The Fleet Type Submarine Online

The San Francisco Maritime National Park Association has a wonderful collection of submarine technical manuals posted for your enjoyment. I find it especially interesting the way they try to ease the reader into the topic. It makes sense when you figure that at the time, the submarine was the height of advanced military technology on par with stealth aircraft of today.

There is, in fact, nothing very difficult to grasp about any part of a submarine torpedo tube, if those who study them do not attempt to understand them all at once.

This pamphlet, as has been said, is a torpedo tube primer, and not an engineering treatise; it includes nothing "over the head" of the beginning student of submarine torpedo tubes.

I'm a major fan of old technical books on just about any subject. I recently picked up a pair of books from the late 19th C on the care and operation of steam engines. Very cool for the retro-geek in me.

Also noted on BoingBoing.