[MOC] CSS Piranha SSM-1 Neo Confederate Midget Sub

[Laura Beinbrech]

I don't know if anyone else remembers when @Sebeus I posted LDD images of his Lego Ideas Submarine about 5 years ago, but it inspired me to take a stab at making something similar in real bricks, with a number of modifications to make it look more like an actual WWII German midget sub called the Seehund (the sail design & external torpedo racks on my version are heavily based on what was actually used on the Seehund-class).

I completed the LDD mock-up about 2 years ago, but various circumstances, namely trying to scrape enough money to hire a lawyer to get divorced from my ex-wife & my mom passing away last year after a long battle with cancer, always ended up preventing me from being able to buy the parts I needed off BrickLink until earlier this year.  So, without further ado, I present:

The CSS Piranha SSM-1
Lead boat in the Piranha-class midget submarines used by the Neo-Confederate Navy

Piranha Starboard Side by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr

From Jayne's Ships, 2118 edition:  "Due to increased success of Federal Republic & Lone Star naval bombardment of Neo-Confederate coastal cities, the New Confederate States of America government realized that they'd need some cheap, relatively fast & stealthy means of coastal defense, thus the Piranha-class midget subs were born.  Equipped with an air-independent drive able to operate submerged for 18 days with fully-charged fuel cells, and packing two MK-54 heavy torpedoes, the small, two-man boats proved their worth when they sunk a Federal Navy frigate sailing close to the Alabama coast in an attempt to bombard Mobile with its 3" coil guns."

Piranha Hatch by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr

Top view of the Piranha, with external torpedo racks visible & hatch open. In the nose of the sub are twin, repeating harpoon launchers that used compressed air to launch explosive-tipped harpoons at any sea monsters attacking the sub.  The sub uses harpoons instead of lasers for discouraging overly ambitious sea life to conserve the limited power of its hybrid bio-diesel/hydrogen fuel cell Air-Independent Drive.

Torpedoes Away! by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr

"While these subs were originally designed with coastal defense in mind, a task they're well-suited for, Captain Edward "Blackbeard" Teach of the Heavy Cruiser, CSS Baton Rouge found a way to turn them into effective offensive weapons:  He simply removed 2 of the ship's boats from the port-side boat davits & secured one of these subs in their place, extending its operational range to wherever the fusion-powered cruiser could take it.  Since then, all Neo-Confederate Mobile-class Heavy Cruisers have had Captain (or rather Commodore, since that idea earned him a promotion) Teach's modification applied, making these already infamous 'pocket battleships' even more of a pain in the allied navies' necks."
 

Piranha Interior Aft by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr

The 2-man subs are equipped with a combined engineering & torpedo control station in the aft (next to the single bunk for whomever is off-duty to get 6 hours of sleep while the other crew member pilots the sub.  Both stations are only manned when the sub has located a target for its heavy torpedoes).

Piranha Interior Forward by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr

The pilot's station in the forward section of the boat also has the controls for the harpoon launchers, so that any sea serpents or kraken thinking the sub would be a tasty snack can be dispatched without having to wake the other crew member.

Hope you enjoyed this project, and as a nice little bonus pic, here's the sub on display at BrickFair, VA, my first time attending as a registered participant :D

My Stuff by Ben/Laura Bonebrake, on Flickr