A sonarsphere is a mammoth, dimpled steel ball, 15'x15'x 21' in diameter, weighing 27 tons. To avoid picking up sounds inside the boat, the sonarsphere is positioned as far away from the boat's regular noise as possible. A sonarsphere would be found in the bow of an attack submarine.
In the 1970s and 1980s Lukens and Canadian Lukens produced over 80 sonarspheres for submarines in the United States Navy. Our sonarsphere is the first Lukens Steel product to return home to the National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum in Coatesville. It was originally manufactured at Lukens Steel in 1984 and designed for use on nuclear submarines. Our sonarsphere was donated to us by Government Liquidation of Scottsdale, Arizona. They are the leading global seller of U.S. military assets in over 500 different commodity categories.
Lukens Steel delivered sonarspheres to the U.S. Navy on a special trailer called a Low-Boy. A similar Low-Boy brought this sphere from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine to Coatesville. After a winding journey (to avoid certain bridges, tunnels and overpasses) through seven states it arrived on November 1, 2007. Wm. F. Gaebel Trucking Company handled the transport. Transport fees were donated by The Huston Foundation and other donors.
The sonarsphere is located behind the Lukens Executive Office Building next to the Steel Workers Memorial.
Thank you to Bob and Jennifer McNeil, Fred and Mary Ellen Smith, the Stewart Huston Charitable Trust, and The Huston Foundation for making this exhibit possible..
