How military submarines find their way around

It occurred to me that a person finding this blog after a text search might have noticed that a fair number of the posts are about submarines.  Random readers may not be familiar with military subs, and they might wonder how subs move around the ocean without banging into stuff, or how they know which way they are going, etc, etc.  Sometimes submarines *DO* bang into stuff, but that's the exception, not a normal daily event.

So in that spirit, I thought I would share what little I know about underwater navigation.  Confession time:  I worked in propulsion, not navigation, so I will have to find this information before I can post it.  I have a general idea, but I will use the internet for more clarity before exposing my ignorance!

Update to an older post

Link: How to irradiate a topaz to get the color you like!

USS Barb SSN 596

I haven't been blogging this week because I decided to do something different online, and that is to make a website dedicated to the ship that I served on.  A shipmate who was running a website for the ship has passed away, and I am trying to carry on his work.  Big shoes to fill...

I will get back to blogging shortly...

Some impressive videos I've viewed lately

I like this one in particular:


This one is vertigo-inducing.


This one is just cute.

Steam turbine designs

I've posted a few times before about steam turbines, here, here, and here.  One of the things I find fascinating about steam turbines is how vast the variety is among them, depending upon the application.

• Steam turbines that are used for marine propulsion will have stages to turn them in the reverse direction, and a separate astern steam throttle valve.
• Steam turbines that are used in power plants for generation of electrical power come in a stunning variety of shapes, sizes and designs.
• Steam turbines that are used provide cogeneration for other processes are often very compex and unique.
• Turbines can be designed for various operating pressures and outputs, making each design slightly different and interesting in its own way.

Below: An early steam turbine diagram from 1905 for shipboard use.  The astern steam throttle is at top left. These two stages turn the shaft in the opposite direction than the seven forward stages.  Only two stages are used for astern movement, because it is not used often and so efficiency is not necessary.

LED Lighting conversion

No, I am not talking about some high-tech electronic thing I did.  Several months ago we switched the entire house over to LED lights.  It took over a hundred light bulbs and a couple hours' time to accomplish this project, but it was worth it.

I was an early adopter of CF bulbs, back when it cost over $10 for each one.  They probably paid for themselves quickly because at the time I was a Southern California Edison customer.  SoCal Edison probably has the highest electricity rates on the planet.

The refurbished curio cabinet

My wife has been looking for a curio cabinet for several months on Craigslist.  The style she wanted, and eventually found, was a curved-front type like this:

Swapping out bootable hard drives, Windows 7 edition

250th Post...

For nearly a decade now I have been building my own desktop PCs.  A friend showed me how easy it was to do, and after that I was done buying machines from Gateway, Dell, etc.

The PC that I am now using was built about three years ago from Newegg parts.  It's not a bad little machine, but it developed an issue.  I originally installed a smallish Solid State Hard Drive that was just for the Operating System (Windows 7 64-bit).

19th vehicle - Honda CBR 1000

This is the Honda CBR 1000 I picked up in 2006.  It had 1100 miles on it, and it was on consignment at a dealership in Boise.  I picked it up pretty cheap and it needed nothing.  I got another 1100 miles before the rear tire was gone.

18th vehicle - Christine

Link here:

Me and Christine, a 1979 Kawasaki KZ 650