A claustrophobic’s nightmare: Into the lives of the nations’ submariners

In the movie, the submariner temperament is like this

As we all know, in the military of all countries, there is no better treatment than pilots and submariners. It is easy to understand the high treatment of pilots, as flying a plane into the blue sky has been the youthful dream of many hot-blooded men since World War I. The high requirements and strict selection make them the proud children of the sky. In life, civil pilots often earn a high income and belong to the gold-collar class (except for young people below the co-pilot level). In the movie “Get Out”, Leonardo plays a con man who disguises himself as a pilot to gain the trust of financial institutions.

But what about submariners? They have always been quite mysterious, in fact they are treated highly precisely in accordance with the old saying that there is no free lunch under the sky and enjoy top treatment, mainly because they work in a harsh environment and face extremely high risks.

The meaning of the existence of submarines is concealment, only hidden at the bottom of the sea can be unexpected, in short, the submarine is a metal cylinder suspended in the sea, can move. In short, a submarine is a metal cylinder suspended in the sea that can move. This cylinder must be sealed from seawater penetration and be strong enough to resist the enormous pressure of seawater. The cylinder also has to be powered by machines, and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of submariners who breathe and expel exhaust fumes to make this claustrophobic environment even more polluted. Round watertight doors are used at the joints between submarine compartments to ensure that the submarine as a whole is buoyant after a compartment has been flooded. The compartments are also densely equipped, and to travel steadily, one must be a master at crossing barriers, although frequent bending and bumping is unavoidable.

In reality, the Russian submariners returning to sea

The channel is so narrow that underwater maneuvers can create a tilt

There was a skit at the Spring Festival that introduced submarines in this way.

The submarine, the submarine two tips, inside the compartment is unusual, spring, summer, autumn and winter all have, just look up not see the sky. This is the submarine weather forecast.

Cabin 2, 22 degrees, we are with the oxygen exchange, the climate is pleasant, the spring is bright.

Cabin 6, 52 degrees, we are with the engine and generator, the temperature is higher, the summer is hot (it is like a 24-hour sauna).

5 compartment, 25 degrees, we are with the compass, sonar, constant temperature and humidity air conditioning, normal temperature, high autumn.

Cabin 1, -15 degrees, with torpedo missiles, at the forefront of the submarine, known as the underwater Arctic, with low temperatures.

Not everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the fresh sea breeze like a knife on the command tower enclosure

In World War II, German U-boats waged wolf-pack tactics in the North Atlantic, hunting down American transport convoys to Europe. They were always out day and night, surfacing in the dark and using the night to chase and hunt at high speed while recharging their batteries, and sailors were often able to climb up to the command tower enclosure and observe their surroundings in the darkness, getting some air in the process. But today, nuclear or AIP conventional powered submarines have become dominant, and once submerged for weeks or even 2-3 months without surfacing, submariners can only maintain their biological clocks by virtue of the 24-hour clock and the ever-changing color lights to distinguish between day and night.

Submarine day and night all rely on lights this is night

Submariners are extremely risky and the slightest negligence or accident can lead to fatal consequences. The sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine showed us the dangers and cruelty of submarines, and even with the better safety of Western nuclear submarines, casualties do occur. For example, in 2007, the British Trafalgar-class nuclear submarine Relentless suffered an explosion in its oxygen supply equipment, resulting in two deaths and one injury, and in 2013, the submarine suffered a small-scale radioactive coolant leak for eight consecutive days due to aging equipment.

In 2013, the boat suffered a small radioactive coolant leak for eight consecutive days due to aging equipment.

The tanker was pumped into a vacuum, which is only one atmosphere, water pressure is much more powerful than this

The sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine showed us how dangerous and cruel submarines can be (schematic)

The claustrophobic environment made the interior of the submarine like a cage, and the mental pressure, together with the high temperature and humidity, consumed the submariners’ physical abilities and wore down their will. The rough and tumble character of the Soviets often led them to design weapons and equipment regardless of human-machine effectiveness, but in submarine design, it was rough in the rough, especially in nuclear submarines with more internal space and more adequate energy supply. A nuclear submarine is like a large building connected to the grid with stable and unlimited voltage, while a conventional submarine is like a row of bungalows powered by itself, barely sustained by emergency diesel generators. Giant nuclear submarines like the Typhoon class are able to arrange saunas, small swimming pools and other luxury configurations.

Vanguard-class strategic missile nuclear submarine quarters, how many stars does this count?

The South Korean Navy’s Type 209 submarine bunks, the upper, middle and lower layers are very close to each other, if this is a European figure, the upper and lower beds are technical work

Accommodation, the previous conventional submarine due to lack of space to do one person a bunk, at least 2 people need to share a bed, a person lying down, the bed there is the residual heat of the previous person, so called hot bunk. On nuclear submarines, the accommodation space has improved somewhat, but it is not called luxury, and many nuclear submarines also set up temporary bunks in the torpedo compartment. The Vanguard-class strategic missile nuclear submarine quarters are considered top of the line among submarines, how do you look? While the living conditions of China’s new submarines (below right) are a big improvement over the old ones (below left), there are still some gaps compared to large foreign nuclear submarines.

The torpedo compartment is an amazing place, which usually doubles as a storage room, with the US nuclear submarine on the left and the French nuclear submarine on the right.

Every time they go to sea, submariners not only have to live in a small cabin for dozens of days, but also have to endure the pain of sea bumps, biological clock disruption, and isolation, and if the food is worse, the later is really unpalatable, so submariners of all countries are very careful in their meals. The submarine is a closed environment, the gas composition is complex, once the fire consumes too much oxygen, the sailor’s life will be in danger. So submarine cooking is not allowed to use open fire, only ovens, steamers or electric stoves, used to eating Western food is better, Chinese food is more influential, because Chinese food stir-fry, frying are very difficult to achieve. Many people are very dissatisfied with the chicken rice and beef noodles on the plane, one because the airline meal processing is restricted, the taste is lighter and the taste is general; secondly, because the environment has changed, people’s taste buds and appetite have declined, and the submarine will face the same situation.

Torpedo compartment is a magical place, not to put torpedoes can be put fitness equipment

The torpedo compartment is a magical place, when not at war the German 212A submarine used the torpedo compartment as a living room

The food ingredients, carrying vegetables and fruits, will not be fresh for more than 20 days, usually eat rice and noodles and vegetables and fruits first, and then eat dehydrated vegetables and canned food. The temperature of the torpedo compartment is relatively low, and fresh vegetables will be piled up when going to sea. To save water, the submarines carry special no-panning rice, which can be directly put into the pot. U.S. nuclear submarine cooks are carefully selected, and they have published books on submarine cuisine. Meat includes grilled pork chops, lobster, chicken legs, and ham; staples include bread, pizza, and pastries; and submarines carry as many fruits and vegetables as possible. The U.S. has overseas bases all over the world, making it less difficult to resupply submarines; other countries’ nuclear submarines are much more difficult to resupply when they are on long-distance duty, and more than 30 years ago, the Chinese Navy’s nuclear submarines set a world record of 90 days of continuous diving, which was not easy for submariners given the conditions back then!

Steak and lobster, the U.S. nuclear submarine food level is higher

At the beginning of the founding of the country, we established a submarine force with the help of the Soviet Union. When we sent members to the Soviet Union to study, we felt the sumptuous meals of the Soviet submarine force, with lepas, beet soup, bacon rolls, meatballs, butter, sour cream, pickled herring, etc. When we went ashore, the food was even more sumptuous, and there were even Mohe cigarettes and vodka. Later, the food security of our submarine troops also studied the Soviet Navy comprehensively. The food for submariners belonged to category 4 stove, which was the highest grade standard in the army, similar to pilots.

The toilet in the submarine museum has 8 procedures and a warning to spray “Xiang”.

The submariners will stay away from onion, ginger, garlic, leek, radish and soybeans, which either have a heavy taste or are prone to “odor”, which can cause the cabin air quality to “explode” when everyone spews out in a poorly ventilated submarine. In addition, it must be said that going to the toilet in a submarine is a big problem. The toilet must be used according to the instructions, after 8-10 procedures, in the whole tedious operation process, as long as the wrong once, may be reversed flying “Xiang” spray all over the body! The toilet in the Submarine Museum has 8 procedures and a warning about the “shou” spray. Food waste disposal is also a concern. The submarines are equipped with food scraps disposal devices that compress and pack food waste. The bottles of mineral water should be cut into pieces with scissors, and the metal cans should be flattened and disposed of centrally. After reading these, are you still envious of the high treatment of submariners?

Typhoon class submarine’s luxury configuration sauna, small pool