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?!

@thegcatsmother

What makes you think the Cold War ever finished NiceGerbil? It still goes on in one form or another.

DeRigueur Watches please, not shifts. Dh reckoned he worked 18-20/24, when on patrol, but he was a Head of Department, so stood his watches, grabbed food, did the paperwork for the department and sorted out the defects and other issues. He slept like the dead when he got home.

I stand duly corrected

There are different types. Vigil is meant to be a bloomer, it launches ICBM's ie intercontinental ballistic missiles (trident). The US has the same missile system. Can also launch torpedoes but it's real job is to stay quiet and be ready to launch Armageddon. There are attack submarines that can launch cruise missiles, torpedoes and do spying. Tracking foreign submarines, shipping, spying on coastlines etc, insertion of special forces. Think we might have diesel boats that are one big battery. Charged by a diesel engine they are v.quiet and used for intelligence gathering, surveillance. Smaller in size. They are there for warfare of some type. Not for rescue or humanitarian aid. It's known as the silent service for a reason.

Should read boomer not bloomer.

There is a surprising number of women given the short time they’ve been serving. iirc the first women were commanders. There’s loads of medics and chefs too.

It can be a no brainer to do your medical degree via the RN - get your fees (or a large proportion) paid plus a salary and then a wide range of practical experience on qualifying. I know a couple of women that have gone this route.

Surely they just manage pregnancy risk in the obvious way: contraception, test before going onboard and a doctor onboard can administer an early medical abortion should all that fail.

If anyone watched tonight my money is now in that suspiciously helpful chap that comforted her...

Also is there really a no touching rule?!

I loved the fact the captain has a fish tank in his quarters!

Thoroughly enjoyed Vigil tonight & yesterday - been 'watching' it with colleagues & friends via WhatsApp & all enjoyed slagging off how big and posh the boat is

I spent time on a large amphibious troop carrier for work (HMS Albion) & whilst my bunk was one of 3 or 4 in a rack it was comfy & the ship was massive.^^ The individual crew quarters were very compact but the corridors and stairwells were designed to be used by Royal Marines running with full kit on. Every corridor had bunks that flipped out the walls for when the ship took on troops in war time. It was seriously well designed. The day I arrived (by helicopter) they were having a triathlon on board including swimming in the onboard dock. It was absolutely mental. The day I left we had a cocktail party & the Royal Marines band popped out onto the deck on the lifts used to bring the planes up to take off on deck. Incredible.

I'd previously been on a minesweeper and frankly I've been on nicer Townsend Thoresen ferries. It was pretty hideous.

The next trip was on a Swiftsure class hunter killer boat. I was asked repeatedly before I went on if I was absolutely sure I wasn't pregnant. I also wish I'd worn different shoes as I climbed down the conning tower in knee high boots. I have no clue what I was thinking. It was extremely cramped and extremely claustrophobic. This was long before women could serve onboard subs.

I forgot to add the first thing they showed me was the escape hatch. A sailer told me they called it the 'look mum' because they would show it to their families of FAS days as in 'look mum I'll be okay it's got a hatch'.

I did the sums and to evacuate the whole boat in the event of an emergency would take hours and hours. It was def there for morale.

I also had to do a training course called DRIU. Which the RN website describes as:

Split over three decks, the unit simulates compartments of a ship with water rushing in through various holes.
Sailors are expected to stop the inrush of water using blocks of wood and hammers.
Key to the success of the DRIU is its realism – thanks to hydraulics it rocks and rolls up to 15 degrees to port and starboard, simulating the motion of a ship.

It is absolutely hideous & massive fun. You are basically given a bag of kindling, some rubber domes and a mallet. You hammer chocks of wood into holes in the hull to plug leaks and brace domes over torpedo holes. The water is freezing and you cannot breathe. The PSI of the water spraying at you means you can't really step in front of it. I was held underwater by my ponytail by another person so I could repair a leak. Def a memorable day. It was impactful that if I had to do it right now I reckon I could.

Loving reading so many interesting facts about reality on board the board. Fascinating.
I’ve ordered a copy of the book mentioned above, it was the last hard copy Amazon had!
Or so they said

I wonder what those who were on deployment when the pandemic first took hold thought when they surfaced and learned of Covid and lockdown?

Also is there really a no touching rule?!

Yes, and it applies even to married couples on the same vessel. Not just submarines, all vessels

Fascinating thread, thank you.

This is fascinating. My DF was RN but refuses to talk about it.

If the whole point of the subs is to stay hidden, and trident is really expensive and only a defense (not offense)… it would be cool if it wasn’t actually there but they couldn’t tell anyone that!

More serious questions though, where do they go? What are they looking for? Are they charting positions of other ships etc? Do they stay in uk waters or go far afield?

Have there been any disasters in recent years? I read about a Malaysian sub tragically sinking recently - it seems to have so many things which can go wrong I’d expect more.

What’s the average year for a submariner? How many months on vs off? Do they do other RN duties when on shore?

Are submarines female like ships?

There was a fascinating episode of a Heston Blumenthal series where he came up with suggestions for submarine catering. They were delighted with the concept of sous vide, as sous vide fried onions took up a fraction of the space that fresh ones did.

It was a series where he looked at specific settings. I remember there was also one on aircraft meals.

Fascinating morning read

I’ve been on one (obviously docked and had lots of people walking looking around) and the beds are tiny. DS was about 4 at the time and they looked suitable for him. I felt slightly panicky and I don’t usually get claustrophobic it’s just the thought of been locked in there.

I wonder how mare there are lurking in the sea

Watching Vigil tonight looking forward to it

The missile boats are given a patrol area and keep station there waiting for the call you hope doesn't come. Job is to stay undetected. Even the crew may not know where they are. That is for the Captain, 1st Officer and Navigator. Attack boats are sent wherever but they are just shadowing other submarines, surface shipping etc prob the Russian navy but really could be anywhere. HMS Conqueror was the boat that sank the Belgrano. Submarine operations of all navies are highly classified but really they are just ready for war. The Cold War was full of stories of collisions, near misses, clandestine operations. Prob it's hopefully uneventful. A working environment of nuclear stuff, explosives, chemicals, personalities all in a metal tube that water is trying to get into isn't for everyone. No internet, phone calls, just a few words on a familygram every so often.

Yeah ive always said whats the point paying for trident, we just need people to think we have it. If we ever need to use it i dont care if it launches or not.

Argentinian sub vanished a couple of years ago, Malaysian sub lately then the huge Kursk disaster around 2000. Subs are tracking Russians and training mostly but are getting more involved with china thanks to Trump's idiocy.

[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]
Damn - Plan D then.

[quote DeRigueurMortis]You might want to watch this re: sub food...

[/quote] It's shocking how little they have to spend on food.

@Namechangeforthis88

There was a fascinating episode of a Heston Blumenthal series where he came up with suggestions for submarine catering. They were delighted with the concept of sous vide, as sous vide fried onions took up a fraction of the space that fresh ones did.

It was a series where he looked at specific settings. I remember there was also one on aircraft meals.

Oh lord, imagine the plastic ...

Crew of ?135, for 6 months. Silent freezer's the answer. (I clearly missed my calling in naval catering eco-logistics.)

I knew someone who was a submariner. I always remember him saying about how much he must smell when he comes off the boat. He said often the water is rationed so he couldn’t use the gym on board sometimes as couldn’t really shower very well!

@BrozTito

I find calling it nuclear 'defence' faintly ridiculous but i appreciate thats the correct term

I think the correct term is nuclear deterrent

@AgathaMystery. I’ve spent time on the non-RN amphibious ships. 😉 Ridiculously spacious especially if you’ve been on mine hunters (which are cute they’re so small!) and being on the Amphib I’ve spent a fair bit of time in support of the minesweepers too. I’ll keep my civilian double bed and en suite cabin with sea view thanks!

I LOVED the DRIU the first time I was in the “engine room” and when it got flooded I couldn’t do anything for laughing. Every time I raised my mallet the wave swept me off to the other side of the compartment! I was having a ball. Not sure the Chief found it so funny.