Voyage of the Devilfish

ALPHA RADIATION A positively charged panicle emitted by heavy elements undergoing radioactive decay. Essentially a helium nucleus.

AMINES Chemicals used in C02 scrubber, a bed of amines over which air is blown. Eliminates carbon dioxide, a byproduct of human respiration.

AMP-HOUR A unit of electrical energy that measures the capacity of a battery.

AMP-HOUR METER Digital indicator on the Electric Plant Control Panel that measures the discharge of the ship’s battery in amp-hours.

AMR 1 (AUXILIARY MACHINERY ROOM l)(Piranha class) A mechanical equipment room in operations compartment lower level aft of the torpedo room. Contains the bomb (oxygen generator), forward auxiliary seawater pumps, air compressors, and other ship systems.

AMR 2 (AUXILIARY MACHINERY ROOM l)(Piranha class) A two-deck-high compartment aft of the reactor compartment. Only two decks since it is surrounded by ballast tanks. The upper deck contains electrical switchgear and the reactor control cabinets. The lower deck is home to the main feed pumps, reactor auxiliary systems, and the second bomb.

ANALOG As opposed to digital — an analog instrument has a gage face and a pointer. An analog signal is smooth and continuous, while a digital signal is either on or off.

ANECHOIC COATING A thick foam coating attached to the outside of the hulls of Russian submarines. It absorbs incoming active sonar pulses without reflecting them back while damping out internal noises before they can get outside the ship. Analogous to stealth radar absorptive material on a stealth aircraft. Not used on American submarines since it is bulky and easily torn, and American ships are internally quieter.

ANGLE ON THE BOW The angle between an observer’s line of-sight to a target ship and the target’s heading. A ship coming dead on has an angle on the bow of zero degrees. If the contact is going on a course at a right angle to his bearing from the observer, the angle on the bow is port (or starboard) 90 degrees.

ARRAY A collection of sonar hydrophones or transducers that work together to track a contact.

ASH (ANTI-SELF HOMING) A torpedo interlock that measures the distance from the firing ship. If the torpedo comes back toward the firing ship, at 80 % of the return trip, the ASH interlock will shut down the unit, and it floods and sinks.

ASROC Antisubmarine rocket. A depth charge in the nosecone of a solid rocket fueled missile carried by ASW surface ships. The missile puts the depth charge in the water miles away from the firing ship, allowing the depth charge to be a nuclear warhead.

ASW (1) Antisubmarine warfare. (2) Auxiliary seawater system.

AUTHENTICATOR A packet containing a computer written group of letters and numbers. Packets are under two-man control at all times from production to destruction, and are locked in double safes. No one man has both safe combinations. Used by Russian and American forces to validate or authenticate orders to use nuclear weapons so that a single madman would be unable to launch nuclear weaponry. Destruction is done by first shredding, then burning under two man control.

AUX 2 (Piranha class) A depth control tank (variable ballast tank) beneath the torpedo room.

BEND HYDRAULIC MOTOR (ROTARY PISTON MOTOR) An external engine used in some designs of torpedoes. Hot gases enter from a combustion chamber under high pressure. The gases are expanded in a rotary mechanism of pistons connected to a canted swash plate, convening the thermal energy to mechanical work.

BAFFLES A “cone of silence” astern of most submarines where sonar reception is hindered by engines, turbines, screws, and other mechanical equipment located in the aft end of a submarine.

BALL VALVE A total shutoff valve using a ball inserted in a pipe. The ball has a hole in it to allow flow when aligned with the pipe. When rotated 90 degrees, the flow is stopped by the ball.

BALLAST Weight added to a ship to allow it to submerge, to counter buoyancy. Done by flooding tanks, main ballast tanks or variable ballast tanks.

BALLAST CONTROL PANEL Control panel in the port forward corner of an American submarine’s control room. The console controls the ballast tank vent and blowing system, the hovering system, and the trim system. Also home to the chicken switches, the levers controlling the emergency blow system. Panel is manned by the COW, the Chief of the Watch.

BALLAST TANK Tank that is used solely to hold seawater ballast, weight that allows a ship to sink, or when blown allows a ship to be light enough to surface.

BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE Nuclear submarine that carries intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles (SLBM’s— submarine launched ballistic missile). Mission consists entirely of hiding from all other ships and staying in passive radio communication with Washington in the event the President orders a nuclear assault on a foreign country. As opposed to fast attack submarines that do not carry SLBM’s.