Do submariners get fat on duty/how do submariners stay fit?

[CrumpetsForAll]

Yes I’ve been watching The Vigil. Does anyone know this important bit of naval info?!

@pearpickingporky84 this is exactly the kind of intel I wanted! Of course they must get pretty pale underwater for months and the just popping up in Stornaway occasionally...

The bloke showing police detective around said there were 8 women and 140 men. I’d find it hard being a female submariner - how long are they at sea for each time?

They keep slim by pedalling the boat in a secret back room. That's the massive secret they're all covering up.

They are at sea for up to 3 months at a time. If someone was to die on board the options for the body are really either the freezer or the torpedo chute, it was one of the first things he asked him when he started working on the sub

[quote CrumpetsForAll]@mpsw is the silent routine thing to help their body clocks adjust? The lack of natural light must be awful[/quote]
Sadly no. That's done by intensity of lighting.

You need to be silent if you think there's an enemy nearby. Outer hull is soundproofed, but sound can escape and water conducts sound really really well. So if there is an enemy submarine around (who wouldn't use sonar, because the 'ping' would be detectable and can be tracked back to betray your location) they will literally be listening out for you. And clattering (don't drop anything metallic!) or just lots of noise (so cut out anything not absolutely necessary) can give you away

He recommends the novel of The Hunt for Red October is the best readily-accessible anti-submarine warfare manual (more detail than the film). Also Red Storm Rising.

@SpindleWhorl I fucking well knew it. Distracting us with the nukes so we don’t ask the REAL questions as per...

@mpsw ha- can you tell I’m a bit naive!! Thinking it was do they could all get a nice rest not to prevent nuclear Armageddon

how long are they at sea for each time?

Varies - usually counted in weeks (8 ish????) The limiting factor is food supply. Water not usually a problem as they have desalination equipment. Also air scrubbers

@Auntycorruption DH and I said exactly the same thing

Govt wants to spend billions replacing trident don't they and there's a lot of opposition.

Handy time for this prog to 'surface' (sorry!).

I mean the situation is preposterous.

Can't say dh ever came back skinny. The food was important, and the same each week so Friday night was steak night for example.

No room for exercise kit on a Hunter killer (the boats dh was on) as they were a lot smaller than the bombers. The officers didn't hot bunk; any extra staff got a fibre glass pallet down in the bomb shop and slept next to the torpedoes.

@NiceGerbil I’m not sure the police could send a lone officer in that quickly anyway, surely you’d need a ridiculous amount of training to safely navigate a submarine underwater. Or at least her first day rather than getting on with interviews would be a boring series of H&S talks for visitors...

@thegcatsmother did he say the food was good? I’m wondering what they do with food waste now- I guess they’d want to create as little as possible...

Sounds like being extra staff was a bit rubbish!

[quote CrumpetsForAll]@NiceGerbil I’m not sure the police could send a lone officer in that quickly anyway, surely you’d need a ridiculous amount of training to safely navigate a submarine underwater. Or at least her first day rather than getting on with interviews would be a boring series of H&S talks for visitors...[/quote]
Oh god, can you imagine the two hour drone on about Inclusion & Diversity and 'persons who launch inter-continental ballistic missiles'.

This thread is why I love Mumsnet

The whole premise is very very silly.

It might be a fun watch though!

@SpindleWhorl I guess the nearest exits bit would be swift..

[quote CrumpetsForAll]@NiceGerbil I’m not sure the police could send a lone officer in that quickly anyway, surely you’d need a ridiculous amount of training to safely navigate a submarine underwater. Or at least her first day rather than getting on with interviews would be a boring series of H&S talks for visitors...[/quote]
And if course normally you don't put anyone on a submarine who has not previously done the submarine escape training tank course

Watched a bit.

Bimbling down a ladder to who knows what bit of a nuclear submarine in her nice clothes.
Oh hello I need to interview you!
Right-ho!

It's ridiculous!

I reckon it's a sales job for new trident but I'm very cynical!

You might want to watch this re: sub food...

I worked with an ex submariner and boy could he swear - used swear words I never heard before.

Referred to themselves as sospdodgers & his tale about being allowed 1 square of toilet roll a go was ‘interesting’

1 square of toilet roll a go was ‘interesting’

Should be 3 - one to scrape, one to clean, one to polish

Ewwwww no! Surely he was winding you up!! The smell when they open the hatch after 3months must be awful if not!

@mpsw Suranne Jones hasn’t used the facilities yet but I’m keen to see this get explained to her

If you think submarines are cramp U boats were 10 times worse. Unimaginable to live in one. I remember that Kursk sub going down around 20 years ago and they found a camera on board the crew used until all dead. So disturbing.