of Raborn’s Special Projects office for Polaris. And that indeed was the first use of “Special Projects”. Most of the article (part 1 has published) concerns the challenges of building the Polaris system (submarine, missile navigation, guidance, etc.) employing mid-1950’s technology.

Special Projects is a broader term for sure, but Ocean Engineering, another term I have seen used is probably a bit more obscure, although for the kinds equipment and modifications carried out, more specific. Some under the NURO sponsorship .

Losing MINSY, as you have mentioned, was a big mistake. Now there is a shortage of Naval shipyards, and the expertise of Mare is long gone.

_________________
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