![Our Tour of the USS Requin Begins](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_2969-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225)
Our extended behind-the-scenes tour of the USS Requin (the cold war submarine docked at the Carnegie Science Center) begins with a look at the blueprints. Just two weeks after she arrived in Hawaii for her first tour, WWII ended.
![En Route to the USS Requin](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_2972-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225)
Soon after the war, the USS Requin began serving as a training target for sonar crews. After several refits during the Cold War, she eventually came to rest in Pittsburgh as a museum exhibit in 1990.
![So many pictures -- not enough time to ask questions. There was a small boat alongside the hull... I imagine that his open hatch has something to do with the ongoing maintenance, but there was so much to see, and I was more interested in hearing the tour guide talk to the member of our tour who had actually served on the Requin. So I didn't ask many questions about what I was seeing.](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_2988.jpg?w=268&h=201&ssl=1)
There was a small boat alongside the hull… I imagine that his open hatch has something to do with the ongoing maintenance, but there was so much to see, and I was more interested in hearing the tour guide talk to the member of our tour who had actually served on the Requin. So I didn’t ask many questions about what I was seeing.
![Low-angle shot -- Forward Torpedo Room With the camera very near the floor, you get some sense of just how present, how busy, and how prominent the ceiling is in this small space. Our tour guide (himself a former SEAL and submariner) told us that in operation, the boat would be even more crowded -- plenty was taken out when the Requin was converted for its training mission.](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_3000.jpg?w=249&h=332&ssl=1)
With the camera very near the floor, you get some sense of just how present, how busy, and how prominent the ceiling is in this small space. Our tour guide (himself a former SEAL and submariner) told us that in operation, the boat would be even more crowded — plenty was taken out when the Requin was converted for its training mission.
![Shipboard Plumbing This fold-up basin was right in the middle of the forward torpedo room. A few steps away was the shower (which also doubled as a place to store food) and head. All systems on a submarine are self-contained and complex... if you happened to try using the toilet when the sanitary tanks were being vented into the sea, you learned a very unpleasant lesson.](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_3009.jpg?w=230&h=306&ssl=1)
This fold-up basin was right in the middle of the forward torpedo room. A few steps away was the shower (which also doubled as a place to store food) and head. All systems on a submarine are self-contained and complex… if you happened to try using the toilet when the sanitary tanks were being vented into the sea, you learned a very unpleasant lesson.
![Hatch leading aft from forward torpedo room. Carl described many of the different safety features of the submarine. If a section is flooded with water, from a neighboring section you could pump in enough air to push out the water and restore flotation -- and in the process, that would save any men trapped in the section. (Carl frequently reminded us that the comfort and safety of the men was only something you worry about once the equipment is safe.)](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_3061.jpg?w=255&h=192&ssl=1)
Carl described many of the different safety features of the submarine. If a section is flooded with water, from a neighboring section you could pump in enough air to push out the water and restore flotation — and in the process, that would save any men trapped in the section. (Carl frequently reminded us that the comfort and safety of the men was only something you worry about once the equipment is safe.)
![I think this was the battery room... sorry, so much information. So much to look at... we were a good 2 hours into the tour by this time. I think this was when our tour guide told us that the electrical crew used to annoy the navigational crew by deliberately reducing the power output of the generators, which would slow down the clocks, which would make the navigation crew want to speed up because it looked like they were falling behind schedule.](https://i0.wp.com/jerz.setonhill.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/IMG_3121.jpg?w=368&h=490&ssl=1)
So much to look at… we were a good 2 hours into the tour by this time. I think this was when our tour guide told us that the electrical crew used to annoy the navigational crew by deliberately reducing the power output of the generators, which would slow down the clocks, which would make the navigation crew want to speed up because it looked like they were falling behind schedule.
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RT @DennisJerz: U.S.S. Requin — Extended Tour of the Cold War Submarine @CSCpittsburgh http://t.co/uyy23sdU
RT @DennisJerz: U.S.S. Requin — Extended Tour of the Cold War Submarine @CSCpittsburgh http://t.co/uyy23sdU