Need help ID'ing a submarine

[the white drew carey]

Hey fellow MWers. I was putzing around on Google Earth, checking out the naval base at Bremerton, WA, and found this oddly shaped submarine. I was curious if anyone know which sub it is.

[Phyrox]

I don't have any of my references out here with me, so I can't reference the size to check.

Looks like an older Soviet missle boat to me. Like an Echo or something.

I must admit it is harder than I thought to ID subs from satelite images, since almost all the photos and drawings I've seen are not from that vantage.

I'll keep thinking.

[Necron_99]

SSBN?

Its alot bigger than the other subs (LA, presumably) and it has the island all the way forward, to accomodate the silo's in the rear. Just a guess, though.

[Phyrox]

The sail position almost makes me think November...but the hull shape isn't right.

It doesn't seem to have an "Albacore" (cigar-shaped) hull, unless the shadows are playing tricks.

It doesn't have diving planes on the sail.

It's fairly large.

The sail is pretty far forward.

All this points to a Russian/Soviet guided missle sub of the mid-Cold War period. It could be something entirely different, like a USN one-off. Wish I could be more specific.

Probably not an SSBN. Early Soviet SSB/SSBN had the missles in the sail, which made the sail pretty big. Later Soviet SSBNs had Albacore-like hull shapes and a distinctive turtle-backed structure.

This sub has neither.

Edited June 11, 2007 by Phyrox

[the white drew carey]

If it's an SSBN, it's gotta be way old school. I didn't include it in the image, but theres some SSBNs nearby, and their shape in the water is the same as the SSNs in this picture (rounded at the bow and stern).

What gets me is this one comes to points at the bow and stern as it sits in the water, which indicates a much different hull shape than the type U.S. has used for nearly half a century.

It's cool, because you can also see the SSN-23 Jimmy Carter in drydock nearby.

[the white drew carey]

Hmmm... I may have found an answser: The SSRN-586 USS Triton. The only sub fitted with two reactors AND a presidential suite.

It's awaiting a drydock check and then will probably be scrapped for good.

[Phyrox]

Hmmm... I may have found an answser: The SSRN-586 USS Triton. The only sub fitted with two reactors AND a presidential suite.

It's awaiting a drydock check and then will probably be scrapped for good.

That looks about right.

[David Hingtgen]

::edit:: Just noticed the other subs nearby.

Is the big one next to it the Long Beach? I think it's been sitting there with the superstructure gone for years.

[HoveringCheesecake]

Is this Seattle? If so, it's probably the Russian sub they have there to tour. http://www.russiancobra.com/

Foxtrot class.

What the hell. I hate North Dakota and our nothingness. *cries in a corner*

[David Hingtgen]

Never mind, I posted that before getting a good look, I saw the location was Seattle, but didn't notice all the other drydocked subs there--which means it's more properly Bangor.

[Boxer]

Wiki (For whatever it's worth) says the Triton is in "Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Elizabeth River ghost fleet, Portsmouth, VA".

Looks like the hull is pre-albacore, at least from my judgement. The sail is too far forward to be a foxtrot, also. Since all of the old-style hull (American) SSNs have already been retired or scrapped (Save the Nautilus), it might either be forign or a new design.

Maybe it's a Seawolf/Virginia?

Edited June 11, 2007 by Boxer

[the white drew carey]

Wiki (For whatever it's worth) says the Triton is in "Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Elizabeth River ghost fleet, Portsmouth, VA".

Looks like the hull is pre-albacore, at least from my judgement. The sail is too far forward to be a foxtrot, also. Since all of the old-style hull (American) SSNs have already been retired or scrapped (Save the Nautilus), it might either be forign or a new design.

Maybe it's a Seawolf/Virginia?

Looks like Wiki is out of date:

http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn586.htm

Last sentence before General Characteristics: "Towed to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Wash., the TRITON is awaiting her turn in the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program since then."

p.s.-

Here's what I believe to be the SSN-23 USS Jimmy Carter in drydock, with some Ohio class subs tied up at the piers. I'm making this assumption because it is a bit longer than the attack subs, and we all know the Jimmy Carter had a large section added to her hull for special ops, which makes her about 100 feet longer than the other two Seawolf Class boats.

[David Hingtgen]

Ack, I'm doing really poorly today. Meant Bremerton, not Bangor. (Too many "B" places in Washington state for US subs)