USN Seawolf Class SSN
SSN-21 USS Seawolf
1/350th scale model kit
By Blue Water Navy
http://www.bluewaternavy.com
In-box review by: John Sheridan
The Ship:
Seawolf-class submarines were designed to operate autonomously against the world's most capable submarine and surface threats. The primary mission of the Seawolf was to destroy Soviet ballistic missile submariness before they could attack American targets. The Soviet submarines are one of the most survivable elements of their intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal. In addition to their capabilities in countering enemy submarines and surface shipping, Seawolf submarines are suited for battlespace-preparation roles. Incorporation of sophisticated electronics produces enhanced indications and warning, surveillance, and communications capabilities. These platforms are capable of integrating into a battle group's infrastructure, or shifting rapidly into a land-battle support role.The Seawolf features a strengthened sail, designed to permit operations under the polar ice cap for taking the fight to the Soviets in their own front yard. It sports an eight-tube, double-deck torpedo room to simultaneously engage multiple threats. It incorporates the latest in quieting technology to keep pace with the threat then posed by an aggressive Soviet Union.
The Seawolf has the highest tactical speed of any US submarine. Much much of the design effort was focused on noise reduction, and it is expected that the fully coated boat will restore the level of acoustic advantage which the US Navy enjoyed for the last three decades. The Seawolf's propulsion system makes it ten times more quiet over its full range of operating speeds than the Improved-688 class and 70 times more quiet than the initial generation of Los Angeles 688-class submarines. The Seawolf's quieter propulsion system will also enable it to have twice the tactical speed as the I-688. Tactical speed is the speed at which a submarine is still quiet enough to remain undetected while tracking enemy submarines effectively. Overall, the Seawolf's propulsion system represents a 75-percent improvement over the I-688's -- the Seawolf can operate 75 percent faster before being detected. It is said that SEAWOLF is quieter at its tactical speed of 25 knots than a LOS ANGELES-class submarine at pierside.
With twice as many torpedo tubes and a 30% increase in weapons magazine size over the Los Angeles (SSN 688)-class submarines, Seawolf is capable of establishing and maintaining battlespace dominance. Seawolf's inherent stealth enables surreptitious insertion of combat swimmers into denied areas. SSN 23 will incorporate special-operations force capabilities, including a dry deck shelter (DDS) and a new, specially designed combat swimmer silo. The DDS is an air-transportable device that piggy-backs on the submarine and can be used to store and launch a swimmer delivery vehicle and combat swimmers. The silo is an internal lock-out chamber that will deploy up to eight combat swimmers and their equipment at one time.
Construction of the submarine has relied on a new welding material to join the steel into plates, hull subsections and large cylindrical sections. The Seawolf is the first American attack submarine to use a hull made entirely of high-pressure HY-100 steel -- previous sumarines used HY80 steel. HY-100 steel was first used in submarines in the early 1960s in the Navy's deep-diving SEA CLIFF and TURTLE,, which were capable of reaching depths in excess of 10,000 feet.
The SEAWOLF program began in the mid-1980s to ensure U.S. submarine superiority over Soviet counterparts well into the next century. The first U.S. attack submarine in decades designed from the keel up to accommodate the latest weapons, sensors, propulsion, and communication advancements, SEAWOLF exceeded expectations during lead ship sea trials in the summer of 1996. The test program included first underwater submergence, acoustics trials, engineering inspections and at-sea training for the crew. Seawolf (SSN 21) was commissioned on 19 July 1997 at Electric Boat Shipyard.
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Seawolf Class SSN Data |
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Displacement |
16,764 tons (surface) |
Max Speed |
20+ kts (surface) 30+ kts (submerged) |
| Length | 560 feet |
Complement |
Crew 140 Enlisted 15 Officers |
Beam |
42 feet |
Test Depth | 800+ feet |
Power Plant |
S8G Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor, |
Armament | 4 Torpedo Tubes 24 tubes for Trident D-5 Missiles |
The Kit:
The 1:350th scale Blue Water Navy kit of the SSN-726 USS Ohio is a multimedia kit consisting of Resin, White Metal, and Photo-etched parts.
The resin parts consists of the hull which is a solid one-piece hunk of resin with all the detail cast in including the sensor bulges on the sides of the boat. Hatches, access-ports, and other openings are scribed into the hull. The hull has a large casting plug on the keel that will have to be removed and sanded smooth.. The propeller shroud is made of resin and fits over the unique count rotating propellers which consist of many small brass blades. The dive planes and scopes are made of White Metal and require a light sanding to fit in their place. The instruction sheet is a one-page two-sided affair that clearly shows where the parts go. A decal sheet with hull numbers, pennants, and rescue markings round out this kit.
Conclusion:
This is a great kit for a person who is looking for a simple, yet very detailed resin kit to build. Those who have never built a resin kit would find this kit to be an excellent first-time kit to build. I would highly recommend this, or any other Blue Water Navy submarine kit to anyone
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