You'd never get me in one

[Stargazer65]

my claustrophobia would never allow me to step inside that thing

It might look or sound daunting, but a submarine deployment is not that big of a deal...basically you're just sealing yourself into a big metal pipe filled with explosive weapons, a nuclear reactor, and high voltage electricity and then purposely sinking it in the ocean for a few months. When you think of it like that it's not so bad.

 

[bcla]

It might look or sound daunting, but a submarine deployment is not that big of a deal...basically you're just sealing yourself into a big metal pipe filled with explosive weapons, a nuclear reactor, and high voltage electricity and then purposely sinking it in the ocean for a few months. When you think of it like that it's not so bad.

People willingly get in cars with fuel tanks mere feet or inches away. So I guess it’s all relative.

 

[Stargazer65]

People willingly get in cars with fuel tanks mere feet or inches away. So I guess it’s all relative.

This is true. We drive in those same cars on one lane highways passing cars mere feet away going the opposite direction with no barriers.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I couldn’t work on one. My husband’s best friend in culinary school was a chef on a nuclear sub. If I recall it didn’t surface for six months at a time or something crazy like that. He enjoyed it. Different strokes…

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

I have a wonderful opportunity to go on a dependent's cruise on a nuclear submarine when DH was in the Navy. Prior to the cruise, I have been on his sub often but it always tied up to the pier so I knew the conditions of space. I guess I never really thought twice that it was cramped. It was just what it was and where DH worked. But going on the cruise, what really scared me that I never thought of before was, we are hundreds of feet under water and if the sub just stops working and we go to the bottom of the ocean we die, no way of getting out (can't swim as too deep and no escape pods). I guess that is pretty far fetched, I mean if the reactor stopped working, they'd go onto the backup diesel generator to run. But there are underwater mountains and our subs have hit them. Thankfully they were able to surface and get back to port. But stuff could happen.

Interesting tidbit of info, the US Submarine Force is the only division of the navy that is all volunteer. Meaning once you sign up for the Navy, the Navy could put you on any type of ship or any location they want, except putting you on a submarine. You have to volunteer to be on one and pass different psychological tests. Additionally when you do your first enlistment, many enlistments in the Navy are 4 years. To do sub service you need a 5 or 6 year enlistment as you go through alot of additional schooling.