Thank you, What a great tour. At time stamp 45:45 you show a Taylor ice cream machine, my dad was a service man for Taylor in the 1970’s / 1980’s and he asked me ( 12 or 13 years old ) if I wanted to help him on a service call. We went to the sub base in Groton CT and I helped him carry in his equipment the ice cream machine was already installed but he had to bring it online and train the personnel on how to use and maintain it. The crew served me lunch, lobster ! And one of the officers gave me a tour of the boat. I am over 60 now and I must admit that afternoon spent on that sub was one of the most incredible afternoons of my entire life. Thank you dad
I have toured numerous WWII submarines, and two things stand out. The first is the very tight quarters. I can only imagine it filled with food and 80 people coming and going 24 hours per day. The second is the incredible complexity. There are wires, gauges, switches, plumbing fixtures and much more everywhere. These things were designed by geniuses and crewed by heroes. Brian has an encyclopedic knowledge of this ship and explained everything for the viewers. Thanks for the video, Joshua.
Are you the presenter's mother 👩, coworker, or employee of the organization that runs the ship? Because your comment is sooo transparently a reaction to the well-intentioned criticism of the misinformation in the program.
@@paulfarace9595 Sorry, no to all my friend. Just stumbled onto the video thru my recommendations. Likely because I have watched more than a few ship tours here. My thoughts are genuine and fully mine. I do find it interesting that you find it so easy to attribute ulterior motives to perfect strangers with absolutely zero evidence.
I am glad you mentioned the smell. In the 60s, my dad took me to a WW2 submarine, and that thing stunk to high heaven! Fuel, oil, and body odor permeated the entire submarine. The guy giving the tour said those smells would always be there. That settled it; no sub-duty for me!
When i was stationed on the port of Pusan, Korea, 01/1969 - 02/1970, in a U.S.Army transportation company, living on a barge built up into 2 decks for quarters, we had those WW2 era diesel subs tie up along us for supplies, mainly food, and to use our showers before going down to the local honky-tonk section known as Texas street, for some adult entertainment. All those guys smelled strongly of engine grease. Also i would pickup classified stuff at the main base’s S2/3/ everyday which included the expected arrival of a submarine coming into port, but the local "business"girls always knew when they’d be coming.
@@MikeS-vb1bsdo you have the slighest clue how spacious and clean modern submarines are? There are even showers in them these days, and ventilation (nuclear ones can extract oxygen from the seawater)
I had a friend that was on the 340 boat USS Entemador. I had the opportunity to visit with him in New London. I got to tour the boat with him. They had a family day and i actually went for a submarine ride. It was amazing all the things that were stuffed in that small space. I give a lot of credit to the guys who served on those boats.
I took a private tour on this ship back in the 1980s. Sit back and let me tell you my story. I was in Balt. for business, I was in my probably late 20s. It was a week day most peeps were at work. I was parked near the ship and went over to take a look at it. I boarded the ship maybe 2 or 3 peeps were on it but were leaving. I was invited down into the ship by the guy giving the tour, a black gentleman about my fathers age maybe mid 50s maybe, he didnt look that old. My father was also a WW2 vet. When we went down below he showing me around telling what each dial and control was for. I was asking him about this and that just out of curiosity the dude was going into so much detail and knew the ship inside and out. So we struck up a conversation and I was asking him about his background and asked if he was a vet. Turns out he was a WW2 vet in the Navy in the thick of the action as he was stationed on the USS Saratoga in the pacific as it was attacked by Torpedoes and Kamikazee attacks. I remember him going into detail about what was happening, but its been so long I can't remember the details now. But I do remember being impressed by his knowledge, his humbleness and his first hand accounts. I was on that ship for probably 40 min. And left the ship thinking thats one cool dude. I could tell he enjoyed his job, because he could have said lets get more peeps before we start the tour but offered me a private tour. The guy made my day and made a big impression on me as its been 40 years and I still remember him and the cool tour.
So let me tell you something I stood next to this ship in 81 there were people walking all around and there was water and I think it was a submarine in then I was invited inside of it like a tour or something
I clicked on this and then realized it was over an hour but definitely worth it. From most of the curators I've watched, they are all very knowledgeable.
WELL DONE ! Your Tour Guide was Amazing, I learned more from listening to him than reading about Subs and from other Tours. I toured the U.S.S. Lionfish back in the 80's. Located at Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA. She was also a WW-II vessel. Enjoyed this very much, Thank You.
I was able to tour the Torsk when I was 7. It was amazing as a little boy! I will never forget that experience. If you have kids, give them an opportunity like seeing a ship like that in person.
This was a really good tour, the curator (or tour guide, I'm not sure) is very knowledgeable. I loved when he rambled information. I follow the battleship NJ channel (I'm like 20 miles from that ship in NJ) and this was the best ship tour I've seen other then that channel. I'm sure there are others but I haven't discovered those channels yet. Crazy some of that tech is still classified because it's still new to some countries. Think I'll visit this ship in the near future, fascinating tour!
This is the best exploration of a submarine and explanation of tactics construction and operations. I had zero knowledge of this field and the gentleman guide is terrific at information sharing. Thank you.
I toured the USS Torsk many years ago. I enjoyed this video much more than the actual tour, because during the tour I felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. I truly couldn't get out of that sub fast enough. And the claustrophobia has stayed with me to this day. It took a strong, brave person to be a submariner and we all should be thankful for those who "stepped up to the plate".
I really enjoyed watching this documentary of the USS Torsk. She was built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine during WWII. I retired after 40 working at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 2014 and spent most of my life working on submarines both as a civilian in the shipyard as well as my time in the Navy. Though all my work was done on nuclear submarines (except for USS Dolphin), a lot of the things you see on these old fleet boats are still around. Great show!
In World War 2 , subs took compressed air that was filled in oxygen tanks for breathing , which limited time under water. Today , modern subs use electrolysis , we're electricity is used to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen , allowing sub to distract oxygen from seawater for the crew to submerge for 3 to 4 months under water. Modern subs use machines called scrubbers to remove carbon dioxide from the sub. This man could explain this technology better , great tour.
I was there in late April 2024. Enjoyed the walk through even though my replacement knees and hips argued. It was well maintained for its age. Worth the tour cost which also included the US Constellation. Another tour thats impressive. History! Love it all.
This is a great walk-thru review, and I am curious about like the mess deck area, is all of that shiny metal stainless steel or polished aluminum? I wish he or you could have shown us more of the kitchen cooking area, that is in a super specialty place onboard any ship of any Era. What type of "weight's" were used for ejecting garbage from this submarine? Lead? If there are 6 Forward & 4 Aft firing torpedo buttons, why does the control box have 7+5 buttons? The center of the panel has 3 verticle buttons but no firing red switch, so what were they for? @01:06:45 the escape hatch was used for letting out dive teams or UDT operators that could go ashore on enemy held territory using inflatable rafts or just swim gear. Also, the deck guns were not covered nor the enclosed Flying Bridge and Radar topside or the Scullery. The Wardrooms Pantry got more attention than the Galley did :( But you still get thumbs up & like for this effort.
Great tour of this boat This boat was built in my hometown. The radar might have been installed by my grandmother. That was her job during WW2 at PNS. I toured this submarine years ago, amazing how little room people had on these boats.
I live in Indiana now but was born and raised in Baltimore. I spent 8 years in the Navy. I always wanted to go on that Sub when I was at the inner harbour or at the O's game. Glad you made this video.
I recall doing a tour of a US submarine from the WW2 era when it was on a meet and greet tour of New Zealand in around 1970. The submarine was the USS Menhaden, I was around 10 years old and it was quite a thrill.
My uncle was a volunteer on the Torsk- maybe still, i know he wears the USS Torsk hat, often. I remember him putting my brother and I inside of that right torpedo tube when we were like 8-10. great times and very cool tour. He showed us some places where most people couldnt see
This is one of THE best sub tours, if not ship tours, I've even seen/heard. Thank you Brian for all your info and knowledge and doing what you do. Thanks guys for this amazing video. Damn good stuff!
I'm a 21 year retired U S Navy Chief Petty Officer and served on surface ships. I find Brian's knowledge of the submarine very very impressive. I'll bet mot of the Sailors who served on this sub didn't know most of the things he knows. I was one of the guys he talked about who did the "Simple" flag signal. It's actually called Semaphore when using the hand signals though. We have a hand position for every letter of the alphabet. Great video though. I watched it a couple of times
@s.porter8646 those liberty ports were awesome but they are times of the past. The surface Navy has fallen right in with you guys. Just about every deployed surface ship is breaking records for continuous days at sea. I couldn't do it. That's not what surface sailing is about.
@@robertking5701 I'm not bragging about days at sea . BAD..but we did pull in, about to throw the heavey...nope, captain say, back out for another 60 days
At 1:00:43, you put your hand on the MK 19 gyro compass and indicated that the main gyro compass was under there, in fact under there is the control cabinet which houses the electronics for the stable element which in fact you touched. Retired USN IC Electrician.
Ive read most of the books on WW2 subs. They say the crew would take the torpedoes apart and make modifications. During the start of the war when they would circle around and sink the sub. Can you confirm this?
As an old Vietnam Vet ( medic ) I found this video incredible . I learned so much about how things were done during my dates of service ( 68-71 ) on board a sub . I "heard " that a sub or subs came into the Saigon area during the war , and was or were , docked there . The only questions I have is . Were there on board CO2 " scrubbers " for oxygen , and how did you maintain the atmospheric pressure on board ?
It's true. All petroleum distillates float. We still use this in our destroyers. They are called, "seawater-compensated tanks." On pure surface ships, it's a matter of stability. If the tanks run dry, the ship sits higher in the water and thus is less stable.
Asphalt doesn't float. (At least, I don't think it does... I may be wrong) Edit- though it's probably more correctly called 'a product of distillation' rather than a distillate, since it's the heaviest fraction.)
We do not put seawater in our ships fuel tanks today. U.S. ships use distillate fuel, not fuel oil anymore, and that type of fuel must be kept absolutely pure. OSCS(SW) USN RET'D 1978-2002
@@patrickmccrann991 you sure about that? DDGs and CGs still use them. FFGs did not. Don’t know what they do with LCS, but there’s a whole procedure for stripping. I retired two years ago and compensated tanks were still in use on at least those two ship classes.
@EricCoop I spent 24 years on FF, FFGs, and CGs and we never put seawater in our fuel tanks. We may have had that ability; however, we never did it because of fuel purity requirements. I think it was needed more when ships were smaller and carried much less fuel.
My home town Burton upon Trent, in the UK has an anchor from HMS Resolution, which is a decommissioned nuclear submarine, on display near our war memorial. So Boats do have anchors even today :-)
Modern day warships do not have wood decking. The "floor" is made of STS Armor, or in other words: hardened steel plates. The surface meant to be walked on in modern warships has a grit applied to the surface usually through an epoxy.
What a knowledgeable guy. As a 37 year old guy who grew up in Tampa Bay I love boats and built my own sailboat that I sailed to the islands and Mexico over the course of two years. I find the war ships and really any boat fascinating. Wish I had the ability to become a captain on a cruise ship or something similar. As for now I'll continue taking people on jet skis around the Tampa Bay Clearwater Dunedin area. Cool video guys keep it up
@1:08, the submarine naming convention is States. They went from sea creatures to famous Americans to fish (the Sea Wolf, but that whole class was conflated; Sea Wolf, Connecticut, Jimmy Carter) and with the Virginia Class, it's States.
The first US Submarine SS 1 was named after Philip Holland. Many were also named using Letters and several in the mix after that were also named after peeps. Glenard P Lipscomb/Hyman G Rickover etc. But you got the gist in the naming.
Submarine names depend on the class of the boat. The first 41 SSBN class boats were named for Americans (George Washington, Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln, etc) The newer SSBN's are named for states. Most fast attack boats, SSN's, are named for cities, except for the newest Virginia class.
Excellent video and the tour was wonderful and very informative. Back in 1986 I went on a self guided tour of a Fleet Sub in San Francisco. I looked it up and it's the USS Pampanito built in 1943. I guess it's pretty similar to the USS Torsk. One thing I remember is there is almost no space on the sub that wan't being used by something. Also I remember in that sub the crew head didn't have a door on it as I remember. It had a curtain and when you sat on the toilet your legs were sticking out into the aisle. But I will tell you a gained a tremendous respect for the men that had to serve on these sub back in the day. Even on this video it doesn't really show just how small and cramped it all is.
Wow... I have been studying these old submarines for a while (even read some of the original machine books) seen many educational videos, but this is the best I seen so far. Information comes fast enough to be very interesting, and explained enough that I would have understood it even it I did not know a thing about subs. Thank you!
In 1970 - 71 I was a Marine stationed at Marine Barracks 8th & I, with our actual quarters in the Washington Naval Yard. At that time the USS Torsk was moored at the Naval Yard. One evening while walking around the Navsl Yard I boarded the Torsk. Apparently my footsteps on the deck alerted the watchman that someone was on the sub. I was startled to find I was not alone when a hatch in the foredeck opened and I was asked what I was doing on the sub. After I explained my presence the watchman gave me a very detailed personal tour of the USS Torsk. To that watchman, Thank You.
The lower torpedo in the aft torpedo room is not a Mk14, its a Mk45, a nuclear armed torpedo from the cold war era, just like the one in the tube. The Navy will neither confirm nor deny that Torsk carried those torpedoes, but we know other submarines of the same type and in the same time frame would have carried them. Air for the diesels is pulled in through the main induction, which is basically just a big air intake in the back of the sail, it can be pulled in through the hatches but it does have its own main intake. Nautilus was laid down, meaning construction began, in 1952, she really wasn't in use till 1954/1955. You can fire the torpedoes from the rooms if you need to, there are manual fire controls on each tube, this is essentially a backup system which you find throughout the boat on most main systems. She was rated and tested to around 400ft, the Tench boats were theoretically rated for 600, this information isn't classified and using that as a continued excuse is kind of silly, I'd take whatever the vets are telling me as accurate especially if its a generally agreed on statement.
58:00 I served aboard HMCS Rainbow SS75 formerly the USS Argonaut SS 475 in the early 70,s Canadian Navy. Test depth was 412 ft. Best of times for a 20 to guy. I completed the qualification course in about 1 year. Very proud of my Submariner badge. Quartmaster department.
Thanks Brian, great job. I would point out that at minute 56:00 where you pointed out and tapped the bathythermograph, that is not what that is, I think you meant fathometer, which I myself have as a sonar tech have worked on before, only I was surface navy, not subs. You can see the little flip tab on it which is a receptacle for headphones, range scale and the hole where the crt was. Mike
Took a tour on one in San Francisco back around 2001 happened that day actual veterans who served on that same boat were inside some of the areas shows us what their jobs were how the sub operated. It was really cool to actually speak directly to the men who fought in these subs during WW2. I asked about being depth charged he said it was scary as hell. They were mostly from little later in the war as the US entered in 41 subs were not really deployed by the US in great numbers for few years. They told me that these were really fast on the surface most of the time they traveled above water like a fast attack surface ship only descending to fire a torpedo or avoid enemy ship. I was around 30 years old unfortunately didn't go back again now all of them have passed on.
I hate commenting on TH-cam but man. This is so educational. Thank you for your opportunity to share this wisdom & video. I’ve learned alot from this. Not to mention the inspirations!
What a superb presentation. Always great to see someone so passionate about what they do. With this guide it was obvious. I hope his employer appreciates his work.
at 1:06:50 wasn't the evacuation system a two step process? 4 guys go in, seal the bottom hatch then flood then open top hatch and escape? rinse and repeat? but would it possible to get the bends at certain depths? I can't believe this part wasn't covered in more detail.
The torpedos were fired from both the control room AND the torpedo room. They fired the torpedo from the control room and the torpedo man in the torpedo room also had a big red button he hit when he heard the order from the control room. this was a backup system just in case damage to the ship knocked out the wireing from the control room to the torpedo room. this was because there was many feet of wire from the control room to the torpedo room but only about 8 feet of wire from the fire button in the torpedo room fire switch to the air valve. and on old subs the torpedo man opened a fast acting valve that used no electricty.
I was raised there. Aboard the Torsk a number of times into my adulthood. I would say from the 70's into the 90's Many of the items in the video I recall first hand. Some are new additions or changed very slightly perhaps. The Original Port Welcome was scrapped and replaced, harbor place will be torn down and replaced with some sort of construct soon and the Constellation seems to be in good condition from a recent rebuild. In terms of boats in harbor theres a increasing amount of money in the City so thats always a good thing I see. The buildings are showing their age at this point in time to me. Some are new. Nice video. Thank you for taking the time to produce it.
What a fantastic tour. Thank you very much. In Germany's Laboe I visited a type 7 and in Hamburg the type 21. It is special to see that the technology on all these boats from that time is more or less the same. Except the boat in Harmburg has a more contemporary design.
Fun fact cod is cod there is no difference we don’t need you racism here buck-o just because one came from a better ocean doesn’t mean you can discriminate
There used to be a photo on the wall at the Naval station Norfolk security/police headquarters. Showing a submarine that broke loose from its mooring and the bow was sitting on top of 3 park cars. It was either pier 2 or3 they had warehouses on them
Great video and tour presentation. I remember years ago when i lived in Baltimore and would come to admire the torsk and think about the life at sea she must of had and the constellation the sister ship to the Constitution another fasinating ship with history it was being reoutfitted many years ago .anyway very fond memories 😊😊
Thank you, What a great tour.
At time stamp 45:45 you show a Taylor ice cream machine, my dad was a service man for Taylor in the 1970’s / 1980’s and he asked me ( 12 or 13 years old ) if I wanted to help him on a service call.
We went to the sub base in Groton CT and I helped him carry in his equipment the ice cream machine was already installed but he had to bring it online and train the personnel on how to use and maintain it.
The crew served me lunch, lobster ! And one of the officers gave me a tour of the boat.
I am over 60 now and I must admit that afternoon spent on that sub was one of the most incredible afternoons of my entire life.
Thank you dad
Incredible story, thanks for sharing.
That is a great story!
Odd that they were having lobster for lunch
That Brian Auer guy is a submarine guru tour guide. Really enjoyed it.
I toured the Torsk with my dad in 2007. He served on it in 1963. It was pretty cool to see his bunk and it brought back memories for him.
I have toured numerous WWII submarines, and two things stand out. The first is the very tight quarters. I can only imagine it filled with food and 80 people coming and going 24 hours per day. The second is the incredible complexity. There are wires, gauges, switches, plumbing fixtures and much more everywhere. These things were designed by geniuses and crewed by heroes. Brian has an encyclopedic knowledge of this ship and explained everything for the viewers. Thanks for the video, Joshua.
hot-bunking as well.
This is easily the most detailed, most knowledgeable sub tour I’ve seen, both in person and video.
Thanks for sharing.
Are you the presenter's mother 👩, coworker, or employee of the organization that runs the ship? Because your comment is sooo transparently a reaction to the well-intentioned criticism of the misinformation in the program.
@@paulfarace9595 Sorry, no to all my friend. Just stumbled onto the video thru my recommendations. Likely because I have watched more than a few ship tours here.
My thoughts are genuine and fully mine. I do find it interesting that you find it so easy to attribute ulterior motives to perfect strangers with absolutely zero evidence.
@@paulfarace9595 Oh do tell Paul
@@paulfarace9595 Be quiet, Paul.
I'm just amazed at how complex the submarines were. My hats off to all Submariners, past and present.
This is the most comprehensive tour I have ever seen. Felt like I was there. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much! We record and edit our tours specifically so you'll feel like you're on the ship with our guide.
I am glad you mentioned the smell. In the 60s, my dad took me to a WW2 submarine, and that thing stunk to high heaven! Fuel, oil, and body odor permeated the entire submarine. The guy giving the tour said those smells would always be there. That settled it; no sub-duty for me!
There are woman on da boats today so the potpourri and poon will cancel out the barak obummer body odor and other nasty smells.
@@MikeS-vb1bs I don't think anyone really asked for or wanted your shitty comments.
When i was stationed on the port of Pusan, Korea, 01/1969 - 02/1970, in a U.S.Army transportation company, living on a barge built up into 2 decks for quarters, we had those WW2 era diesel subs tie up along us for supplies, mainly food, and to use our showers before going down to the local honky-tonk section known as Texas street, for some adult entertainment. All those guys smelled strongly of engine grease. Also i would pickup classified stuff at the main base’s S2/3/ everyday which included the expected arrival of a submarine coming into port, but the local "business"girls always knew when they’d be coming.
@@MikeS-vb1bsdo you have the slighest clue how spacious and clean modern submarines are? There are even showers in them these days, and ventilation (nuclear ones can extract oxygen from the seawater)
I've been in this submarine in Baltimore twice and it does not smell.
Can't believe I watched the entire video. That was a great tour. Thanks
I had a friend that was on the 340 boat USS Entemador. I had the opportunity to visit with him in New London. I got to tour the boat with him. They had a family day and i actually went for a submarine ride. It was amazing all the things that were stuffed in that small space. I give a lot of credit to the guys who served on those boats.
This is the best 1hr and 10 mins ive had in ages, fascinating stuff, and our tour today, was by far the best ive ever heard
U got me hooked , this tour guide is great. He's seen it all a thousand times and still talks enthusiastic about it.
I took a private tour on this ship back in the 1980s. Sit back and let me tell you my story. I was in Balt. for business, I was in my probably late 20s. It was a week day most peeps were at work. I was parked near the ship and went over to take a look at it. I boarded the ship maybe 2 or 3 peeps were on it but were leaving. I was invited down into the ship by the guy giving the tour, a black gentleman about my fathers age maybe mid 50s maybe, he didnt look that old. My father was also a WW2 vet. When we went down below he showing me around telling what each dial and control was for. I was asking him about this and that just out of curiosity the dude was going into so much detail and knew the ship inside and out. So we struck up a conversation and I was asking him about his background and asked if he was a vet. Turns out he was a WW2 vet in the Navy in the thick of the action as he was stationed on the USS Saratoga in the pacific as it was attacked by Torpedoes and Kamikazee attacks. I remember him going into detail about what was happening, but its been so long I can't remember the details now. But I do remember being impressed by his knowledge, his humbleness and his first hand accounts. I was on that ship for probably 40 min. And left the ship thinking thats one cool dude. I could tell he enjoyed his job, because he could have said lets get more peeps before we start the tour but offered me a private tour. The guy made my day and made a big impression on me as its been 40 years and I still remember him and the cool tour.
09k9k😅i😅
Sadly during WW2 blacks were mainly allowed only to be cooks, stewards and mess attendant's in the Navy
@@larryzigler6812 True until battle stations is called. All trained in gunnery.
So let me tell you something I stood next to this ship in 81 there were people walking all around and there was water and I think it was a submarine in then I was invited inside of it like a tour or something
Lol
I clicked on this and then realized it was over an hour but definitely worth it. From most of the curators I've watched, they are all very knowledgeable.
WELL DONE ! Your Tour Guide was Amazing, I learned more from listening to him than reading about Subs and from other Tours. I toured the U.S.S. Lionfish back in the 80's. Located at Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA. She was also a WW-II vessel. Enjoyed this very much, Thank You.
I was able to tour the Torsk when I was 7. It was amazing as a little boy! I will never forget that experience. If you have kids, give them an opportunity like seeing a ship like that in person.
This was a really good tour, the curator (or tour guide, I'm not sure) is very knowledgeable. I loved when he rambled information. I follow the battleship NJ channel (I'm like 20 miles from that ship in NJ) and this was the best ship tour I've seen other then that channel. I'm sure there are others but I haven't discovered those channels yet. Crazy some of that tech is still classified because it's still new to some countries. Think I'll visit this ship in the near future, fascinating tour!
That is really interesting--thanks for the tour,--I could listen to the "tour-guide"-all day,--very "precise"-great-stuff !!
Just an excellent tour guide. Learned soooo much from his explanation. Thank you.
He has a plethora of knowledge and so enjoyable tour and education on subs.❤
This is the best exploration of a submarine and explanation of tactics construction and operations. I had zero knowledge of this field and the gentleman guide is terrific at information sharing. Thank you.
I was on the USS Pampanito in SF two weeks ago, very similar submarine and its great to get a tour and everything explained that I saw!
THIS is an absolutely RIVETING essay. Thank you so much. I was a landlocked sailor, 68-74, ETR-2, maintained GCA RADAR and TACAN, NAS Miramar, 70-74
Thank you so much for putting this together and sharing it!!
I toured the USS Torsk many years ago. I enjoyed this video much more than the actual tour, because during the tour I felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. I truly couldn't get out of that sub fast enough. And the claustrophobia has stayed with me to this day. It took a strong, brave person to be a submariner and we all should be thankful for those who "stepped up to the plate".
I really enjoyed watching this documentary of the USS Torsk. She was built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine during WWII. I retired after 40 working at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 2014 and spent most of my life working on submarines both as a civilian in the shipyard as well as my time in the Navy. Though all my work was done on nuclear submarines (except for USS Dolphin), a lot of the things you see on these old fleet boats are still around. Great show!
In World War 2 , subs took compressed air that was filled in oxygen tanks for breathing , which limited time under water.
Today , modern subs use electrolysis , we're electricity is used to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen , allowing sub to distract oxygen from seawater for the crew to submerge for 3 to 4 months under water. Modern subs use machines called scrubbers to remove carbon dioxide from the sub.
This man could explain this technology better , great tour.
I was there in late April 2024. Enjoyed the walk through even though my replacement knees and hips argued. It was well maintained for its age. Worth the tour cost which also included the US Constellation. Another tour thats impressive. History! Love it all.
The carrier Constellation?
@@frednugent2310 No - the tall ship in Baltimore harbor.
@@bogtrottername7001 Okay, thank you. Was just wondering because my brother served on the carrier USS Constellation.
Thank you Josh and Brian for you time snd knowledge. I enjoyed this video. I was glued. Lol
Fascinating excursion! Thank you!
This is a great walk-thru review, and I am curious about like the mess deck area, is all of that shiny metal stainless steel or polished aluminum?
I wish he or you could have shown us more of the kitchen cooking area, that is in a super specialty place onboard any ship of any Era.
What type of "weight's" were used for ejecting garbage from this submarine? Lead?
If there are 6 Forward & 4 Aft firing torpedo buttons, why does the control box have 7+5 buttons? The center of the panel has 3 verticle buttons but no firing red switch, so what were they for?
@01:06:45 the escape hatch was used for letting out dive teams or UDT operators that could go ashore on enemy held territory using inflatable rafts or just swim gear.
Also, the deck guns were not covered nor the enclosed Flying Bridge and Radar topside or the Scullery. The Wardrooms Pantry got more attention than the Galley did :(
But you still get thumbs up & like for this effort.
I tour US WWII submarines and ships whenever I'm in a city that has one. I can't believe I missed this when I was in Baltimore!
Fantastic tour, thanks Brian for all of your info and Joshua for the channel.
Great tour of this boat
This boat was built in my hometown. The radar might have been installed by my grandmother. That was her job during WW2 at PNS.
I toured this submarine years ago, amazing how little room people had on these boats.
I live in Indiana now but was born and raised in Baltimore. I spent 8 years in the Navy. I always wanted to go on that Sub when I was at the inner harbour or at the O's game. Glad you made this video.
Amazing tour and explaining everything on board. I love your enthusiasm and respect for the history of the war ships. Great job.
I recall doing a tour of a US submarine from the WW2 era when it was on a meet and greet tour of New Zealand in around 1970. The submarine was the USS Menhaden, I was around 10 years old and it was quite a thrill.
My uncle was a volunteer on the Torsk- maybe still, i know he wears the USS Torsk hat, often. I remember him putting my brother and I inside of that right torpedo tube when we were like 8-10. great times and very cool tour. He showed us some places where most people couldnt see
You did a beautiful job explaining everything Sir. Thank You
This is one of THE best sub tours, if not ship tours, I've even seen/heard. Thank you Brian for all your info and knowledge and doing what you do. Thanks guys for this amazing video. Damn good stuff!
I'm surprised by the amount of misinformation he gives in his tour.
This was an Awesome tour. I was there approx. 3 weeks prior to 911. I believe this is the sub I got to tour. Thank you again for the memories.
I'm a 21 year retired U S Navy Chief Petty Officer and served on surface ships. I find Brian's knowledge of the submarine very very impressive. I'll bet mot of the Sailors who served on this sub didn't know most of the things he knows. I was one of the guys he talked about who did the "Simple" flag signal. It's actually called Semaphore when using the hand signals though. We have a hand position for every letter of the alphabet. Great video though. I watched it a couple of times
Hea surface guy...tell us bubbleheads about all your great liberty ports...fellow chief
I bet all former assigned sailors and crew would know every part of the boat being it was required to qualify to serve on it.
@s.porter8646 those liberty ports were awesome but they are times of the past. The surface Navy has fallen right in with you guys. Just about every deployed surface ship is breaking records for continuous days at sea. I couldn't do it. That's not what surface sailing is about.
@@robertking5701 I'm not bragging about days at sea . BAD..but we did pull in, about to throw the heavey...nope, captain say, back out for another 60 days
@s.porter8646 I heard you guys ate pretty good food though?
What an incredible tour and narration!! Absolutely the best I’ve ever witnessed!!
Cheers for sharing awesome tour. Greg 60 years old Coolangatta Australia 🇦🇺
At 1:00:43, you put your hand on the MK 19 gyro compass and indicated that the main gyro compass was under there, in fact under there is the control cabinet which houses the electronics for the stable element which in fact you touched. Retired USN IC Electrician.
So many other incorrect things as well...
@@paulfarace9595 Like what he said about the Mk14 torpedo as being reliable which it most certainly was not especially at the beginning of the war.
Ive read most of the books on WW2 subs. They say the crew would take the torpedoes apart and make modifications. During the start of the war when they would circle around and sink the sub. Can you confirm this?
They had add on snorkels for the Type VII and Type IX U-Boats. Wasn't just the Type XXI.
Great tour and video. Anytime you can learn some thing, it’s a bonus. Thanks to you, your camera guy and the guide himself.
Excellent videos with this gentleman. Thanks for sharing
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As an old Vietnam Vet ( medic ) I found this video incredible . I learned so much about how things were done during my dates of service ( 68-71 ) on board a sub . I "heard " that a sub or subs came into the Saigon area during the war , and was or were , docked there . The only questions I have is . Were there on board CO2 " scrubbers " for oxygen , and how did you maintain the atmospheric pressure on board ?
It's true. All petroleum distillates float. We still use this in our destroyers. They are called, "seawater-compensated tanks." On pure surface ships, it's a matter of stability. If the tanks run dry, the ship sits higher in the water and thus is less stable.
Asphalt doesn't float. (At least, I don't think it does... I may be wrong)
Edit- though it's probably more correctly called 'a product of distillation' rather than a distillate, since it's the heaviest fraction.)
We do not put seawater in our ships fuel tanks today. U.S. ships use distillate fuel, not fuel oil anymore, and that type of fuel must be kept absolutely pure. OSCS(SW) USN RET'D 1978-2002
@@patrickmccrann991 you sure about that? DDGs and CGs still use them. FFGs did not. Don’t know what they do with LCS, but there’s a whole procedure for stripping. I retired two years ago and compensated tanks were still in use on at least those two ship classes.
@EricCoop I spent 24 years on FF, FFGs, and CGs and we never put seawater in our fuel tanks. We may have had that ability; however, we never did it because of fuel purity requirements. I think it was needed more when ships were smaller and carried much less fuel.
@@patrickmccrann991 I operated on pure distilled-ates as possible ( sake, ciders & Guinness ). HMC (AW)
This is the first submarine that I have seen that has an anchor!
My home town Burton upon Trent, in the UK has an anchor from HMS Resolution, which is a decommissioned nuclear submarine, on display near our war memorial. So Boats do have anchors even today :-)
Thank you guys so much! Would love to see her in person some day. Excellent walk-through in the meantime. 👍🍻💚🇺🇸
Modern day warships do not have wood decking. The "floor" is made of STS Armor, or in other words: hardened steel plates. The surface meant to be walked on in modern warships has a grit applied to the surface usually through an epoxy.
What a knowledgeable guy. As a 37 year old guy who grew up in Tampa Bay I love boats and built my own sailboat that I sailed to the islands and Mexico over the course of two years. I find the war ships and really any boat fascinating. Wish I had the ability to become a captain on a cruise ship or something similar. As for now I'll continue taking people on jet skis around the Tampa Bay Clearwater Dunedin area.
Cool video guys keep it up
@1:08, the submarine naming convention is States. They went from sea creatures to famous Americans to fish (the Sea Wolf, but that whole class was conflated; Sea Wolf, Connecticut, Jimmy Carter) and with the Virginia Class, it's States.
The first US Submarine SS 1 was named after Philip Holland. Many were also named using Letters and several in the mix after that were also named after peeps. Glenard P Lipscomb/Hyman G Rickover etc. But you got the gist in the naming.
Submarine names depend on the class of the boat. The first 41 SSBN class boats were named for Americans (George Washington, Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln, etc) The newer SSBN's are named for states. Most fast attack boats, SSN's, are named for cities, except for the newest Virginia class.
Really appreciate the knowledgeable tour guide, his passion for preserving history shines through and I learned a lot by watching this
I remember sleeping in the Torsk on the bottom bunk on the left, just before the mess. I'm 6'3" and it was quite fun getting in there!
Excellent video and the tour was wonderful and very informative. Back in 1986 I went on a self guided tour of a Fleet Sub in San Francisco. I looked it up and it's the USS Pampanito built in 1943. I guess it's pretty similar to the USS Torsk. One thing I remember is there is almost no space on the sub that wan't being used by something. Also I remember in that sub the crew head didn't have a door on it as I remember. It had a curtain and when you sat on the toilet your legs were sticking out into the aisle. But I will tell you a gained a tremendous respect for the men that had to serve on these sub back in the day. Even on this video it doesn't really show just how small and cramped it all is.
Great video enjoyed every minute of it
First time someone explained the physics behind cavitation at 15:45! Thank you!
Wow... I have been studying these old submarines for a while (even read some of the original machine books) seen many educational videos, but this is the best I seen so far. Information comes fast enough to be very interesting, and explained enough that I would have understood it even it I did not know a thing about subs.
Thank you!
I rode nuclear submarines during the cold war, and this is an excellent tour with very good information.
new subscriber. IMO the most impressive sub tour i have ever viewed. TY kindly. Best wishes!
In 1970 - 71 I was a Marine stationed at Marine Barracks 8th & I, with our actual quarters in the Washington Naval Yard. At that time the USS Torsk was moored at the Naval Yard.
One evening while walking around the Navsl Yard I boarded the Torsk. Apparently my footsteps on the deck alerted the watchman that someone was on the sub. I was startled to find I was not alone when a hatch in the foredeck opened and I was asked what I was doing on the sub. After I explained my presence the watchman gave me a very detailed personal tour of the USS Torsk.
To that watchman, Thank You.
One of the best submarine tours. Thank you.
Thank you, Josh & Brian.
Enjoyed the tour.
New subscriber...
The lower torpedo in the aft torpedo room is not a Mk14, its a Mk45, a nuclear armed torpedo from the cold war era, just like the one in the tube. The Navy will neither confirm nor deny that Torsk carried those torpedoes, but we know other submarines of the same type and in the same time frame would have carried them. Air for the diesels is pulled in through the main induction, which is basically just a big air intake in the back of the sail, it can be pulled in through the hatches but it does have its own main intake. Nautilus was laid down, meaning construction began, in 1952, she really wasn't in use till 1954/1955. You can fire the torpedoes from the rooms if you need to, there are manual fire controls on each tube, this is essentially a backup system which you find throughout the boat on most main systems. She was rated and tested to around 400ft, the Tench boats were theoretically rated for 600, this information isn't classified and using that as a continued excuse is kind of silly, I'd take whatever the vets are telling me as accurate especially if its a generally agreed on statement.
58:00 I served aboard HMCS Rainbow SS75 formerly the USS Argonaut SS 475 in the early 70,s Canadian Navy. Test depth was 412 ft. Best of times for a 20 to guy. I completed the qualification course in about 1 year. Very proud of my Submariner badge. Quartmaster department.
Thanks Brian, great job. I would point out that at minute 56:00 where you pointed out and tapped the bathythermograph, that is not what that is, I think you meant fathometer, which I myself have as a sonar tech have worked on before, only I was surface navy, not subs. You can see the little flip tab on it which is a receptacle for headphones, range scale and the hole where the crt was. Mike
That was most informative , and really helps to understand the type of men that manned these ships. Many thanks.
Took a tour on one in San Francisco back around 2001 happened that day actual veterans who served on that same boat were inside some of the areas shows us what their jobs were how the sub operated. It was really cool to actually speak directly to the men who fought in these subs during WW2. I asked about being depth charged he said it was scary as hell. They were mostly from little later in the war as the US entered in 41 subs were not really deployed by the US in great numbers for few years. They told me that these were really fast on the surface most of the time they traveled above water like a fast attack surface ship only descending to fire a torpedo or avoid enemy ship. I was around 30 years old unfortunately didn't go back again now all of them have passed on.
I hate commenting on TH-cam but man. This is so educational. Thank you for your opportunity to share this wisdom & video. I’ve learned alot from this. Not to mention the inspirations!
Well done! The museum is always closed whenever I'm able to visit the sub, so this was a treat for me to see a guided tour.
What a superb presentation. Always great to see someone so passionate about what they do. With this guide it was obvious. I hope his employer appreciates his work.
Yes, he's great!
at 1:06:50 wasn't the evacuation system a two step process? 4 guys go in, seal the bottom hatch then flood then open top hatch and escape? rinse and repeat? but would it possible to get the bends at certain depths? I can't believe this part wasn't covered in more detail.
The guide really knows how to deliver his information in a fun way. well done. Great video
The torpedos were fired from both the control room AND the torpedo room.
They fired the torpedo from the control room and the torpedo man in the torpedo room also had a big red button he hit when he heard the order from the control room. this was a backup system just in case damage to the ship knocked out the wireing from the control room to the torpedo room.
this was because there was many feet of wire from the control room to the torpedo room but only about 8 feet of wire from the fire button in the torpedo room fire switch to the air valve. and on old subs the torpedo man opened a fast acting valve that used no electricty.
The torpedoes are fired from the forward and after torpedo room. Ross Rasmussen USS Segundo SS398 1960-1964
@@398segundo Thank you for your service Ross. I spent 1700 hours in the P-3C Orion hunting submariners like yourself :-)
You’re doing a great job in Baltimore. I’m a Frederick native and last week watched your Constellation video. Great work!
Outstanding Video.Thank You.
Keep these tour video coming. Great content. Bryan has done a wonderful job on this video and the previous one.
Thanks for sharing
I was raised there. Aboard the Torsk a number of times into my adulthood. I would say from the 70's into the 90's Many of the items in the video I recall first hand. Some are new additions or changed very slightly perhaps.
The Original Port Welcome was scrapped and replaced, harbor place will be torn down and replaced with some sort of construct soon and the Constellation seems to be in good condition from a recent rebuild. In terms of boats in harbor theres a increasing amount of money in the City so thats always a good thing I see. The buildings are showing their age at this point in time to me. Some are new.
Nice video. Thank you for taking the time to produce it.
A fantastic tour! I learned quite a few new things. Thank you.
What a great guided tour and excellent video! Good camera and interviewing work! Subscribed ❤
I’m convinced some of the best people in American are museum guides. This guy is just great
currently serving on an ssgn submarine it’s crazy to see how far these boats have come
Thanks for an excellently narrated sub tour.
Awesome - Thank you --
Where is the radio room? I might have missed it...
57:21 could this gauge be meters? It looks to be about 16m while the gauge next to it reads about 48ft. The conversion seems to be close enough.
What a fantastic tour. Thank you very much. In Germany's Laboe I visited a type 7 and in Hamburg the type 21. It is special to see that the technology on all these boats from that time is more or less the same. Except the boat in Harmburg has a more contemporary design.
Fun fact. Torsk is the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish word for cod and Atlantic cod.
Wow
I also believe the US had a submarine named "USS Cod" So you had two!!
@@formercap54 Yea, I was just surprised to find something american in my native language ;)
Interesting fact !
Fun fact cod is cod there is no difference we don’t need you racism here buck-o just because one came from a better ocean doesn’t mean you can discriminate
thank you for this detailed content as I likely will never make it myself!
There used to be a photo on the wall at the Naval station Norfolk security/police headquarters. Showing a submarine that broke loose from its mooring and the bow was sitting on top of 3 park cars. It was either pier 2 or3 they had warehouses on them
Do you ever dry dock this boat for hull maintenance?
There are many vacuum tubes available and there are manufactures in places such as Russia still make vacuum tubes.....
Thanks for the tour
Great video and tour presentation. I remember years ago when i lived in Baltimore and would come to admire the torsk and think about the life at sea she must of had and the constellation the sister ship to the Constitution another fasinating ship with history it was being reoutfitted many years ago .anyway very fond memories 😊😊
Thanks for all the detail. I learned a lot today.
The juke box in the galley is the same kind they have/had at "Johnny Rockets" restaurant. Thats pretty cool!
Awesome tour. Thank you.
Excellent video!! Very informative and very entertaining.