Building a whole boat from two halfs

JLD · Apr 24, 2021

I thought this was an interesting article. A French nuclear-powered submarine severely damaged by fire last year has been saved from the scrapyard -- by cutting it in two and welding the salvageable half to part of another decommissioned sub.

Jim

Alaskan Sea-Duction · Apr 24, 2021

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

FF · Apr 25, 2021

"and welding the salvageable half"

Welding is the key , there are few metal yachts in the USA.

A different technique was used by a prof about 30 years ago, with an old wooden boat.

He went to the East coast of Canada , and had the hull replaced , they reinstalled everything engine mast sails pumps and interior.

The customs folks charged him for a paint job and winter storage for which he had a bill.

High Wire · Apr 25, 2021

Fighting a fire INSIDE a submarine by hosing down the OUTSIDE? I guess if it drops the inside air temp one degree for those actually fighting the fire it would be worth the effort.

Lepke · Apr 25, 2021

In 2005, USS San Francisco, a LA class sub, hit an underwater mountain at high speed. The damaged bow including sonar and fwd ballast tanks were removed and a new bow from the USS Honolulu was welded in place.
In WWII it was common for damaged ships to be pieced together. In 1956, USS Wisconsin's bow was damaged in a collision with a destroyer. A 68' section from the bow of the never completed USS Kentucky was used to fix the damage in 16 days.

Ski in NC · Apr 25, 2021

I was a young engr in a shipyard in the late 80's. We took a ballistic missile sub and cut it into three chunks. Fwd compartment, missile compartment, engine room/aft. Cut up the missile comp, and dragged the front and back together and welded it up. Something to do with limits on numbers of tubes allowed by treaty. The sub then was not used to go to sea, but trained operators in the engine room.

Art · Apr 25, 2021

Interesting!

kapnd · Apr 27, 2021

Sometimes half a hull is an improvement over the original.
When I was a teenager, I salvaged a damaged canoe, cut it in half and installed a plywood transom and a 10 horse outboard motor, and away we go.
That thing was more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and would go forever on six gallons of gas.

BruceK · Apr 27, 2021

With cars, that`s a "cut and shut". Get 2 cars, same model,one damaged at the front one at the rear. Cut away the bad and weld the good parts together. Of course there`s a tad more to getting it right. Sometimes used for "rebirthing" stolen cars.

fletch · May 10, 2021

Can be done

Depending on the heat load of the fire and how well it was documented, better write off anything inside the heat effected zone, pressurization cycles are critically important for a sub.

Building a whole boat from two halfs

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