I followed the link to that Ogle Earth page, which was mentioned in the news article that I quoted in my previous post...
Quote:
Microsoft's bird's eye view catches Navy propeller
US submarines are designed for speed and stealth. The Navy takes great pains to keep this technology a secret. The most critical part of that secret is the design of the propellers that drive the subs and keep them quiet. Whenever the submarine is brought into the graving dock for service, one of the first things that they do is cover the propeller with a tarp so that it can not be photographed.
The Navy Times reports in a long article dated Aug 19 that a maritime buff, Dan Twohig, found bird's eye view imagery on Microsoft Virtual Earth showing the uncloaked propeller of a US Ohio class submarine in a dry dock.
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Wow. I hadn't imagined a modern-day nuclear sub would have a prop like that. It looks wicked, like something out of a Jules Verne story.