[C19fan]

One can buy 4 to 5 of the Japanese Soryu diesel/AIP subs for the cost of one of the new Virginia class SSNs. The idea is to station American diesels in Asia where they could serve to cut off choke points like the Taiwan Straight.

[Boowhoknew]

The idea of the American subs taking on the Japanese fleet attacking troop transports is possible, but with the troubles the US Navy had with torpedoes in early part of WW2, it probably would have not been a game changer.

[NonValueAdded]

Silent, yes, but they best pass on rolling coal.

[chrisser]

I don’t know if it would be practical, but I always thought it might be interesting to build nuclear powered recharging subs - sort of like an oil tanker.

They could rendezvous with a diesel sub while both were still underwater, hook up some sort of power tether, and recharge the diesel sub without it having to come up to run it’s diesels.

Would definitely be a complicated system, probably more similar to a space docking than a refueling, but it would keep the subs from running on the surface unless it was safe to do so and could be done at a safe depth or even while on the bottom to make detection difficult, as it would likely make both subs vulnerable.

A nuclear recharging sub could even be pre-deployed and just sit in a known position at the bottom, not having to use propulsion, and then service a fleet of diesels in it’s area of operation, keeping them all charged up and undetectable from satellites and surface ships.

[Lower Deck]

One can buy 4 to 5 of the Japanese Soryu diesel/AIP subs for the cost of one of the new Virginia class SSNs. The idea is to station American diesels in Asia where they could serve to cut off choke points like the Taiwan Straight.

You might want to re-run your math on that one. Australia is talking about spending $20 billion for 10 Soryu subs. Link

The U.S. Navy just inked a contract for 10 Virgnina's for a total of $17.6 billion. Link

[bandleader]

Sounds Like “A Plan”???

[virgil283]

Thanks C19

" Greater numbers, middling cost, a heavier punch in battle. That's a major contribution from such humble craft. U.S. submariners' diesel-propelled past "

We entered WWII with battleships and found out it was a carrier war. We may find WWIII is a sub war where a sub can launch a Intel drone, ID targets and take them out with cruse missiles all while undetected miles away. That makes large carriers very vulnerable. Its better to have many small carriers and lots of medium subs..

[556x45]

silent and deep is only part of the equation. Staying submerged almost indefinitely is the game changer. Diesels wouldn’t be able to do that. Nukes can and do....

[Mariner]

The US Navy should quit their petulance and start a modern diesel/electric development program...or purchase program.

We need about 50 such boats to augment our blue water nukes.

The littorals are no place for a Virginia boat.

[taildragger]

If you are going to use diesel fuel you don't have to use a Diesel. I can see Bill Gates and his $ spent on the OPOC engine trying to fill the slot here as well as a ton of other "Inventor" Engines. Those would of the "Barrel" variety ( Dyna-Cam which was a torpedo engine at one time ) and IMHO the hidden gem would be the Erickson Engine. The logical omnivorous engine that is quiet and smooth and is gaining some stripes in the UAV arena is the Wankel. They made some big ones, it could be done again and it's fuel consumption issues can be addressed...

[tanknetter]

My recollection is that we did just that with the old Barbel class boats (last D/E SSes in USN service, which had teardrop hulls)

We found that we got much more bang for our buck by buying nukes and leaving the D/Es to our allies (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea) who would have to fight beside us if the ballon went up.

[MasterGunner01]

Here's a true story that ought to stand the hair on your head straight out. The deep dive of the USS Chopper (SS-342) on 11 February 1969. When you read this, remember everything happened in the span of 5 minutes — from peacefully cruising at 150 feet, to out of control and heading to crush depth, to emergency blow and on the surface. This is the story as pieced together by the Navy Board of Inquiry on 7 October 1969. Here: http://diodon349.com/Stories/Stories_SS/The_Deep_Dive_of_the_USS_CHOPPER_SS_342.htm.