The US Navy's submarine force is known as the Silent Service- quiet, deadly, and utterly
secretive, they represent everything that makes these weapons of war the most feared
by sailors on the high seas.
With nations around the world fielding submarines ranging in size from half of that of an aircraft
carrier to barely the length of a school bus, these undersea terrors are as versatile as
they are deadly.
Hello and welcome to another episode of The Infographics Show- today we're taking a look
at 50 incredible facts about the history, development, and deployment of submarines.
50.
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, served in the US Navy during World War II and was
briefly made commander of the small submarine chaser USS PC-815, during which he claimed
to have sunk two Japanese submarines off the coast of Oregon- though a subsequent investigation
concluded there was no evidence of any subs in the area.
One month later he was relieved of duty for shelling Mexican territory and supervisors
recommended he be assigned “duty on a large vessel where he can be properly supervised.”
49.
In WWII public weather reports were heavily censored to prevent enemy submarines lurking
below the waves from learning about local conditions.
A football game in Chicago was covered in fog so thick that the radio announcer couldn't
see the field, but he was commended for never once using the word fog or mentioning the
weather.
48.
In April 1968 a Soviet strategic ballistic missile submarine, the K-129, sunk in the
North Pacific ocean, prompting a massive search by the Soviets.
Clued in that the Soviets were likely missing a sub, the US reviewed recordings from their
extensive underwater hydrophone network and located the location of the sub's implosion
within days.
47.
After weeks of a fruitless Soviet search for their missing submarine, the US dispatched
their own submarine, the USS Halibut, to the wreck site during the classified Operation
Sand Dollar.
Using deep submergence search equipment, the Halibut spent several weeks taking over 20,000
closeup photos of the wreck of K-129.
46.
Wanting to recover the Soviet wreck in order to pilfer its secrets, the CIA enlisted the
aid of American billionaire and known eccentric, Howard Hughes, who acted as a front for the
construction and deployment of a specially built ship which would lower a claw to the
sea floor and lift the destroyed sub to the surface.
45.
Under the pretense of mining manganese nodules from the ocean floor, the Glomar Explorer
then set off to the location of the wreck and succeeded in lifting up a portion of the
forward hull, recovering two nuclear torpedoes, sonar equipment, code books, and the bodies
of six Soviet sailors.
44.
The CIA considers the recovery of Soviet submarine K-129 one of its greatest Cold War successes,
and the bodies of the six Soviet submariners were given a burial at sea with full military
honors by American seamen.
Video of the burial ceremony was given to the Russian government in 1992 as a diplomatic
gesture.
43.
The only sinking of a submarine by another submarine while submerged occurred on February
9th, 1945, when the Royal Navy submarine HMS Venturer scored a direct hit on the U-boat
U-864 off the coast of Norway.
42.
In total, 9 nuclear submarines have been sunk around the world, and most remain on the bottom
of the ocean floor with their nuclear weapons and reactors intact.
41.
The Soviet nuclear submarine K-429 actually sank twice- once at sea from flooding during
a test dive, and then after being raised, sinking two years later after flooding while
moored.
Raised once more, this unlucky sub was finally decommissioned two years later- no doubt to
the great relief of her crew.
40.
Only two submarine accidents have ever exceeded 100 onboard deaths- the Sinking of the USS
Thresher in 1963 and Russia's K-141 Kursk in 2000.
39.
The sinking of the USS Thresher was the greatest loss of life from a submarine accident ever.
After a pipe joint failed, water burst into the sub and shorted out electrical systems
leading to a loss of power.
When the ballast tanks were blown to resurface manually, ice plugged the valves and prevented
the sub from rising, causing the Thresher to implode at a depth of about 1,300 to 2,000
feet (400-610 meters).
38.
Second to the sinking of the Thresher, the sinking of the Russian Navy's Kursk killed
118 sailors.
Faulty weldings and poor workmanship led to a leak of one of her practice torpedo's hydrogen
peroxide fuel, which caused an explosion equivalent to 220-550 pounds (100-250 kilograms) of TNT.
After settling at the bottom a second explosion equivalent to 3-7 tons of TNT killed all but
23 of the remaining crew.
The 23 survivors later died when their chemical oxygen generator caused a flash fire which
consumed the remaining oxygen in the compartment they were sheltering in.
37.
In May 2012 a dock worker wanting to “get out of work early”, started a fire aboard
the moored USS Miami which consumed the forward section of the sub.
The worker was sentenced to 17 years in prison and fined $400 million dollars- which we're
sure he promptly paid off.
36.
During the Cold War Finland developed two advanced submarines in cooperation with the
Soviet Union.
Fearful of advanced submarine technology making its way into Soviet hands, the US secretly
threatened Finland with severe economic sanctions if it continued its partnership, which Finland
promptly terminated.
35.
Sound travels very easily through water, so submarines rely primarily on sonar to locate
their prey.
Experienced sonar operators are extremely valuable to any navy, and have learned to
identify different classes of ships by the sound their engines and propellers make.
34.
Computers are even better at identifying ships by the sounds they make then humans though,
and the most advanced sonar systems can even identify individual vessels by the unique
sounds they make due to their specific construction, variations in materials, and tiny flaws or
imperfections in their engines or propellers.
33.
In order to not give themselves away, submarines rarely engage their own sonar, and instead
sit quietly for hours or even days listening to the sound of the ocean around them until
an enemy gives themselves away by turning on their own sonar or by the sound of their
engines and propellers.
32.
When actively looking for an enemy submarine though, LFA sonar is the loudest man-made
noise, reaching over 200 decibels.
31.
The British HMS Artful is one of the greatest endurance submarines in the world, and can
stay underwater for 25 years at a time- its onboard systems automatically produce oxygen
and drinking water from sea water.
30.
In case of global nuclear war, one of the ways the British nuclear submarine fleet checks
to see if the British government is still functioning is to see whether BBC Radio 4
is broadcasting or not.
29.
During the 1960s, afraid that Soviet subs could sever undersea communications cables
which kept the US in contact with its overseas forces, the US deployed a ring of 480 million
tiny copper antennas the length of a stamp and twice the width of a human hair into space
around the earth.
The antennas would help bounce radio signals around the world and thus ensure communications,
but were ultimately made obsolete by the creation of the telecommunications satellite.
28.
Each British nuclear ballistic submarine contains a sealed and unopened Letter of Last Resort
from the current Prime Minister housed in a nested safe.
The letters are handwritten instructions from the Prime Minister which the captain of each
sub is instructed to open only if the British government has been wiped out.
The letters are destroyed after each new Prime Minister takes office and replaced with a
new one- only the British PM knows the content of the letters, but it is thought that they
include commands for a captain to A) retaliate with nuclear weapons, B)
not to retaliate, C) use his or her own judgement, or D) place the submarine under command of
the US or Australia.
27.
Submarines are the stealthiest ships in the sea- so stealthy in fact that in 2009 two
British and French nuclear submarines collided with one another because they couldn't detect
each other.
26.
After the end of World War I, a german submarine washed up onto a beach in Hastings, England.
25.
On February 23rd, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-17 surfaced near Santa Barbara, California,
and attempted to shell an aviation fuel facility with its deck gun.
Doing little to no damage, the shelling helped prompt the internment of Japanese-Americans
for fear of enemy collaborators.
24.
In 1998 a North Korean midget sub and her crew were lost when they became entangled
in a South Korean fishing net.
When fishermen notified the South Korean authorities, a South Korean ship secured the stranded submarine
and began to tow it to port- only for the ship to be scuttled by the crewmen sealed
inside who then committed suicide.
23.
Half of the United States entire nuclear arsenal is stored aboard 14 ballistic missile submarines.
22.
The third leg of the 'Nuclear Triad' after ICBMs and nuclear-capable bombers, submarines
are the third element of modern nuclear deterrence.
Because of their stealthiness and ability to hide close to enemy shores, submarine-launched
nuclear missiles are the most survivable element of the nuclear triad.
21.
Each of the US's 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines carries up to 20 nuclear missiles
tipped with 8 100-kiloton nuclear warheads.
20.
An Ohio-class's Trident nuclear attack missile can independently target each of its 8 warheads,
striking 8 targets per missile.
All together a single Ohio-class submarine can destroy 160 cities or military bases.
19.
The maximum operating length for an Ohio-class submarine is classified, and officially annotated
only as “Limited only by onboard food supplies”.
18.
The largest submarine ever built was the Soviet Union's Akula class nuclear ballistic missile
submarine, with a length of 372 feet (113 meters), a beam of 45 feet (13.6 meters),
and weighing up to 13,800 tons.
17.
The Akula class is one of the only submarines ever built with surface-to-air missiles as
part of its weapons package.
16.
The Indian navy currently leases one Russian Akula II submarine- the Nerpa, under a lease
program with an option-to-buy at end of lease.
15.
In August 2009 two Akula-class submarines operated off the East coast of the United
States, marking the first known Russian submarine deployment to the western Atlantic since the
end of the Cold War.
14.
In August 2012 it was discovered that a Russian Akula-class submarine had operated in the
Gulf of Mexico undetected for over a month, sparking controversy within American military
and political circles.
13.
One American or Russian nuclear ballistic missile submarine has enough firepower on
board to make it the sixth most powerful nuclear power in the world.
12.
Unlike their ballistic missile cousins, attack submarines are also known as hunter-killer
submarines and specialize in anti-submarine warfare and targeting surface ships.
Some even have cruise missile capabilities to strike land targets.
11.
The first nuclear-powered submarine was the USS Nautilus, deployed in 1955.
Three years later the Soviets followed suit with their Project 627 “Kit”-class submarine.
10.
On October 1981 a Soviet Whisky class submarine ran aground on the south coast of Sweden,
prompting an incident known as 'Whiskey on the rocks'.
9.
Near the end of World War II, a German sailor's inability to properly use the toilet led to
the sinking of submarine U-1206 and the capture of her crew.
8.
On Friday the 3rd, 1986 Soviet submarine K-219 suffered a catastrophic explosion in one of
its missile tubes.
As the captain struggled to save the ship, the nuclear reactor which should have automatically
shut down failed to do so.
20 year old Sergei Preminin volunteered to enter the reactor room and shut down the reactor
manually, which he did.
However, water pressure difference between his sealed compartment and the rest of the
ship prevented the crew from opening the door and Preminin asphyxiated inside the sealed
compartment.
He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star for his bravery.
7.
After the sinking of the K-219, a Soviet research ship located the wreck and discovered that
its entire complement of nuclear weapons was missing.
To this day their location is unknown.
6.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, American ships located a Soviet submarine near the
coast of Cuba and dropped signaling depth charges meant to force the submarine to surface.
Running too deep for radio communication and thinking that war may have already broken
out above them, the three senior officers aboard voted to authorize launch of the sub's
nuclear weapons in accordance with operating instructions.
One officer, Vasili Arkhipov, was the single vote that prevented the unanimous decision
required, and thus saved the entire world from a nuclear armageddon.
5.
On January 25th, 1995, a team of US and Norwegian scientists launched a four-stage sounding
rocket off the northwestern coast of Norway.
Inadvertently following an air corridor which American ICBMs would use enroute to Moscow,
the rocket appeared on radar as a US Navy submarine-launched Trident missile.
Fearing a high altitude nuclear attack meant to cripple Russian radar in preparation of
a full nuclear strike, Russia's nuclear forces went on full alert and the Russian nuclear
football was brought to Russian President Boris Yeltsin who had to decide whether to
immediately launch a retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States or not.
Thankfully for us, he did not.
4.
Per US Navy tradition, no US submarine is ever considered lost if it fails to return-
it and its crew are considered to still be on patrol.
3.
During World War II, two New Zealand trawlers came across a Japanese submarine that outweighed
them by a thousand tons.
Refusing to back down, the two fishing vessels repeatedly rammed the much larger submarine
until they beached it, allowing the US to capture it and vital Japanese code books.
2.
The US Navy operates a secretive submarine base in a remote lake in northern Idaho where
it develops stealth submarine technology far from prying eyes.
It is believed that an underground waterway to the ocean allows it to secretly deploy
submarines straight to the Pacific.
1.
British submarines fly the Jolly Rogers to honor submarine tradition.
Know of any other amazing submarine facts?
Let us know in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video 50 Surprising Facts About Aircraft Carriers?
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