What is in the control room?
This is where the crew dives the boat, controls depth and returns the boat to the surface.It includes:
- Radio room with radios and encoding/decoding equipment.
- Controls for the low-pressure blower, used to empty ballast tanks of the last of the water.
- Periscope wells. The actual periscopes cannot be seen inside the wells nor can they be used from here.
- High-pressure air manifold used to bring the boat back to the surface.
- AC electrical switchboard.
- Alarms – diving, collision and general quarters (battle stations) mounted on one of the pericope wells.
- Announcing systems.
- Trim manifold.
- Air search radar.
- IFF query and display.
- Diving officer’s checklist.
- Radar equipment.
- Bow and stern plane control wheels.
- Ladder and hatch up to the conning tower.
- Hatch and ladder down to the pump room.
- Chief of the watch station with the “Christmas tree” display of the status of key valves and hatches.
- Controls to main ballast tank vents.
- Controls to special ballast tanks and the main induction air valve.
- LORAN (Long Range Aid to Navigation).
- Gyrocompass.
- Bathythermograph that measures water temperature at various depths.
- Fathometer, a sonar device measuring the depth of water beneath the boat.
- Boat’s safe topped by a ladder up to the main deck. This hatch has a small window to allow gun crews to see if the water above the hatch has drained away.
- Backup helm.
- Backup gyrocompass.
- Magnetic (tank) compass.
- Dead reckoning tracker. The display of Pampanito’s war patrols is on this DRT.
Note: The control room on the Pampanito is configured with red lights to show an example of the typical lighting at night.