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Subject: Intelligence Collection Submarines
Roman    1/29/2004 6:52:12 PM
Are there dedicated submarine platforms for intelligence collection or is this task assigned to the more universal SSNs and SSKs? I assume it is the latter.
 
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Mark F    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines   1/29/2004 9:07:47 PM
In the USN, all SSN's have a primary intelligence collection role. It is probably the most important thing they do.
 
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gf0012-aus    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines   1/29/2004 9:42:32 PM
The US does have one nuke that is dedicated to intel work. They had it for for over 30 years before it appeared on the register. :) AFAIK It is still operational. It's role has probably been somewhat compromised now though. but, who's to say that there aren't anymore out there (admittedly the circumstances are different)
 
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shawn    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines   1/30/2004 2:09:28 AM
In general, most USN submarines have some intelligence gathering capability. Specifically, there were a number of boats that had specific modifications. Some were radar picket boats that sniffed out radar emissions. Some were signals intelligence. The most famous intelligence boats were the Halibut and the Parche, which carried very special modifications to conduct underwater wiretaps (Operation Ivy Bells) and recovery of sensitive material from the sea floor. It was the Halibut that found the Soviet Hotel that sank in the Pacific, and lead to the infamous Jennifer Project. For more info, get this excellent book: Blind Mans Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Authors: Sherry Sontag , Christopher Drew , Annette Lawrence Drew Other resources: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ssn-683.htm http://www.specialoperations.com/Operations/ivybells.html
 
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gf0012-aus    Intelligence Collection Submarines - Shawn   1/30/2004 7:03:28 AM
The other sub was the NR-1. No name, but a cable splicer, listener and retriever of objects d'art as well. Possibly the only vessel (and definitely the only sub) in the US Navy to have wheels fitted to its bottom. And its still going strong!
 
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Roman    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines   1/30/2004 10:45:31 PM
Wheels on the hull? Are you serious or is it a supposed to be a joke I did not get?
 
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gf0012-aus    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines   1/30/2004 11:29:06 PM
No, I'm serious. It was designed to crawl on the ocean floor when it was on some types of recovery or intel work. Its the smallest nuclear sub in the world and was hidden from public records for over 30 years. It never appeared on the navy ship register as it was recorded as being a research vessel for another less "military" department.
 
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Roman    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines   1/31/2004 12:32:55 AM
Interesting! I looked it up on a U.S. Navy website and you are correct that it is described as a research and oceanographic vessel. It is not surprising that they do not acknowledge the intelligence function... Interestingly, the displacement of the submarine is only 400 tons, so perhaps French_Stratege's small SSNs of about 3,000 tons are feasible after all.
 
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gf0012-aus    Intelligence Collection Submarines - Roman   1/31/2004 12:48:32 AM
It does appear on registers now. Up until very recently it was not even listed under O&R headings.
 
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shawn    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines - NR1   1/31/2004 10:01:18 AM
NR-1 was a pet project of the legendary Admiral Rickover, the then head of the USN's Naval Reactors branch (that's where the NR in NR-1 came from) It was meant as a deep diving 'mini' sub, with endurance to stay submerged for days at a time, but it's not very fast (8 knots) and needs a mother ship to look after it, so it was never a 'spy' sub that could snoop around unfriendly waters.
 
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Roman    RE:Intelligence Collection Submarines - NR1   1/31/2004 2:05:51 PM
Good point shawn, I guess standard SSNs take care of most spywork. BTW: What do they spy on? Do they listen in to electronic transmissions near the shore (ELINT) or simply count the ships and identify their unique sounds, or something else entirely?
 
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