School of the boat 9 Feb 09 (Scopes)

[Darrin]

Alright folks, as the school of the boat series is coming to an end we are going to talk about the periscopes and how they operate... Next week we will cover the removal of the 'scopes so don't bring that into the discussion this week.

SO with that being said.. How do we PROPERLY maintain our scopes?  and no just looking at them or through them doesn't mean that they have been maintained at all.. Some of the museums have a camera mounted on them so that the tourist's can see what the scope is actually seeing after all of these years (TORSK).

The biggest question that I hear while onboard is "where are the periscopes" and when I tell them in the Conning tower and that the small TV is showing what is in the inner harbor and IF lucky we also can hear the sounds of a small boat in the harbor (we have a sonar transducer in the water and the sound is piped into the control room). For the most part that pacify's the tourist's and when shown they can see just a small part of the scope housing itself and they were expecting to see Paul come down with Cap'n Dodge from that movie that was made a number of years ago on the Pamp with a very hot female LT whom had her uniform shrunk against her wishes

Get busy folks and "lets kick this pig"

[Lance Dean]

Good question Darrin. 

There is a guy registered here on the forum that's supposed to be good with periscopes.

http://www.submarinemuseums.org/forum/index.php?topic=172.msg2583#msg2583

I'm hoping to get a good shot through the periscope on my next visit to the Drum.  I just can't figure out how to get my zoom/focus right with the point-n-shoot digital camera.  I'm attaching a photo taken through the Drum periscope around 1995 by Gil Bohannon.

Periscopes are just magic as far as I'm concerned.  I have no answers.

[JTheotonio]

Here is a site with some pretty good periscope shots:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4834/index.html

[Darrin]

Ok folks,

Looks like this dog doesn't want to hunt anymore or you all are waiting on an answer on how to maintain your scopes.. The biggest problem that I have seen online with the different boats scopes are that they have been DAMP for many years and turned to crud inside.

Well here's the basic way to drain your scopes and then properly maintain them.

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/fleetsub/pscope/chap2.htm#2A

[Lance Dean]

I have a general question about the periscope wells.   Have any of you guys ever looked into the bottom of the periscope wells on your museum subs?  I just read an interesting book that mentioned all the miscellaneous things that ended up falling into the periscope wells up in the conning tower.  It said that there was a huge amount of trouble in crawling down in the pump room and taking the bottom of the well covers off to clean them out.

Maybe there are all kinds of treasures waiting to be discovered there?

[Darrin]

We try to open ours up every work weekend and see IF there is any water in there and to see what "goodies" the tourista's have left behind for us. In the bilges we have found cell phones and trash and toys, so it is fun to clean the bilges because you never know what you are going to find.

[JTheotonio]

Last time I cleaned a bilge I was chipping ice! We we up in the North Atlantic.  Good new we used the ice to chill the Gilly (no, not in the Gilly)!

[Darrin]

Well John,
it is time that you dove the bilges once more my friend.. that or at least come out and be a TM once more and get to play in a real torpedo room.... This October the Torsk is having another of her famous work weekends and you can stay onboard her or the USCG Taney (07 Dec 1941 Vet) for the 3 days and enjoy the sights and sounds of Bawlmore and be apart of a great crew who is happy to see the "extended" family show up and of course welcome new members to the family that have one thing in common... The love of submarines and making this one last for another 60 years.

Come on down shipmate, you will not regret it.. you may however regret not doing this soooner though

[Gil Bohannon]

In 1999, Bruce and I opened up the #1 scope well through the access plate located in the pump room. There was water in the bottom of the well, as well as several other goodies. Mixed in with the water and oil were the remains of at least one pigeon, several rubber scope eyepieces, and the best find - the entire eyepiece that was missing off the #1 scope!!

Unfortunately, the eyepiece had been submerged for so many years that the optical coating was damaged pretty bad. We disassembled it and tried to clean and polish the lenses, with no success. It could be used, but it was very hazy. A couple of years later, Paul Lapinski from Kollmorgen located a nearly new eyepiece and sent that to us, along with the proper fittings to secure it to the scope so that it wouldnt get lost down the well again.

The picture is of me holding the eyepiece just after we pulled it from the muck in the bottom of the well.



You never know what you'll find down there!

Gil

[JTheotonio]

I will have to get the dates and see if I can make it - just a short drive of 300-400 miles?  Got room in the back of the truck for a 400-500 gal keg of Gilly juice.  I might have to start up the still now!

[Darrin]

SWEET,
I hope like hell to be able to make it one more year and it is up to the Army as to if I am still here or not.