Submarines in the United States Navy
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There are two major types of submarines in the United States Navy: ballistic missile submarines and attack submarines. In the U.S. Navy, all combatant submarines are nuclear-powered. 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.
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[edit] Composition of the current force
- Ohio class (18 in commission) — ballistic submarines, 4 to be converted into guided missile submarines
- Virginia class (2 in commission, 2 under construction, 2 on order) — attack submarines
- Seawolf class (3 in commission) — attack submarines
- Los Angeles Class (49 in commission) — attack submarines
[edit] History
The submarine has a long history in the USN. There were various projects in the 1800s, such as the USS Alligator. However, it began in earnest in the late 19th century, with the building of the SS-1, USS Holland. The boat was in service for 10 years and was a developmental and trials vessel for many systems on other early submarines.
The submarine really came of age in World War I. The USN did not have a large part in this war, with its action mainly being confined to escorting convoys later in the war and sending a division of battleships to reinforce the British Grand Fleet. However, there were those in the USN submarine service who saw what the Germans had done with their U-boats and took careful note.
Doctrine in the inter-war years emphasized the submarine as a scout for the battle fleet, and also extreme caution in command. Both these axioms were proven wrong after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The submarine skippers of the fleet boats of World War II waged a very effective campaign against Japanese merchant vessels, doing to Japan what Germany did to the United Kingdom. They were aggressive and effective, and operated far from the fleet.
In addition to their commerce raiding role, submarines also proved valuable in air-sea rescue. There was many an American aircraft carrier pilot who owed his life to the valor of USN submarine crews, including future U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
[edit] Navy revolutions
After WWII, things continued along much the same path until the early 1950s. Then a revolution, that was to forever change the nature of the submarine arm occurred. That revolution was USS Nautilus.
The Nautilus was the first nuclear-powered submarine. Up until that point, submarines had really been, at their most basic level, torpedo boats that happened to be able to go underwater. They had been tied to the surface by the need to charge their batteries using diesel engines relatively often. The nuclear power plant of the Nautilus meant that the boat could stay underwater for literally months at a time, the only limit in the end being the amount of food that the boat could carry. With resupply by mini-subs, even this is not actually a final limit. The final limit, would be for replacing equipment that wears out and the fatigue limit of the hull. Nautilus put to sea for the first time on 17 January 1955, transmitting the historic message, "Under way on nuclear power."
Another revolution in submarine warfare came with USS George Washington. Nuclear powered, like Nautilus, George Washington added strategic ballistic missiles to the mix. Earlier submarines had carried strategic missiles, but the boats had been diesel powered, and the missiles required the boat to surface in order to fire. The missiles were also cruise missiles, which were vulnerable to the defences of the day in a way that ballistic missiles were not.
George Washington's missiles could be fired whilst the boat was submerged, meaning that it was far less likely to be detected before firing. The nuclear power of the boat also meant that, like Nautilus, George Washington's patrol length was only limited by the amount of food the boat could carry. Ballistic missile submarines, carrying Polaris missiles, eventually superseded all other strategic nuclear systems in the USN. Deterrent patrols continue to this day, although now with the Ohio class boats and Trident missiles.
Given the lack of large scale conventional naval warfare since 1945, with the USN's role being primarily that of power projection, the submarine service did not fire weapons in anger for very many years. The development of a new generation of cruise missiles changed that. The BGM-109 Tomahawk missile was developed to give naval vessels a long range land attack capability. Other than direct shore bombardment, and strikes by aircraft flying off carriers, the ability of naval vessels to influence warfare on land was limited.
Now, instead of being limited to firing shells less than 20 miles inland from guns, any naval vessel fitted with the Tomahawk could hit targets up to 1,000 miles inland. The mainstay of the Tomahawk equipped vessels in the early days of the missile's deployment were the Iowa class battleships, and the submarine fleet. The Tomahawk was first used in combat on 17 January 1991, on the opening night of Operation Desert Storm. On that day, for the first time since the surrender of Japan in 1945, an American submarine fired in combat, when Tomahawks were launched by U.S. boats in the eastern Mediterranean.
Since then, the Tomahawk has become a staple of American campaigns. It has seen use in no less than three separate wars. It has also been exported to the United Kingdom, which has also fitted it to submarines. The Tomahawk has seen a change in the design of attack submarines. At first it was fired through torpedo tubes, but more recent U.S. boats have been fitted with vertical launch systems to enable them to carry more of the weapons.
In the early 21st century, the USN submarine fleet is made up entirely of nuclear powered vessels. It is the most powerful of its type in the world. However, there are those who worry that there are not enough boats in the fleet. As with other branches of the U.S. military the budget cuts of the late 1980s and the early 1990s, as the Cold War ended, followed up by the War on Terrorism, have left little or no slack in the system. This point is illustrated by the fact that in 2003, for the first time since 1945, an American submarine made two back-to-back war patrols.
[edit] Naming
Ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs or boomers in American slang) carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) with nuclear warheads, for attacking strategic targets such as cities or missile silos anywhere in the world. They are currently universally nuclear-powered, to provide the greatest stealth and endurance. (The first Soviet ballistic missile submarines were diesel-powered.) They played an important part in Cold War mutual deterrence, as both the United States and the Soviet Union had the credible ability to conduct a retaliatory strike against the other nation in the event of a first strike. This comprised an important part of the strategy of Mutual Assured Destruction.
The U.S. has 18 Ohio class submarines, of which 14 are Trident II SSBNs, each carrying 24 SLBMs. The American George Washington class "boomers" were named for famous Americans, and together with the Ethan Allen, Lafayette, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin classes, these SSBNs comprised the Cold War-era "41 for Freedom." Later Ohio class submarines were named for states (recognizing the increase in striking power and importance, equivalent to battleships), with the exception that SSBN-730 gained the name of a Senator. The first four Ohio class vessels were equipped with Trident I, and are now being converted to carry Tomahawk guided missiles.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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, (NAVSUBSCOL at SUBASENLON) as well as rigorous technical training in different specialty areas.
Besides their academic and technical training, much of which is Classified Secret or Top Secret, 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:
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 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 Royal 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.
[edit] Tradition
[edit] Insignia
Further training and qualification at sea are required before submariners are awarded the coveted Submarine Warfare Insignia ("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).
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] See also
- List of submarines of the United States Navy
- List of lost United States submarines
- List of United States submarine classes
[edit] External Links
Submarine Warfare Division website Information, history, and US Navy articles
Undersea Warfare magazine Undersea Warfare is the official magazine of the US Navy undersea warfare community.
