While some folks might wonder why such a dinosaur would be on one of the most advanced submarines, remember that not everything always works properly, including nuclear reactors. For example, what would happen if Miami was at sea and needed to scram the reactor plant? Restarting a reactor takes a lot of power, and while there is a large bank of batteries underneath the torpedo room, it might not prove adequate to completely restart a cold S6G plant. Thus the Fairbanks-Morse engine can provide, through a generator turned by the diesel, enough continuous power to get the tea kettle running again. It has other uses, too. In the event of a reactor casualty, the diesel provides the means for getting home. In that event, the captain orders the engineers aft to lower a small electric outboard motor, which is recessed in the lower hull aft, into the water to provide motive power to get home or to get help.
The diesel engine also has a role in firefighting onboard that might surprise some folks. In the event of a fire, one of the first things the captain might do (assuming this is not in a combat situation) is to surface and start up the diesel. This is because the diesel draws its air from within the boat, and thus it would suck up any air being polluted by the fire. Opening just the fairwater hatches from the control room will completely change the air in the boat in a matter of minutes.
This space is also where the air is made or, more properly, maintained. Several different pieces of equipment in the auxiliary machinery space help to provide the clean, fresh air that can be found onboard. First are the carbon dioxide (CO) scrubbers. CO is the gas given off by humans when they breathe and is dangerous when the concentration gets too high. The Miami utilizes a chemical scrubber to remove it from the air. The chemical absorbs CO when it is cool and releases it when it is warmed. In addition, CO and H "burners" remove the carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas generated by equipment as well as by cigarette smoking, which is allowed onboard. Finally, filters and dehumidifiers clean the air and help keep it "friendly" not only for the crew but also for the many pieces of equipment-especially electronic-on the Miami. In case a fire or some other emergency contaminates the onboard air, a force-fed air supply called the Emergency Air Breathing (EAB) system has attachment points throughout the boat, allowing crewmen with breathing masks to plug in to it and continue their duties.
Other life support equipment includes a device that takes water and electrically "cracks" it into its base elements of hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is retained in tanks and released into the boat's atmosphere automatically by the environmental control system, and the hydrogen is vented off the ship from a small port in the aft edge of the fairwater. There is a fresh-water distillation plant that produces something over 10,000 gallons/38,000 liters of fresh water a day. Most of the water is used for drinking, cleaning, cooking, and personal hygiene. Very little water is usually required for the power plant (for charging the cooling loops and steam generators), but the reserve tanks are usually maintained near full "just in case." It should be said that the obsession with water conservation is mostly for contingency purposes. Most COs like to have full tanks of water before they enter a tactical situation, just in case they need to shut down the distillation plant to keep noise down. And from what I hear, some boats just choose to run the distillation plant full-time and let the crew have as much shower time as they want, particularly during runs home. On a normal day aboard Miami, the majority of the water produced would go to crew habitability.
Weapons-Torpedoes, Missiles, and Mines
While submarines are useful for covert actions like intelligence gathering and landing special operations forces, it is the threat of what they can do with their weapons that can cause so much fear and respect in an adversary. Ever since Sergeant Ezra Lee tried to sink HMS Eagle in Boston harbor back in 1776, just the potential threat of harm from a submarine has been enough to make an enemy stop and consider whether he should move his ships against you. Today the weapons can hit a wider variety of targets, and they have become even more deadly.
Torpedoes
The torpedo is the traditional weapon of the submarine, and the torpedoes that equip the U.S. SSNs today are truly awesome. For some years now, the U.S. standard torpedo has been the Mark (Mk) 48. This weapon, which first appeared in 1971, has gone through a series of different upgrades, culminating in the Modification (Mod) 4 version, which appeared in 1985. This version, designed as an intermediate upgrade to the next major version, allows for the greater speeds and deeper diving depths of the newer Soviet subs that were appearing at the time. As this book is written, about half the torpedoes being loaded aboard U.S. subs are Mk 48 Mod 4s.
A recent addition is known as the Mk 48 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) torpedo. Manufactured by Hughes, the ADCAP takes the basic Mk 48 package and adds the following new features:* A bigger fuel tank that provides for a 50 percent increase in range (about 50,000 yards), and a speed of 60+ knots.* A new data send/receive module, which packs 10 miles of guidance wire into the aft end of the torpedo and 10 more miles into the dispenser in the tube. This allows the submarine to clear the launch point and still guide the weapon.* A new combination seeker head/computer that uses electronically steered sonar beams to guide the weapon to the target. Earlier versions of the Mk 48 (like the Mod 4) used to have to "snake" about their course to search effectively for a target. The head allows the torpedo to see almost all the 180-degree hemisphere ahead of the weapon. The computer controlling the whole system is designed to make the ADCAP the world's "smartest" torpedo.
With ADCAP, the submarine force arguably has the finest torpedo in the world. Not only is it fast, deep diving, and maneuverable, but it has a big warhead (650 lb/295 kg of PBXN-103 explosive) with an active electromagnetic fuse that allows the weapon to be detonated precisely where it will do the most damage. And it has more "brains" than any other torpedo, with an amazing ability to outsmart countermeasures and jamming, as well as the capability to feed seeker-head data back to the BSY-1 system on Miami. This allows the fire control technicians to use the ADCAP as an offboard sensor. With such capabilities as these, it's no wonder that the crew of Miami calls the ADCAPs in her racks "wish me dead" torpedoes.