SCB 132 places Triton inside the postwar US Navy's Ship Characteristics Board system. The board was intended to correct coordination problems among the old design bureaus, but it duplicated some bureau work and lacked the General Board's strategic reach. Triton's requirements show the consequences of that machinery in a single hull. The boat had to carry large radar and communications equipment, spend long periods on the surface, and remain as stable as a submarine could be there. Her form therefore returned to surface-oriented submersible thinking while nuclear propulsion was pushing submarines toward true underwater endurance.
Notable Point · 14:31-16:40
SCB 132 and a submarine built to work on the surface
The design discussion shows how Triton's Ship Characteristics Board origins produced a nuclear submarine with older surface-running priorities.