Original Sub Bunks - Dimensions

[Mark Sarsfield]

For any boat out there that has original enlisted bunks on it, please post the basic dimensions, including tubing diameter.  Maybe some day in the future we will be able to fabricate a whole new set for the Batfish and trade off the destroyer models that we have now.  A picture of an entire frame with no mattress to show the springs and their mounts would be helpful, too.  Thanks.

[Darrin]

Mark,
what we have used on the Torsk are the troop transport bunks off of the USS General Walker for our After Battery and the Officers and Chief's quarters bunks are completely different. IF you want some of those WWII transport bunks there are some on the USS Gage here in JRRF. The ones in the Forward and After Torpedo Rooms are different also, I think that we may have a couple of the troop bunks in the lower flats on Torsk right now that aren't being used. I will dig through my pictures and see what I have about those bunks.

[Mark Sarsfield]

We have surface ship bunks, too.  The problem is that they interfere with the doors closing at each end of the after battery berthing area.

[Darrin]

Am working on an answer for you Mark, give me a couple of days on this one

Darrin

[Paul Farace]

Yes, we have the canvas and pipe racks from GENERAL POPE in Suisun Bay.

We can all take some comfort in the fact that when a sub went to the yard, it always got back fewer original racks than were removed at the start of the work... and the missing racks were replaced by just these pipe racks.. so we aren't trying to graft a monkey's head on the body of Venus.

Here is a bit of sub trivia... I went over COD's plans to find the blueprint for the stainless steel racks... so as to have them made in a shop (the Cleveland reservists removed them in 1959 when COD arrived in town to make the AB space a classroom 

But I discovered that the EB fleet subs had 14 DIFFERENT bunk variations!!!!!   And Portsmouth boats had MORE!!!  There are about 86 bunks on a fleet sub -- which means that they damn near were custom fitted!

The good news is that Portsmouth subs, especially later BALAOs, were subsituting regular steel forthe stainless racks.

PF

[Mark Sarsfield]

That's interesting and pretty helpful, really.  It would be hard for a stitch nazi to come on board and tell someone that they have the wrong rack with that much variation.  Although, the surface ship variety is definitely different.

If you have any plans, please share them.

[Tom Bowser]

I couldn't find the original post on this.

I don't know if the racks on the Drum are WWII submarine racks but I think so. They measure 75" long and 26" wide with the springs and wire matress support and a short side rail. If Paul doesn't come up with the plans let me know and I will send detailed dimensions.
Also it is 1" pipe
Tom Bowser

[Lance Dean]

I helped you find your way, Tom. 

Is it hot enough for you yet down there in Mobile??

[Tom Bowser]

Thanks Lance
No not yet. Saturday to get warm I cleaned the memorial stones in front of the pavillion and then spent 4 hours in the sun repainting the letters on the Lookout Memorial. Today when the clouds and thunder storms moved in I thought I would have to dig out my coat.
Tom Bowser

[Darrin]

After a phone call was made to a knowledgable Torsk Volunteer about the bunks he told me that Torsk has 26 differnt styles of bunks onboard and we have had to make due in some areas like the After Battery Centerline bunks where they fabricated new stansions for them and new brackets and hung the General Walkers pipe bunks there and it works fine and only very few ever realize that they are not origional now if at all. And yes we have made a LOT of those bunks back to specs that we were missing after the crew went through and measured EVERY bunk onboard to find out where they really go. Mark I sent you pictures of the 2000 work weekend where they installed the new stansions and bunks into the centerline of the After Battery.

Darrin

[Mark Sarsfield]

Thanks, Darrin.  I received the photos, but have not had a chance to look them over.

Tom, go ahead and send us the detailed dimensions.  Thanks.

[Paul Farace]

Here are some shots of the Gen. Pope pipe racks with canvas and our "almost accurate" homemade racks (made out of steel instead of stainless for cost savings -- which we didn't want, we wanted accuracy!!!      And then, despite my request to paint them gray to look like plain steel ones, a subvet countermanded my request and had them painted white, so the AB berthing looked like a frikken hospital...  oh the bad old days when I had to butt heads with subvets who had no clue with regards to restoration accuracy, etc.   

The stantions for the centerline bunks were made much later, when I had somewhat established a process for curatorial review...  they are damn accurate.  For about 10 years all we had were 18 bunks in the AB (outboard rows) and display cases that looked like victorian caskets inthe center. Thank God we were able to get the pipe racks to fill out the complete 36.  And thanks to COBIA for the loan of two stantions to copy.

PF
(and thanks to medications...    )

[Mark Sarsfield]

Paul,

  Did you guys make any plans/prints of the bunks and/or stantions?  We're currently using wooden posts.  These would be good welding projects for our local Vo-Tech guys.  We would just have to supply them with the metal stock.

[MWALLEN]

Did you guys make any plans/prints of the bunks and/or stantions?  We're currently using wooden posts.  These would be good welding projects for our local Vo-Tech guys.  We would just have to supply them with the metal stock.

I'd love to get original bunks.  However, when we got the bunks from a troop ship down in Texas, we didn't have stantions and they didn't have sub bunks.  What we put up about 5 years ago is much better than having an empty room.  We just took what was available at the time.

[Rick]

you guys did well.