Calling all USS Nautilus SSN-571 fans

[Timmy C]

A pic of Nautilus' stern in drydock can be found in picture 0857125.jpg in this directory: http://navsource.org/archives/08/571/
Press Ctrl+F to pull up the Find function, and type in 0857125 and click on it to see to picture.

[T. Dougherty]

Has any one seen a picture of the stern of the Nautilus or Seawolf?
I have a set of plans that shows a step up in the taper at the stern, with no torpedo tubes and many limber holes.
And I have seen another set of plans with a smooth, constant taper, what appear to be four torpedo tubes and fewer limber holes (but still too many).
There are enough differences in the plans to make it hard to trust either.

The stern of the Nautilus has no torpedo tubes. She had six tubes, all bow tubes. Excellent photos of her in drydock (including a nice stern shot) are available in the new book, "US Nuclear Submarines: The Fast Attack (New Vanguard) - Paperback (Sep 18, 2007) by Jim Christley and Tony Bryan". If you are looking at the old Wieswesser plans, there not all that accurate for Nautilus or Seawolf. Seawolf was designed quite differently than Nautilus as far as the exterior (step sail and raised bow); her stern was slightly different. Seawolf ran around with a sodium cooled (liquid metal) reactor (rather than pressurized water) for her first three years of service. The later Skate class did have two stern torpedo tubes, as did USS Halibut. Thise were the last US submarines built with stern tubes.

All of the kits you mentioned are way off in their representation of the Nautilus. The best and most accurate kit is the Seawolf/Torpedo resin kit. I have a photo of my build at: http://steelnavy.com/images/Gallery/Nautilus-2-25.jpg (I'm embarrased to say I never posted the build here; sorry Tim! I'll send some photos)

[cozmo]

Thanks y'all!

I cannot believe I missed that pic at Navsourse.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Timmy,
Thanks for starting this thread.
I got my 1/350 Combat/Pit-Road Nautilus from PacFront, and this will be my next build.
I'm thinking full hull, cube of the sea type dio....
There was a cool dry-dock pic of Nautilus on a Nautilus dedicated website...look-see...

The date shows 1969......hmmmmmm.......love those props!
For some reason, I can not view Navsource.org images with the way my computer is set up.....I used to be able.....?????
Tony

[Timmy C]

I believe this was split off from another thread - I don't recall starting this, and would've put more into the first post if I did. Nevertheless, hopefully this thread will have its use.

Looking forward to your model, Tony.

[descendent]

My grandfather was one of the people who worked on building the Nautilus - it's a pretty cool piece of family lore.

[Tracy White]

I've got some photos of her I found recently that'll be showing up on Navsource in a bit that you should enjoy... Admiral Nimitz qualified as a nuclear submariner aboard her for example.

[Tom Dougherty]

Admiral Nimitz qualified as a nuclear submariner aboard her

While Nimitz was a qualified submariner long before WWII, he never qualified as a nuclear submariner, as you qualify as a submariner (and wear the dolphins) by demonstrating an overall knowledge of submarine systems. There is no "nuclear submariner" qualification.

Nuclear power qualification for officers is a year long process-6 months of intense classroom training and testing and 6 months standing watches at a land based reactor protoype, followed by a rigourous examination. Enlisted men follow a similar very rigorous qualification process. You may end up on a submarine, or you may end up on a CVN. It is possible for someone trained in nuclear power to end up on a submarine and have to qualify as a submariner and earn their dolphins.

Nimitz certainly rode Nautilus, and probably got some sort of honorary certificate, but he never qualifed for Nuclear Power.

[Tracy White]

No doubt the title was honorary to a large extent, but you can read the official Navy Caption yourself as the pictures have hit Navsource.
I'll have to talk to Michael about that "balloon" caption though.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Last minute IPMS Nats build!
I have the Combat Models 1/350 SSN-571. I cut the bottom off today while at work, so this will be a w/l display. No fancy underwater display; no time.
My question is this:
What was Nautilus' most interesting paint scheme? Was'nt there a time when a light-ish grey upper / black scheme early on?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
Tony
ps funny seeing my last post here!

[Tracy White]

Key-ripes what a bump!

I have a "multi-color" scheme shot, but it's during her inactivation in 1980 and a light gray below the waterline - I suspect a primer. I have a higher-quality copy of this shot and it's hard to tell if it's faded black or a gray... I suspect the former.

[Tom Dougherty]

That's the sea trials shot, in light gray. The emergency buoy markers (forward & aft) were in international orange, and show as a light color here.

[Tracy White]

Hey Tom, it sort-of looked (but I couldn't tell for sure) like the top of the sail may have been black.. any thoughts on that?

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
I'm trying to decide on an operational paint scheme; post North Pole transit......or?
Also, the number of masts/scopes etc. to have sticking up; which ones and how many???? The kits offers many scopes/antennas etc, but almost every underway/surfaced pic of Nautilus showed 1 or 2 masts/scopes in the up position at the most.
Which scopes etc would most likely be "up" while running on the surface?
Also, I thought I was able to discern a darker grey and black color combo in a pic or two; not a light grey.
In any case, would I not want black for the deck surfaces?
I want the display to be reasonably accurate in appearance and configuration. It's all in the details! Study the pics and study the drawings.
Once again, the weathering will sell this bird.
I plan to primer tonight and get the top coats on no later than Sunday; Monday for weathering.
Thanks!
Tony

[Tom Dougherty]

Hi Guys,
I'm trying to decide on an operational paint scheme; post North Pole transit......or?
Also, the number of masts/scopes etc. to have sticking up; which ones and how many????

Attached (I hope...) is a photo of Nautilus just post the polar transit in 1958. Note the upper deck sonar installation, the masts extended and the color scheme (that's colour for our UK friends).
Update=can't post it (too big): Here is the link from Navsource to same: http://navsource.org/archives/08/571/0857124.jpg
Note that the Navsource caption is wrong, as the only time the Nautilus was in NYC was in 1958, following the polar submerged transit.

Here's an "as built" shot of Nautilus from Life magazine. That's New London (well actually Groton) in the background. Note that as built she has 2 sets of deadlights (mid & upper). The lower "windows" are not deadlights.
(Oh wait, it won't let me post that one either as it is "too wide" 1280 pixels vs 1200 allowed. Gee, I feel like I did back in the days of dial-up)

She later suffered a surfacing collision that sort of damaged the sail, and was rebuilt with no deadlights. I have a picture of that as well, but won't even try...

[Timmy C]

Tom, you can try hosting the image on an image host like www.imgur.com or www.tinypic.com

[Tom Dougherty]

Tim, Thanks, but life is too short for me to do double duty in posting photos by going to a second site to post the actual photo files then back here with infomation on where to go find them. A lot of my stuff is posted on my personal homepage on the SubCommittee so I don't have to deal with strict limits in size. Some Nautilus photoa (the real one and a model I built) are posted there, along with other sub related materials. http://www.subcommittee.com/SubComm/mem ... mberID=222

Anyhow, I have (I HOPE!!) attached a small (47 Kb) color photo of Nautilus in light gray around the time of the polar transit. The upward scanning sonar dome for polar transit is on the forward deck.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
Tom,
The varying shades of, "Light Grey", is dizzying to me. After seeing different images of Nautilus, it leaves me guessing as to what second color I should use on Nautilus. The most recent photo you posted shows a dark grey to me. I'd actually prefer a darker grey to a lighter grey, but I'm all about accuracy, and I know I can paint Nautilus all black and be correct for most of her service life; correct me if I'm wrong. Lastly, the camo'd masts; were the masts camo'd even back in the 50's?
If I choose to not do decals tonight and leave the whole sub Black, I'm afraid I won't finish it for Nats.
Decisions...
Tom,
Thanks.
Tony

[Tom Dougherty]

I know I can paint Nautilus all black and be correct for most of her service life; correct me if I'm wrong. Lastly, the camo'd masts; were the masts camo'd even back in the 50's?

Yes, Nautilus was all black (above the waterline) for the majority of her career. In some cases she was red below the waterline, and I have a photo of her in a grey lower hull over black top hull as well. The gray upper hull color was early on, and the exact color varied from time to time due to salt exposure, etc. Many times, the crew would "freshen up" the paint for a ceremony, and would use whatever was closest in the yard. I know for a fact that the more recent crews (1990's on) have on occasion used basic Sears Black house paint to "touch up" the exterior before on deck ceremonies. As nearly as I can tell, the mast camo was present for a significant period of the Nautilus' service life. I *think* I can make out a camo pettern on teh 1958 polar transit photos.

In later years the two sets of deadlights were eliminated. As a museum ship, she has no deadlights on the sail.

[Tony Bunch]

Hi Guys,
What I meant was; if I want to finish Nautilus for the Nats, I'd be better off not painting a second color.
As you guys can imagine, a second color makes a huge difference.
I can do the decals right now, and move on or I can paint a second color and add a day to the project.
Early images of Nautilus are useful, and I can now see the differences with the sail; old vs new. The model has the early sail, If I figured things out right.
I can scratch-up the looking up sonar easily enough...
Also, I'm currently reading a book by James Craven; an expose' of sorts that he believed needed to be known by more than those closely attached to so many hush-hush USN Cold War projects. The first section of the book dealt with Cravens' direct involvement with Nautilus' at speed excessive vibration problem that came seriously close to causing the demise of Nautilus. Much was learned by using some non-standard, "field", testing leading to some unforeseen engineering findings that would benefit Nautilus and other SSN and SSBN successors.
Thanks again Tom.
Tony
ps here are some pics of Combat Models SSN571 vs Tony Bunch