There are two major types of 'submarines in the United States Navy: ballistic missile submarines and attack submarines. Ballistic subs have a single, strategic mission: carrying nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Attack submarines have several tactical missions, including sinking ships and subs, launching cruise missiles, and gathering intelligence.
Composition of the current force
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Ohio class (18 in commission) — ballistic submarines, 4 to be converted into guided missile submarines
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Virginia class (1 in commission, 3 under construction, 2 on order) — attack submarines
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Seawolf class (3 in commission) — attack submarines
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Los Angeles Class (51 in commission) — attack submarines
Personnel
U.S. Navy submarines are manned solely by volunteers from within the Navy. Submarine personnel are accepted only after the most rigorous testing and observation.
Some 5,000 officers and 55,000 enlisted people make up the submarine force. In addition to submarines, they are assigned to submarine tenders, submarine rescue ships, deep-diving submersibles, floating dry docks, shore support facilities, submarine staffs, and senior command staffs.
The submarine force has always been a small fraction of the active Navy. In 1998 only about seven percent of the Navy's people were submariners, though they operated one-third of the Navy's warships.
Today, at the end of the decade, the smaller submarine force of the late 1990s continues to man a significant fraction of the Navy's warships, and some of the most capable and versatile.
Pressure and escape training
After acceptance into the submarine program, candidates undergo a demanding training schedule, which includes attendance by all Officers and non-nuclear trained enlisted personnel at the U.S. Naval Submarine School New London, located within the U.S. Naval Submarine Base, New London, in Groton, Connecticut, (USNAVSUBSCOL at USNAVSUBASENLON) as well as rigorous technical training in different specialty areas.
Besides their academic and technical training, much of which is Classified Secret, Top Secret or above, all prospective US Naval Submariners, both officers and enlisted personnel, undergo 3 phases of physical training and testing related to the intense pressure differential between the surface and submarine operating depth.
The following descriptions omit details which are classified:
Valsalva maneuver
The first test is for the ability to perform the Valsalva maneuver, named for Antonio Maria Valsalva. If a submarine training candidate cannot perform the Valsalva maneuver under doctor's supervision at normal atmospheric pressure, that candidate is rejected as unfit for submarine service but may serve on surface ships.
Pressure
In the second phase of testing, called Pressure Testing, candidates who have successfully performed the Valsalva maneuver will be subjected to increased ambient pressure. This test is performed under the supervision of a diving-certified medical doctor. All testees enter a pressure chamber, accompanied by the doctor, and the 'tank' is sealed. Typically, there is in the chamber a somewhat surprising object: an inflated volleyball, water polo ball or similar inflated ball. Upon sealing the tank, pressure is increased, while the testees equalise their eardrum pressure. (if any testee is unable to 'Valsalva', the test stops, and pressure is slowly released.) Pressure builds within the chamber until the chamber is equal to water pressure at "escape depth". At this point, the chamber feels very warm and dry, and the volleyball has become compressed enough that it has become the shape of a bowl, and appears to have been emptied of air, due to the greatly increased air pressure inside of the tank. Sounds inside the tank at pressure sound as if they are "far away".
During the controlled release of pressure from the tank, the air in the chamber becomes quite chilled and a fog forms in the chamber, often precipitating as a sort of dew. (see adiabatic expansion ) Once pressure is fully released, the candidates are examined with an otoscope to check for ruptured eardrums. Candidates with ruptured eardrums are either rejected as unfit, or removed from the testing cycle until healed, depending on the severity of the injury.
Escape training
The third phase of testing for submarine fitness is escape training, utilizing the Steinke hood submarine escape appliance, or colloquially known as the Steinke hood or, more familiarly, as "Stinky hood". This is a very complex device, but essentially it covers the head and shoulders during ascent from a stranded submarine, allowing air to escape during ascent, which is necessary as the expanding air in the lungs would otherwise cause disastrous injury.
The escape testing proceeds as in the pressure test, except that this time, a hatch in the floor of the pressure chamber is opened. The chamber immediately adjoins a cylindrical tower full of water, tall enough to simulate the depth of a stranded submarine. Because the air pressure inside the chamber is equal to the pressure of the water in the tower, the water does not enter the chamber.
Donning the Steinke hood, the testee, enters the water, and immediately commences a rapid ascent, due to the buoyancy of the escape device. As they ascend, each testee must allow the air in his lungs to escape, this is facilitated by yelling as loudly as possible. Typically they are told to yell "I feel fine!" repeatedly, as loudly as possible. If one does not forcefully and continuously expel air from the lungs in this manner, they may be gravely injured or killed. The air exiting the lungs is allowed to exit the hood through a set of two one-way valves, keeping the device inflated but not over-inflated.
Successfully completing the escape training requires two trials, one of them at double the depth of the first. On completion of escape training, testees are now considered bubbleheads.
As of 2004, the Steinke Hood is slated for replacement with the Mark 10 Submarine Escape and Immersion Equipment (SEIE) suit. The Mark 10 will allow submariners to escape from much deeper depths than currently possible with the Steinke Hood. Some US Navy submarines already have the system, with an ambitious installation and training schedule in place for the remainder of the fleet.
The Mark 8, its predecessor, was a double layer suit which gave the wearer the appearance of a Michelin Man. One layer was eliminated, and the fabric was used to build a life raft that would fit in the same package that the original suit came in.
Because it is a full body suit, the Mark 10 provides thermal protection once the wearer reaches the surface, and the British Navy has successfully tested it at six hundred foot depths.
The Mark 10 Submarine Escape and Immersion Equipment suit is slated to be in place aboard all US Navy submarines by 2007. The navies of twenty-two nations currently use SEIE units of some type.
Tradition
Insignia
Further training and qualification at sea are required before submariners are awarded the coveted "dolphins" - the submarine insignia worn by officers (gold) and enlisted personnel (silver) to demonstrate their achievement.
The insignia of the U.S. Navy's Submarine Service is a Submarine flanked by two dolphins. Dolphins, the traditional attendants to Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea and patron deity of sailors, are symbolic of a calm sea.
Wearing the dolphins is a source of pride. Upon reassignment to "Fleet service", and leaving the submarine service, both officers and enlisted personnel usually continue to wear them with pride.
The origin of this insignia dates back to June 1923, when Captain Ernest King, USN, Commander, Submarine Division Three (later Fleet Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations), suggested to the Secretary of the Navy that a device for qualified submariners be adopted. He submitted a pen-and-ink sketch as an example. A Philadelphia firm, Bailey, Banks and Biddle, was requested to design a suitable badge. In 1928, a member of that firm told Ensign William C. Eddy that they were looking for a design. Eddy, using sketches of the 1926 Naval Academy class crest that he had designed, came up with the present submarine insignia.
In 1941 the Uniform Regulations were modified to permit officers and enlisted men to wear the submarine insignia after they had been assigned to other duties in the naval service, unless such right had been revoked. The officer insignia was a bronze gold plated metal pin, worn centered above the left breast pocket and above the ribbons or medals. Enlisted men wore an embroidered silk insignia on the outside of the right sleeve, midway between the wrist and elbow until 1947 when it was shifted to above the left breast pocket. In 1943 the Uniform Regulations were modified to allow enlisted men, who were qualified for submarine duty then subsequently promoted to commissioned or warrant ranks, to continue wearing the enlisted submarine insignia until they qualified as submarine officers when they were entitled to wear the officers submarine pin. A 1950 change to Uniform Regulations authorized the embroidered insignia for officers (in addition to pin-on insignia) and a bronze, silver plated, pin-on insignia for enlisted men (in addition to the embroidered device).
SSBN patrol pin
Following the tradition of the World War II patrol pin , the silver Polaris Patrol Pin is worn by SSBN crews both officer and enlisted. It recognizes their sacrifice and hard work in completing strategic patrols. One gold star marks each patrol completed. A silver star marks five patrols. Upon completion of 20 patrols, a gold patrol pin is authorized.
Neptune Award
The person on active duty, officer or enlisted, with the most deterrent patrols is presented with the Neptune Award. That person retains the award until someone else attains more patrols than the current holder or until he retires and it goes to the member with the next highest number of patrols.
Submarine verse of the Navy Hymn
The lyrics to the Submarine verse of the Navy Hymn were written by the Reverend Gale Williamson:
- Bless those who serve beneath the deep,
- Through lonely hours their vigil keep.
- May peace their mission ever be,
- Protect each one we ask of thee.
- Bless those at home who wait and pray,
- For their return by night or day.
See also
Last updated: 05-21-2005 02:18:29
