Recent inquiries into USN mishaps in recent years have identified that lack of sleep and time for recreation, amongst other issues, impacts significantly on performance, and therefore on the operational effectiveness of a submarine (or other warship).
With the Astute and Vanguard classes having overcome the need for ‘hot bunking’, why has the USN allowed the designers of their latest submarines to rely on ‘hot bunking’ to accommodate some of the crew? Considering the excessive work-load of USN enlisted personnel compared to their counter-parts in other NATO navies, I would suggest that this could be a morale issue, especially on long patrols. The only privacy on a submarine is one’s bunk (or rack in USN parlance), yet sharing means a sailor doesn’t even ‘enjoy’ that. In some respects, the strong human element within the book is one of its strengths because it puts these highly technical and specialised warships into a broader context, for without the crews, these submarines are useless! However, it surprises this reviewer that these modern, highly advanced submarines still rely on ‘hot bunking’ for some junior enlisted personnel. The content itself is not restricted to ‘mere‘ technical details, but includes numerous photographs of submarines in service and of the crews themselves, and how the latter inter-act with their environment. The quality of the photographs is matched by the design, layout and paper of the book itself. The quality of the photographs - most taken in 2017 - is excellent only a very few are over-exposed, but not even these detract from the overall quality. The only understandable omissions are those that are classified, such as the reactor compartment, etc. It is through the numerous full-colour photographs that this book excels! From construction through to weapons systems, and almost everything in between, this reference book sets a standard for a photographic book on a current, modern warship.
#Us navy seawolf manual
Not even the inappropriately titled Astute Class Nuclear Submarine 2010 to date - Owner’s Workshop Manual comes close to matching the depth of coverage in the book under review. What makes this American publication amazing is the depth of photographic coverage there is nothing comparable in the public domain for any Royal Navy or other NATO submarines. This is a very interesting, compelling and amazing technical insight into the United States Navy Seawolf and Virginia-class fast attack submarines (SSNs). In place of the Seawolf class, the Virginia-class attack submarine is an advanced stealth, multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep-ocean antisubmarine warfare and littoral (shallow water) operations. The author’s unprecedented access onboard a Seawolf-class SSN―the USS Connecticut (SSN-22)―is a first for the Navy and provides exclusive coverage found only in this book. With only three in the class, the supersecret USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) is virtually off limits to any and all photography. With the end of the Cold War, the Seawolf-class SSNs were limited to the three that were under construction at the time, and the program was terminated. From its debut in 1997, the nuclear-powered Seawolf (SSN-21) represented the lead ship of the deadliest submarine ever to be constructed for the USN during the Cold War. Successors to the US Navy’s Los Angeles–class fast-attack submarines (presented in volume 1), the Seawolf- and Virginia-class SSNs are presented here from their initial design and construction, through testing and trials, to current operations.
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