Cold War GB 2018 Inspiration

[PR19_Kit]

The only blue police box I know of is the one where Rule 6 is kept.

Exactly............ 

[zenrat]

Regarding the North Pole, don't forget the fighting beneath the ice...

[Weaver]

Regarding the North Pole, don't forget the fighting beneath the ice...

Indeed, however the problem with submarines is that most credible what ifs don't result in modelable differences to their exteriors. Spy subs are a different matter though, and very 'Cold War'. Diver lockout chambers are often fitted, and some subs have had things like 'landing legs' or minisub hangars added to them.

Go to this link for pics of the Halibut, including original artwork, and links to other spy subs. This is an awesome resource:
http://www.hisutton.com/Secret%20Sub%20-%20USS%20Halibut.html

Spy subs with legs and lockout chamber:
USS Seawolf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Seawolf_(SSN-575)
USS Halibut: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Halibut_%28SSGN-587%29
Operation Ivy Bells: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells

Possible spy sub with midget subs:
India Class (Project 940): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India-class_submarine
X-Ray class and carriers: http://www.hisutton.com/Spy%20Subs%20-%20X-RAY.html

Spy sub with wheels!:
NR-1: http://www.hisutton.com/NR-1.html

USS Parche, from H.I.Sutton's site linked above:

[Weaver]

British subs have been seen with DDS (Dry Deck Shelters) behind their fin, but that's about it. Here's HMS Ambush (too late for the Cold War, but you might imagine similar devices on earlier classes):



However much of the point of covert ops mods is that they're below the waterline and invisible when the sub's on the surface anyway.

Prior to the Astutes, HMS Spartan was modified to carry a USN-pattern DDS, but she was decommissioned several years before the Astute came into service. It would therefore be a reasonable whiff to put one on a Trafalgar class as an interim measure, and I just so happen to have an Airfix Trafalgar in the stash. Hmmm...

[sandiego89]

Regarding the North Pole, don't forget the fighting beneath the ice...

All this talk of cold war and ice gives me an excuse to reload my Ice Station Delta pictures from the last Cold War GB- that were lost with the Photobucket extortion.

Scratch 1/350 USS Skate, TF-102 and F-102's on the ice.

 

 

[Snowtrooper]

USS Parche, from H.I.Sutton's site linked above:

I was about to laugh at the implausibility of this, landing gear on a 100-metre long nuclear submarine*? Side thrusters**? Totally unhydrodynamic protrusions all over***? Full-scale extra sonar on top of the rear hull, even though it's rendered ineffective whenever the propeller is operating...****?

...and then I realized it's all real and not a whiff

*) Then I realized that due to buyoancy it won't have to support it's full weight and is useful if you're trying to stand still near the bottom in <300m deep water - does not even require the use of propeller
**) Useful for precise positioning eg. directly above an undersea cable
***) It probably won't be trying to reach record speeds and if it would have to hide from active sonars (which are rarely used except when wanting to scare an already detected sub/getting the final "fix" for firing solution) the mission has been compromised already
***) When it's standing still at the bottom the towed array cannot be deployed but the propeller is not interfering with a rear-facing sonar either. The spherical sonar at the front still can't see through the hull so this is needed for rearward "visibility", and putting the rear sonar on the top makes sense in this case as the potential attacker obviously cannot approach from below

[Weaver]

USS Parche, from H.I.Sutton's site linked above:

I was about to laugh at the implausibility of this, landing gear on a 100-metre long nuclear submarine*? Side thrusters**? Totally unhydrodynamic protrusions all over***? Full-scale extra sonar on top of the rear hull, even though it's rendered ineffective whenever the propeller is operating...****?

...and then I realized it's all real and not a whiff

*) Then I realized that due to buyoancy it won't have to support it's full weight and is useful if you're trying to stand still near the bottom in <300m deep water - does not even require the use of propeller
**) Useful for precise positioning eg. directly above an undersea cable
***) It probably won't be trying to reach record speeds and if it would have to hide from active sonars (which are rarely used except when wanting to scare an already detected sub/getting the final "fix" for firing solution) the mission has been compromised already
***) When it's standing still at the bottom the towed array cannot be deployed but the propeller is not interfering with a rear-facing sonar either. The spherical sonar at the front still can't see through the hull so this is needed for rearward "visibility", and putting the rear sonar on the top makes sense in this case as the potential attacker obviously cannot approach from below

Yep, some of the 'incidents' involving these boats would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up if they weren't wet....

Seawolf had a horrible experience in the Sea of Okhotsk one time when a powerful storm came in whilst she was on the bottom. The boat was rocking on her 'skegs' (landing gear) and one of the divers nearly got trapped under one of them. Then it was discovered that the currents had washed sand over the skegs and the reactor cooling intakes had sucked it in, contaminating the system and threatening a shutdown. What's more, the skegs were stuck in the sand.

She was stuck on the bottom for two days while various remedies were tried. A violent maneuver to lift her off the seabed was out of the question if it risked her breaking the surface, because she would then almost certainly be detected and attacked. In the end, they had to cut the mushroom anchors to free her. As she came off the bottom, a cradle between the skegs that was intended to hold recovered missile parts partially broke free. As she left the area, they discovered that at anything over six knots the cradle banged against the hull, making an awful noise that would give their position away. Then they were detected by a Soviet surface ship, possibly an armed trawler, and she chased them for 24 hours, with the Seawolf unable to move at more than six knots or maneuver hard. In the end, the Soviet vessel just gave up and went away, for reasons that the sub crew couldn't fathom. It might just have been the whim of her captain.

When she got home and into dry dock, Seawolf looked like she'd been depth-charged, with dents all over her hull and damaged equipment hanging off...

[NARSES2]

I'm sorry but I can't read the name USS Halibut without it bring a smile to my face 

Fascinating info' lads 

[Weaver]

Speaking of spy subs, look at Micro-Mir's range. I had no idea that they made so many! 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?product_category_id=0&product_division_id=0&scale_id=0&product_type_id=3080&manufacturer_id=362447&sort=0&search_direction=asc&search=&stock=0

There are too many there to list individually, including some that I've never heard of before! You can find details of them on H.I.Sutton's site. Unfortunately, his site doesn't have a search engine, so the best bet is to put the project number (Soviet designs) or boat name/SSN number (USN designs) into Google then scroll down until you find the hit for his page on it.


Hobby Boss do the USS Jimmy Carter, which is modified for special ops: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HB87004

They also do the USS Greeneville, a Los Angeles class SSN modified to carry to cancelled ASDS mini-sub: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HB87016

Trumpeter do a 1/72nd Chinese mini-sub (could be passed off as anybody's since it's pretty generic): https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/TU07303

That's half the price of the Japanese mini-sub which Hasegawa make: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HASW03

[PR19_Kit]

Unfortunately, his site doesn't have a search engine, so the best bet is to put the project number (Soviet designs) or boat name/SSN number (USN designs) into Google then scroll down until you find the hit for his page on it.

Doesn't the 'Ctrl-F' trick work with it? 

[Weaver]

Unfortunately, his site doesn't have a search engine, so the best bet is to put the project number (Soviet designs) or boat name/SSN number (USN designs) into Google then scroll down until you find the hit for his page on it.

Doesn't the 'Ctrl-F' trick work with it? 

No, because there isn't a single page with all the articles listed on it for the Ctrl+F to search through.

Thanks for mentioning it though: I'd never seen that function before!

[PR19_Kit]

Unfortunately, his site doesn't have a search engine, so the best bet is to put the project number (Soviet designs) or boat name/SSN number (USN designs) into Google then scroll down until you find the hit for his page on it.

Doesn't the 'Ctrl-F' trick work with it? 

No, because there isn't a single page with all the articles listed on it for the Ctrl+F to search through.

Thanks for mentioning it though: I'd never seen that function before!

It can be very handy, it goes waaaaaay back to MS-DOS v3.0 I think. 

[rickshaw]

You can search a website with Google.  Just append as a suffix the URL and then the search terms.  Google will then discover all entries for it.   

[zenrat]

Had a thought today.
During the cold war the US broadcast propaganda to the Soviet Union - Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, BBC Radio Two* etc.
What if it had been done from aircraft?  A team of aerial bestrewn C97s perpetually holding station over the Baltic refuelled in flight by KC97s (until they ran out of engine oil).
They would of course be known as the Stratocasters...



I'll get me coat.



*There can have been no other explanation for Jimmy Young.

[PR19_Kit]

What if it had been done from aircraft?  A team of aerial bestrewn C97s perpetually holding station over the Baltic refuelled in flight by KC97s (until they ran out of engine oil).
They would of course be known as the Stratocasters...

Hehehe, nice one. 

The USAF did that for real at one stage too. There was a bunch of specially equipped C-130s flown by an ANG unit that really were airborne radio stations. They had massive 'tanks' outboard of the Herk's usual tanks, and some very weird blade shaped aerials out toward the wing tips.