Whatzit?

[chuck]

Not quite. It is a lid of sorts.

[webenda]

Autoclave lid?

[chuck]

Not an autoclave.

[webenda]

Vacuum chamber?

[HONDO74]

This one is directed towards Wayne. He is the expert in this area. I chose this because it relates to a song. If you know the song is you will know what it is.....

mtj1.jpg (80.34 KiB) Viewed 4198 times

[Roy]

Is it an upside-down wok?

[chuck]

Current (Trident) ones are white. If you go to time codes 28:58 through 29:26 of this video you can see the launch sequence and motor ignition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaWudImszY0&t=1768s

Unlike a torpedo that is launched with the tube flooded, SLBM's are launched "dry". A flash gas generator creates a blast of steam that blows the missile out of the tube through that protective cover. The missile is enveloped by the gas and it actually pops out of the water such that the bottom/rocket motor is about 20-30 feet above the ocean surface when ignition occurs.

The boat is in "hover mode" when the missiles are launched. Missile weight is about 65 tons. Following launch the water floods the now empty tube.

[Roy]

Well, that's cool. According to Wikipedia: "Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) each of which carries a nuclear warhead and allows a single launched missile to strike several targets." I remember we were up to the level of mirvs in the late 60s, and that served to encourage one of the anti-missile treaties.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Chuck and Roy, Your informative explanations notwithstanding, I still do not understand what I am seeing there. I can't get a perspective on its size, that is, as it relates to the rest of the world. For example, I see that blue railing, in the background, which I assume is for pedestrians, so I have concluded the red domed contraption is approx. the size of a garbage can, yet I suspect that conclusion must be wrong given what you have said such a thing is and does. And what is it doing around shrubbery?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Chuck and Roy, Your informative explanations notwithstanding, I still do not understand what I am seeing there. I can't get a perspective on its size, that is, as it relates to the rest of the world. For example, I see that blue railing, in the background, which I assume is for pedestrians, so I have concluded the red domed contraption is approx. the size of a garbage can, yet I suspect that conclusion must be wrong given what you have said such a thing is and does.

Persepective - that railing if a good bit back in the picture.

And what is it doing around shrubbery?

Well, wouldn't you want your missiles tastefully displayed with some nice landscaping? All that DoD funding has to go somewhere, you know. A nice shrubbery, no doubt delivered by Roger the Shrubber,



not too large nor too expensive, and nice path, too! Nih! Nih! Nih! Sorry..... Ekki-ekki-ekki-pitang-zoom-boing!

[chuck]

It's about 60 years old. That's a hatch cover assembly from one of the original "Polaris" missile subs, specifically a Lafayette class boat. She was decommissioned in 1989 and the missile room was removed, the tubes filled with cement. The forward hull and the engineering sections were welded together and she was converted to a moored training ship in South Carolina. The hatch and cover are on display at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton Connecticut.

Here is their brochure:

http://www.ussnautilus.org/education/outsideexhibits.shtml

scroll about halfway down the page and you can see the image in "context" but it's still hard to get a true sense of scale

I THINK that's the hatch after modification to the tubes to accommodate the later Poseidon Missile. Polaris was 4'6" diameter and the Poseidon was 6' 1" in diameter. Trident is 6' 11" in diameter.

We visited the museum in the mid nineties. The exhibits have been considerably updated and it's well worth visiting. You aren't too far from the Battleship Cove Museum in Fall River, MA, about an hours drive further east. They have the Battleship Massachusetts, Joseph Kennedy DD 850, Lionfish SS298, and an 80' ELCO PT boat and an 78' Higgins that are housed inside.

BTW, that's a Polaris A1 back in the bushes behind the George Washington's sail. All of this stuff is huge and I suspect most of the photo's where taken with wide angle lenses that make the stuff in the background seem even smaller/farther away.

[rogruth]

Now what is that thing Hondo showed?

[chuck]

Pokeweed plant.

[Roy]

Again, from Wikipedia: "How many warheads are on a Trident missile?"
"The U.S. Navy operates 14 of these ballistic missile submarines, each of which can carry as many as 24 Trident II missiles. Although the Trident II is designed to carry as many as 12 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads, current treaties reduce this number to four or five. Feb 16, 2017."

[HONDO74]

Pokeweed plant.

And the song is Poke Salad Annie.
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRF24LY5pvw

Elvis Presley - Polk Salad Annie Live (High Quality)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4csFnpZXek

How Did This Poisonous Plant Become One of the American South's Most Long-Standing Staples?
https://www.saveur.com/poke-sallet

The plant's inherent toxicity hasn't deterred those who swear by its delicious flavor and purported medicinal properties.