Museums Established in 1948 - Maritime Museum of San Diego, Star of India, USS Dolphin, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Soviet Submarine B-39 (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Maritime Museum of San Diego, Star of India, Uss Dolphin, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Soviet Submarine B-39, Black Museum, Hms Surprise, Berkeley, Californian, Des Moines Art Center, Medea, Pilot. Excerpt: USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) was the United States Navy's only operational diesel-electric, deep-diving, research and development submarine. Her keel was laid down on 9 November 1962 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. The first arc was struck by Merton Watts, assistant chief design engineer. She was launched on 8 June 1968 sponsored by Mrs. Daniel K. Inouye, and commissioned on 17 August 1968 with Lieutenant Commander J.R. McDonnell in command. Despite her recent repair and upgrade, Dolphin was decommissioned on 15 January 2007 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the same date. She is now a museum ship in San Diego Bay under the management of the San Diego Maritime Museum. The single most significant technical achievement in the development of Dolphin is the pressure hull itself. It is a constant diameter cylinder, closed at its ends with hemispherical heads, and utilizes deep frames instead of bulkheads. The entire design of the pressure hull has been kept as simple as possible to facilitate its use in structural experiments and trials. Hull openings have been minimized for structural strength and minimum hull weight, in addition to eliminating possible sources for flooding casualties. The submarine has no snorkel mast; her one hatch must be open while her diesels are running. Employed by both civilian and Navy activities, Dolphin is equipped with an extensive instrumentation suite that supports missions such as acoustic deep-water and littoral research, near-bottom and ocean surveys, weapons launches, sensor trials... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=207245