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The Maneuvering Room Clyde "Tex" Reed When I served aboard Spinax she had just been converted from an SS fleet boat to an SSR radar picket submarine. It was an unusually large Maneuvering Room compared to other diesel boats because the Main Control Cubicle had been split creating a true port controllerman and starboard controllerman station with the passageway running through the center of the compartment instead of along the port side. The maneuvering room was where the senior electricians stood their underway watches controlling the foreward and aft movement of the and the speed of the boat through the water. By the operating of the various levers and rheostats on the cubicle the boat was able to utilize power, from the four main generators and two batteries containing 126 cells each, directly to the four main motors located in the motor room under the control cubicle. The bi-directional operation of the motors connected to the two main propeller shafts by a set of reduction gears gave motion and direction to the boat. Other operations that was performed through the control cubicle was charging of the main storage batteries. And when necessary we could even start the main engines by motorizing the main generators by different combinations of movement of the levers either from the batteries or from one generator to the other. Other important components of the maneuvering room was the two (ICMG) interior communication motor generators that supplied alternating currant (AC) power for the boat. Also the bus tie switch that connected the foreward and after bus tie panels togather for auxilliary power through the boat that was used to run the various motors and pumps necessary for the operating life of a submarine surfaced or submerged. Clyde "Tex"
Reed, EMCSS USN-Retired |
