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?!

I’m intrigued about how toilets work and how they can flush things out without water getting in.

It must be dreadful for their mental health to be on them for too long

[quote CrumpetsForAll]@NiceGerbil and she’s got a secret past trauma I am hooked but probably wouldn’t advise anyone used it as research for a career as a police officer/submariner/underwater serial killer[/quote]
I agree. Anyone aspiring to be an underwater serial killer needs to do their research elsewhere. This programme sucks as far as career advice goes.

Theres a story about this german submariner. He blocked the toilet and was too embarrassed to get help. Kept flushing and pressing things and managed to flood/sink the whole sub

I gave up but glad others are enjoying it! Nothing like a new series to get stuck into!

Being on a submarine for any length of time is v mentally taxing. The ones in the navy must be tested psychologically to the max.

Bung in a woman with no experience at all and no checks on whether she will lose the plot really fast and... Past trauma! Erm...

Mine you if she does lose the plot it doesn't matter much the plot is totally ludicrous in the first place!

God yeah it must reek.

When they surface it must be a breath of fresh air like no other!

My relative was an engineer who would sometimes go on transport journeys. He spent loads of time on an exercise bike during the trips.

NiceGerbil Dh says that fresh air smells rank after two months breathing scrubbed air, and all you can smell is guano.

All he wanted to eat when he got back was salad and fresh fruit, as once the fresh stuff was gone, you are down to canned/frozen. Even to this day, he doesn't take long in the shower. His kit needed several trips through the washing machine before it lost the eau de boat it had acquired.

Apparently submariners are advised not to drive for a week or so after a stint, because their eyes aren’t used to long distance vision. That freaked me out a bit!

They also have ultra silent washing machines, which always makes me think of Mumsnetters in flats.

@Loveatthe5anddime
Gosh 'golf for moral' !

I had no idea that submarines were so big these days. They must be huge. Presumably if you don't like golf you can go hiking and or scree running or something?

DH managed to find a documentary series about learning to captain a Submarine. Called (surprisingly) How to Command a Submarine. Its on Prime.

I'm really looking forward to watching this.

It's my plan for this afternoon after a nice long walk!

eau de boat

Yet it's the Army who are pongos!

[quote CrumpetsForAll]@MoreHairyThanScary what’s dunker training and is it as wet as it sounds?![/quote]
Dunker training where you have to prove you can escape should the helicopter or vessel you're in ditch in the sea..."After a comprehensive brief from staff trainees strap themselves into the mock cockpit, which is then rapidly immersed completely underwater. The individual must then escape using the correct procedure.

This is repeated in the dark with the module turning upside down underwater to increase the degree of realism. Divers block off windows and exits to simulate them becoming jammed due to impact, making escape more difficult so that use of a Short Term Air Supply System (STASS) is required."

So you're in a fake cockpit which is in a big old tank of water!

Haha, I've known a few submariners but never thought of this.

They've all been fit, although not athletically so, so there must be a good culture of not over eating and doing some sort of exercise.

*edit not just a cockpick sorry fake helicopter!

What would eat the bodies in the torpedo tubes? Dear lord tell me there are not rats...

@MichelleScarn yeah I’ll add that to my ever growing list of reasons why I’ll not be a submariner!

@MichelleScarn I can confidently say I would definitely fail dunker training

Oh and they would never put dead bodies in the torpedo tubes as they would be half eaten by the time they god back!!!!

By what?

My brother was a submariner and he came back as thin and fit as he left. He did weights and used a rowing machine. Foodwise, because they have to take three months grub or so with them it's all well-planned and although you don't get a lot of variety or fresh stuff, it's nutritious and filling.

He had his own bunk and never hot-bunked, although his first trip before he was promoted, his bunk was basically a shelf next to a nuclear missile!

The silent thing is so that other (possibly enemy) submarines don't hear the boat coming. (Subs are boats, things that float are ships). Even messages from families are limited to 40 word messages once a week - they receive them but don't send messages, again in case of being picked up by other subs.

My mum used to try to get so much info into her messages that she got a phone call once from someone to check it wasn't coded.

It was fascinating to hear about although I was working on the day he took my son over to Faslane to look round his sub so I missed out. He left after a few years as he fancied a change but is very proud of the dolphins on his uniform.

This is repeated in the dark with the module turning upside down underwater to increase the degree of realism. Divers block off windows and exits to simulate them becoming jammed due to impact, making escape more difficult so that use of a Short Term Air Supply System (STASS) is required."

Fuck that

I highly recommend a trip to the submarine museum at Gosport - the guides are former submariners and have lots of stories, including that they couldn’t wash clothes on board so everyone stank (and got a wide berth on the bus on the way home after a tour of duty).

www.nmrn.org.uk/our-museum/submarine

I also would just like to add I definitely have vast admiration for submariners.

Is it safe to be that close to nuclear stuff all day? Isn’t it radioactive?