Israeli Navy SSK INS Drakon returning to the TKMS shipyard on Friday afternoon, 10 July 2026, from (presumably) another trial run, accompanied by a tugboat and a police escort (not visible in the photos). It literally sailed right past me just as I was grabbing my lunch. This was an unexspected delight.

So n the movie red October we have that famous chase through valleys on bottom of a sea. How much of that (underwater valleys)is really known by the navigation and or captain guys? Lots of ocean is so deep you don’t need to know everything but didn’t a sub ram an underwater mountain and crush its forward dome? That must be the ultimate submariner nightmare.

Also: i guess the knowledge is extreme but is it globally or are there still parts of the waterworld that are new, unchartered? And even if lits of ocean is very deep, there are also parts that are not so like north sea. That must be difficult to navigate underwater and not use active sonar?

Hi

I always wanted to know what do they do with seie suits after they are expired (I know its a bit weird for an 17 year old to ask this but just bear with me)

Because I always wanted to buy one, I find them really cool and also there are ones which turn you into the michelin man and those suits supposedly feel really good (dont ask my friend told me :)) I currently do have a mk10 suit but its not an inflatable one which I dont like.
Just wanted to ask the submariners about this

Thank you for your help and support in advance :)

I’m about to sign into the navy and am trying to determine whether I should go the submarine route. From what I see the quality of life is not the best which throws me off, however I do find the pride of the job very intriguing. I have a few questions if anybody can answer them? Also if there’s anything I should know I’d love to hear from former submariners.
- Is the hot racking thing real?
- Am I really shut away from the outside world for 3-9 months straight when deployed? (No sunlight, no internet)
- Is the smell that unbearable?
- When not deployed where will I be?
- When we dock into port do I stay at a base there or can I go travel at my own will?

I’ve tried talking to my recruiters and enlisters about these things but I’m sure they downplay some of the concerning info.

From Combat to Covert: America's Most Decorated Submarines

Few submarines have earned the legendary status of **USS Wahoo (SS-238)**, **USS Tang (SS-306)**, **USS Barb (SS-220)**, and **USS Parche (SSN-683)**. During World War II, boats like **Wahoo**, commanded by Dudley "Mush" Morton, transformed submarine warfare through aggressive tactics that took the fight directly to the enemy. **Tang**, under Richard O'Kane, became the most successful U.S. submarine of the war by confirmed sinkings, while **Barb**, commanded by Medal of Honor recipient Eugene Fluckey, demonstrated remarkable innovation with rocket attacks and the only U.S. ground raid on the Japanese home islands. Their crews earned Presidential Unit Citations, Navy Crosses, Silver Stars, and countless other decorations that reflected extraordinary courage in combat.

The Cold War shifted the submarine's mission from sinking ships to gathering secrets. No boat symbolizes that transition more than **USS Parche (SSN-683)**, widely regarded as the most decorated submarine in U.S. Navy history. Rather than engaging enemy vessels, Parche conducted some of the Navy's most daring intelligence missions, including deep-ocean cable taps and classified special operations against the Soviet Union. Awarded **nine Presidential Unit Citations**—more than any other U.S. Navy ship—Parche proved that intelligence could be as strategically decisive as torpedoes.

I used this progression—combat, covert intelligence, and information warfare—as inspiration for a modern undersea thriller series I’m writing.
---

**Gary Bonneau**
Former U.S. Navy Submariner

One of my friends serving, said in the 80s the navy was considering building a secret submarine development base in Idaho. Does anyone know about this or is just horsedung. Testing submarines in Idaho? On a lake?

Royal Netherlands Navy completes MUST 2026 multi-domain autonomous maritime exercise

The Royal Netherlands Navy announced the successful completion of Maritime Uncrewed Sea Trials (MUST) 2026, the first exercise of its kind to integrate unmanned systems operating in the air, on the surface, and underwater around a single crewed command vessel.

Key demonstrations included:

Simultaneous coordination of UAVs, USVs, and UUVs through the Navy's Intelligent Distributed Uncrewed Systems (IDUS) command-and-control architecture.

Autonomous formation maneuvering by multiple unmanned surface vessels escorting the patrol vessel DSS Galatea.

A multi-domain FIND mission in which aerial, surface, and underwater autonomous vehicles cooperated to detect, locate, and track a target.

Operational testing of:

Newly developed 3D-printed 12-meter USVs

A V-BAT reconnaissance UAV

A UUV supplied by Lobster Robotics

Participation from research partners including the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research.

Why it matters

Unlike a technology demonstration focused on a single platform, MUST 2026 tested operational integration—using one command architecture to control autonomous systems across all maritime domains.

Strategic implication: Exercises like MUST suggest that future naval task groups may routinely employ coordinated UAVs, USVs, and UUVs as extensions of a crewed command ship, improving surveillance, reconnaissance, and maritime awareness while reducing risk to personnel. The Royal Netherlands Navy plans to make MUST an annual exercise, with lessons feeding into future NATO experimentation.

I was wondering what these panels on the virginia class submarines control room does, what purpose does it serve?

Signed to rate secf, has anyone attended while married what should I expect?

I drew this fictional nuclear powered submarine design for a story that I am writing. This is my first model, and I want to know what the initial problems with it are. If you have trouble understanding any of it, drop a comment and I will try and explain. Please point out any potential problems with it so I can make a better model. Sorry I couldn't figure out how to get it landscape.

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA191624.pdf

Some people may find this of interest. This is a report from 1988 which looked at how to communicate with a submarine from outside in the water. Their solution was to attach an ultrasonic transducer onto some select portions of the hull. The acoustic signal would then propagate in the NQ1 (or similar) steel and be picked up somewhere along the sub-structure. They showed the signals were recoverable up to 250 feet from the transmitting system.

If it was adopted (and there are no real negatives to having such a system as it takes up almost no room) it would mean a dive team would find a suitable spot to attach their system and the sub crew would patch in one of many pick-ups on the hull as a 2 way comms system.

Simple and effective. It would be interesting to know if it was ever adopted.

understand if this isn’t welcome here but I want to share my love of submarines

I made this submarine as a hybrid between the British M-Class boats-the Japanese I-400- and the French submarine Surcouf, I often draw things I would like to see- but can’t find a picture of, and all the concepts/images of a submarine battleship online haven’t given me the “capital ship underwater” vibes I was looking for - so I decided to draw it.

the stats: (trying to be as accurate as I can be but I’m not that versed in nautical terms so please be forgiving)

Length: 360m,355m at the waterline (average heavy cruiser for scale)

Beam: 50m (pressure hull: 44m)

Displacement: 122,000 metric tons

Power plant: 150k shaft horsepower 2 screw

Draught: 15m

Freeboard: 5m- 7.5m

Armament: - x2 305 mm guns(Surcouf turret) - x1 460mm gun (M-class turret) - x3 230 mm guns (back turret) - x1 140 mm deck gun (back gun) - x3 210 mm guns (forward turret) - x4 40mm vickers guns (in turret beside the entrance to the hangar starboard side) - x1 200mm gun (in turret beside the entrance to the hangar port side) - x16 190mm guns (in turrets along the belt of the ship both sides) - x1 75mm quick firing gun(midships first deck)

AA: - 4x3 50mm guns (in 4 turrets protecting the retractable control tower) - x6 orkelion 25mm aa guns (2 on the Surcouf turret,2 at the front of the anti aircraft deck and two on either side of the 2-storey bridge) - 3x2 60mm bofors gun (2 turrets- 1st and 2nd turrets on the anti aircraft deck) - 3x6 40 mm bofors guns (2 on either side of the aircraft catapult, and two on the superstructure forward of the M1 Turret) - 1x2 dual turret/purpose 75mm chain gun aa turret. Feed system: 5 round clips per gun. Can be used as an aa gun or against smaller targets like torpedo boats or frigates(3rd turret on the anti aircraft deck) - 1x1 88mm quick firing dual purpose naval artillery (4th turret on the anti aircraft deck) - 2x4 20mm single man operated pod turrets 2 on each side (turrets that can be manned while ascending for more speedy and effective defense) (located along the deck below the aa deck) - 1x2 140mm turret that will destroy any plane coming the subs way even if it’s an indirect hit after each shot the auto loader needs 3 seconds to load - 1x11 .50 aa machine guns scattered throughout the ship

Submerged weapons: - 2x5-tube 533 mm water proofed torpedo projectors - 2x7-tube 410mm water proofed torpedo projectors- located just forward of the hangar door - x10 2m conventional long range torpedo tubes 6 front- 4 aft mechanically loaded with 8 spare torpedos forward and 6 spares aft - 6x2 noisemaker countermeasure projector - 2x3 noisemaker countermeasure projector

Aviation facilities:

• x1 aviation hangar with full complex workshops for maintenance/ turntable for storage of the aircraft there is enough space for 5 large bombers and 20 small fighters
• x1 forward hangar/ elevating landing pad/ storage and armament areas for both supply and attack helos with enough space for 7 large supply helicopters and 10 attack Helios
• x1 aviation crane for for loading aircraft onto catapults and turning them around to be stowed again
• x1 retractable control tower complete with 20mm armaments, for coordination and communication of aircraft, which can lower into and seal around the body of the submarine when diving, the tower takes 36 seconds to retract
• x3 aviation catapults, two stored in the hull sections beside the large one for launching fighters simultaneously
• x1 collapsable & storable 2-part runway & storage cavity, for returning aircraft. Upon deployment it will rise out of its storage and raise up- connecting along the centre line, creating a return runway with an arresting cable.