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AGSS-569 Albacore 1954-1955 - Phase I

In Phase I, increasing underwater speed was the primary goal. Following preliminary acceptance trials, the new submarine departed Portsmouth on 8 April 1954 for shakedown training. She began the first cycle of a career in which she experimented extensively with a given configuration and then returned to Portsmouth for extensive modifications so that she might evaluate different design concepts. In this way, she helped the Navy to develop better hull configurations for future submarine classes. On this initial cruise, she operated out of New London before sailing for Key West, Fla., to conduct operations out of that port and in Cuban waters. She returned to Portsmouth on 3 July for more than a year of trials in cooperation with the David Taylor Model Basin. Throughout these operations, she underwent repairs and modification in an effort to eliminate technical problems.

The submarine departed Portsmouth on 12 October 1955 and sailed via Block Island, R.I., for Key West where she arrived on 19 October to commence antisubmarine warfare evaluation and to provide target services to the Operational Development Force's Surface Antisubmarine Development Detachment. On 4 November, Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, embarked in Albacore for a brief demonstration cruise. On 19 November 1955, Albacore sailed for a rendezvous point off the Bahama Islands where she conducted special operations until 24 November and then returned to Portsmouth.

The ship's designers made every effort to streamline the hull. The sail was smaller than normal and served only to house the necessary masts. The rudder and diving planes, or control surfaces, were placed behind the single propeller. Because of limited internal volume for both crew and equipment, the engineers adopted one-man aircraft-style controls that integrated the operation of planes and rudders. The single helmsman controlled depth by pushing the wheel fore and aft for down and up angles and turning it like a steering wheel for direction. Electronics Technician Jim Tyrell remembers being at the wheel. "I actually learned to control Albacore in that way. A few years after I got out of the Navy, I took flying lessons. The instructor was amazed I could fly a plane the first time I tried. It felt exactly like flying Albacore".

As the ship-control team became more confident, Albacore was subjected to increasingly tight turns at high speed and surprised her crew with near "snap rolls" that caused extreme heeling. To minimize this dangerous effect, a dorsal rudder was attached to the rear of the sail. However, the rudder caused too much control sensitivity, turning Albacore at the slightest touch of the wheel. Small aircraft-type trim tabs were installed to minimize the use of the larger control surfaces and ensuing trials showed that the sail-mounted rudder was not necessary for adequate maneuverability. It was dropped in the next design phase but would be reintroduced in Phase III.

In Phase I, Albacore had shown that a single-stick control station for the bow planes, stern planes, and rudder allowed piloting to be a one-man job. Ultimately, however, the U.S. Navy would be one of few to reject this system because it was thought to be unreliable and that human error was too great a possibility. During Phase I, Albacore was also the first to use a single periscope that combined the functions of an attack periscope and a search/night periscope.