13 ms·

Deep underwater, submariners are likely unaware of pandemic

193 points by ilamont 7y ago

bradstewart 7y ago
I cannot imagine what it must be like to live in a submarine for months at a time, even without being greeted by a pandemic upon return.
- brink 7y ago
  Probably like what you're likely feeling now - quarantine. Just with less bad news, less natural light, and more people in your house.
  - bradstewart 7y ago
    The lack of natural light seems like it would really, really mess with me. Maybe it's possible to prepare for that with certain training, I don't know. I'm lucky enough to have a backyard, in which I've been spending a lot of time lately.
    - numpad0 7y ago
      Sunburns. Human skin generates Vitamin D out of UV damages to it, which plays roles in hair and nails but also in maintaining healthy thoughts somehow. Apparently kids in arctic regions receive “sunbathing” sessions in a dark room with UV lamps for this reason. I’ve been thinking to replicate it but haven’t been able to find much technicalities in it...
      - kc0bfv 7y ago
        Are you talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lamps? I think most "full spectrum" bulbs will work, they sell them at hardware stores.
      - jules-jules 7y ago
        Look for a solid Vit D3 K2 combo and you should be golden.
        dralley 7y ago
        Although, be careful with your Vitamin K intake if you're highly sedentary. Increases the risk of blood clotting problems. It's not a problem if you're active though.
    - zentiggr 7y ago
      I didn't have much trouble adapting to underway conditions. But then I've always been somewhat introverted and love hunching over a desk doing projects. Underway was just a bit tighter spaces, flourescent only. Like knowing you were going into a really weirdly laid out half industrial half office space and you just weren't leaving for a while. (I was lucky enough to be in a rating where I was on periscope every now and again, so I had that bit of extra 'view'.)
  - aequitas 7y ago
    Probably a lot worse than our average quarantine: no view of the outside, no fresh food, no way to 'escape' temporarily by going for groceries. Working on and off shifts sharing your sleeping bunk with another shipmate, little possibility for leasure, no Netflix, PS4, home cooking or spending more quality time with your family.
    - ekianjo 7y ago
      > PS4 I am pretty sure they have video games in a submarine these days.
    - zentiggr 7y ago
      Actually submarine fleet gets a bit better food than the rest. Toward the end of a long underway, things can get a bit odd, but I was never truly disappointed in the food. You find other escapes - I bought my own laptop at the Exchange and taught myself Linux from the install CD up on one deployment. If you're senior enough, you get your own rack. Perks :) And once you're off watch, there's routine to do but after that you have your own music, games if you like, movie nights (voting gets weird sometimes), read, we even made up a Stellar Conquest type game once, played out on paper, one turn per watch rotation. The family thing could be a big deal but I was already pretty estranged from my very small number of relatives, so wasn't much for me. YMMV.
- c0nsumer 7y ago
  A buddy of mine headed out to Alaska to do the full 1000 Mile Iditarod Trail Invitational on a bicycle before this all really kicked off. The world she came back to is really, really different: https://salsacycles.com/culture/an_interview_with_jill_martindale_iditarod_trail_invitational_1000_champion https://salsacycles.com/culture/an_interview_with_jill_marti...
- izzydata 7y ago
  It sounds rather peaceful to me.
  - gregoriol 7y ago
    They are likely on alert 24/7, training when nothing happens, ... so not sure about peaceful; but to get a taste of peaceful, throw away your TV and everything will be much more fine
  - yourapostasy 7y ago
    It's smelly. Check out submariners' recall of the amine smell that permeates even their skin. They're experimenting with a nanomaterial that might replace the amine. https://www.quora.com/Does-a-Navy-submarine-have-a-distinctive-smell-you-can-describe-Do-your-ears-pop-while-underwater https://www.quora.com/Does-a-Navy-submarine-have-a-distincti... https://paulamrozowicz.com/2015/02/10/submarine-life-what-i-definitely-dont-miss/ https://paulamrozowicz.com/2015/02/10/submarine-life-what-i-...
    - zentiggr 7y ago
      Twenty years later, I still remember that exact smell, so yeah. But I can't say it bothered me any more than walking into other people's houses to their distinct combination of odor. Just very different and something you get used to.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  I think it's only up to around three months - 90 days - it isn't like a full-length tour.
  - zentiggr 7y ago
    Boomers, yes. Fast attack boats are never really underway that long, but they deploy away from home port for 4 - 6 months at a time. I did five deployments in a 54 month sea tour. (My time away from home port was 68+%)
dhosek 7y ago
When I was a kid and would go off on boy scout camping trips of 1–2 weeks, I always imagined returning from the trips to discover some big important thing had happened while we were cut off from civilization. It never had. It'll be strange coming to the surface from this mission.
- arethuza 7y ago
  That reminds me of the excellent novel Earth Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides
  - ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
    What struck me most with this book was the rats! Most humans die due to a virus and cities are left 99% empty. There reaches a point where all the rats flee the city (having eaten all the food they can) and arrive in endless waves at the protagonist's home.
- grecy 7y ago
  We do that often when we drive up the Dempster Highway into the Arctic Circle. No Cell, no radio, just a couple of weeks exploring the wilderness. One of the massive perks to living the Yukon for sure. I personally need that kind of "off time" from the constant connectivity, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Photos here if anyone is interested http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway
- war1025 7y ago
  There was an article a couple weeks ago about a group that went on a rafting trip and experienced just this. The guy scheduled to pick them up tried telling them about it on the ride home, but no one believed him until they saw it on the news.
- lb1lf 7y ago
  -I have found that the news cycle (for anything but the largest of events) is so short that several times when I've worked offshore, something happened back home - some celebrity died, some place burned down &c - but by the time I get back home, it is old news. Hence I am blissfully unaware until the topic comes up, perhaps months later. "Oh, so that is why Wenche Foss hasn't been in the news lately..."
soneil 7y ago
I’m not sure there’s anything specific about France here. The UK’s bombers operate similarly, and I can’t see any reason anyone else’s wouldn’t. My father worked aboard one, and we got to send a weekly “familygram” message - a short, telegram-style message where you put one word in each box until you’re out of boxes, and then mail it off to the Navy. You weren’t allowed to even hint at any bad news - not even that the dog had died - and we were told that any bad news would be removed from the message. And receiving a too-short, redacted, or no familygram at all would probably be more worrying than not being told at all. The reality of it is that if you’re half-way through a 10-week patrol, there’s nothing about this pandemic that’s remotely useful to you. Nothing you can do, nothing you can say, no way you can benefit from this information. It’s 100% useless mental overhead. And to be honest, I think I’m a little jealous right now. I don’t think 100% news saturation is good for us either.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  > there’s nothing about this pandemic that’s remotely useful to you Surely it's a planning consideration for the commanders? I think they get world news so that they can inform their decision if they need to decide for example where they go if they can't contact London.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    The article notes that the commanders are likely aware.
    - sgt101 7y ago
      How? The ULW comms network was decommissioned years ago! How would they know?!
      - ceejayoz 7y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines Radio and satellite comms on the periscopes, among other things.
setgree 7y ago
> Salles himself was at sea in a sub when his father died, but the news was kept from him until he had finished his 60-day mission. Goodness -- I already thought 'submariner' might be the world's worst job and this clinches it.
Cthulhu_ 7y ago
Isn't that by design? IIRC the nuclear submarines go dark for a long time and are trained for a scenario in which their home country has been nuked into obliteration. Or plans what they need to do if there is no contact with the home front anymore (that is, fire the nukes). This may no longer be the case though, I'm just going with bits I may have seen on the TV from the cold war. But yeah, tldr they are trained to find a nuclear apocalypse when they resurface.
aequitas 7y ago
Just in: a Dutch submarine had to abort it's mission because part of the crew has been tested positive for corona. https://nos.nl/liveblog/2328775-deel-bemanning-nederlandse-onderzeeer-besmet-taxichauffeurs-mogen-niet-demonstreren#UPDATE-container-44392127 https://nos.nl/liveblog/2328775-deel-bemanning-nederlandse-o...
zelon88 7y ago
Anybody have a non-paywall version?
pjc50 7y ago
Reminder that the nuclear ballistic missile submarines were built for - and continue to be operated for - a war of total annhiliation. Assuming they were submerged when the first strike missiles launched, there would be a period of under an hour before they struck their targets. During that time, the ground based second strike might be launched by the United States, but France and the UK have no ground based nuclear launch capability. Operational depth is usually below radio depth, so there would be no contact until surfacing again, at which point the submarine commanders would have to face the knowledge that most people they ever knew were probably dead and their cities destroyed. They would then have to open their sealed orders and decide if they wanted to carry out another mass murder of civilians as a reprisal, find someone to surrender to, or simply turn the gun on themselves.
- kc0bfv 7y ago
  Some communication is possible... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines#Extremely_low_frequency https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarine... The VLF section above that one is also relevant.
- JoeDaDude 7y ago
  To be fair, the subs are not 100% isolated when submerged. I don't know the protocol or time interval between communications, bur there are two systems that at least the US uses to maintain command of then nuclear subs. One is the TACAMO ELF system [1], which transmits radio signals capable of reception at some depth below sea water [1]. A second is the Navy EHF Satellite Support System (NESP) [2] in which a small satellite dish mounted on the periscope is used. I can only speculate on what the operating orders are should a sub not receive communications from one of those after some period of time. [1]. https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/scmp/part07.htm https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/scmp/part07.htm https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-deadliest-aircraft-the-us-militarys-arsenal-you-have-20305 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-deadliest-air... [2]. https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/Issues/Archives/issue_01/voices.htm https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/I...
  - 7y ago
hopfog 7y ago
To get an idea how it would be to "wake up" to all this I've found clips from Big Brother pretty interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vwVUYmv7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vwVUYmv7I I even think there are some countries where they still don't know anything (Brazil?).
jedc 7y ago
Former US Navy submariner here. This article seems... overblown. Now I was on fast-attack submarines (versus ballistic missile boats), but we regularly got email roughly every day when at sea. During certain operations, we would even regularly get an abridged NYTimes PDF news summary sent to us. And my grandmother died when I was underway on deployment - I got notified immediately. (Though obviously wasn't able to travel back.) One important thing is that the IT admins on the boat had various scripts they'd run against all the email sent/received to help ensure that classified information didn't leak out, or troubling information (I think like family deaths?) leak in. But it never felt invasive. Maybe the French Navy operates very differently than the American Navy, but... I call BS on this article.
- baud147258 7y ago
  From what I've heard from people in the French navy, the submariners aboard the ballistic missile boats are nearly fully isolated from the rest of the world, as described in the article. But the French attack subs might be like you describe.
  - jedc 7y ago
    Key point - the variation only applies when a ballistic missile submarine is "on patrol". Which is definitely not the same period of time as when they're out at sea. When a ballistic missile submarine is NOT on patrol they operate just like a fast-attack submarine.
- palijer 7y ago
  Ballistic submarines operate entirely different than fast attack submarines. The article is consistent from my understanding of how UK and Russian ballistic submarines operate.
- soneil 7y ago
  I think it’s more attack boats operating very differently to bombers. Attack boats essentially operate like surface ships with tactical advantages. Bombers operate like minuteman silos with mechanical complications.
ur-whale 7y ago
https://archive.is/hM3Mq https://archive.is/hM3Mq
ryancnelson 7y ago
I'd bet that there's usually at least a reporting of "the latest sports scores", etc, to keep people somewhat entertained with the world above. I'd think that the staff would question "all sports are cancelled, everywhere" without follow-up questions. UNLESS someone is just making up scores for an imaginary league that's being played. That'd be an elegant solution ... and a FASCINATING story to uncover someday (or write up, as fiction)
- GreedCtrl 7y ago
  > making up scores for an imaginary league that's being played. Real sports might not work this way, but there is an imaginary sport whose virus-immune atheletes continue to compete even now. Jelle's Marble Runs [1] is a Youtube channel that hosts marble races in Olympic or Fomula One fashion, complete with TV-style animations and commentary. It's all for fun, of course, but it is an interesting look at sports without sports, in a sense. [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJdpnjuSWVOLgGT9fIzL0g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJdpnjuSWVOLgGT9fIzL0g
  - nexuist 7y ago
    Similar to this: The Diecast Racing League! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUEDZmOCqa0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUEDZmOCqa0 (not affiliated)
- bryanmgreen 7y ago
  Reminds me of the film Good Bye, Lenin. A kid has to trick his mom when she comes out of a coma to believe that East Germany still exists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjSaHUKD5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjSaHUKD5I
- aggie 7y ago
  You may have described the precise reason that kind of news is not reported.
neonate 7y ago
https://archive.md/V1HO8 https://archive.md/V1HO8
ryanmercer 7y ago
Given that it appears at least 2 of the United States's aircraft carriers [1] have confirmed cases aboard, I'm sure every military has been in touch with their silent service folks, if just the captains at a minimum. While subs sometimes run silent, at least the United States ones still receive communication while doing so via VLF and even ELF. ELF at a few characters per minute can still communicate enough to have them come up just enough to to be optimal for VLF and receive whatever info. I think informing the ships about a highly contagious virus would probably rank up there with very important information. I'm no military expert but if I had a bunch of guys in subs with finite supplies I might want to communicate "hey, maybe implement mild rationing because when you guys come home we might send you right back out after we send heavily sanitized stores out to you that you shouldn't open for a week or so. - [1] https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/covid-19-cases-reported-on-both-us-aircraft-carriers-in-western-pacific/ https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/covid-19-cases-reported-on-b...
timonoko 7y ago
My cellphone broke last summer I was paddling on lake Inari. Immediate panic. There is no-one I need to have contact with. The housing co-op will take of the apartment and there is nothing of real value in there. My other inventments transactions were blocked until september. But I just could not stand it. After a day or two I paddled to Ivalo. The point is that I have lived up to 6 months in wilderness without any human contact. In Kodiak 1996 I occasionally listened to BBC shortwave, but nothing of interest ever happened so I soon forgot about it. There is some fundamental issue that needs to be fixed. Maybe they should have sign on the moon, "NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, just take it easy".

193 points by ilamont 7y ago

I cannot imagine what it must be like to live in a submarine for months at a time, even without being greeted by a pandemic upon return.

brink 7y ago
Probably like what you're likely feeling now - quarantine. Just with less bad news, less natural light, and more people in your house.
- bradstewart 7y ago
  The lack of natural light seems like it would really, really mess with me. Maybe it's possible to prepare for that with certain training, I don't know. I'm lucky enough to have a backyard, in which I've been spending a lot of time lately.
  - numpad0 7y ago
    Sunburns. Human skin generates Vitamin D out of UV damages to it, which plays roles in hair and nails but also in maintaining healthy thoughts somehow. Apparently kids in arctic regions receive “sunbathing” sessions in a dark room with UV lamps for this reason. I’ve been thinking to replicate it but haven’t been able to find much technicalities in it...
    - kc0bfv 7y ago
      Are you talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lamps? I think most "full spectrum" bulbs will work, they sell them at hardware stores.
    - jules-jules 7y ago
      Look for a solid Vit D3 K2 combo and you should be golden.
      - dralley 7y ago
        Although, be careful with your Vitamin K intake if you're highly sedentary. Increases the risk of blood clotting problems. It's not a problem if you're active though.
  - zentiggr 7y ago
    I didn't have much trouble adapting to underway conditions. But then I've always been somewhat introverted and love hunching over a desk doing projects. Underway was just a bit tighter spaces, flourescent only. Like knowing you were going into a really weirdly laid out half industrial half office space and you just weren't leaving for a while. (I was lucky enough to be in a rating where I was on periscope every now and again, so I had that bit of extra 'view'.)
- aequitas 7y ago
  Probably a lot worse than our average quarantine: no view of the outside, no fresh food, no way to 'escape' temporarily by going for groceries. Working on and off shifts sharing your sleeping bunk with another shipmate, little possibility for leasure, no Netflix, PS4, home cooking or spending more quality time with your family.
  - ekianjo 7y ago
    > PS4 I am pretty sure they have video games in a submarine these days.
  - zentiggr 7y ago
    Actually submarine fleet gets a bit better food than the rest. Toward the end of a long underway, things can get a bit odd, but I was never truly disappointed in the food. You find other escapes - I bought my own laptop at the Exchange and taught myself Linux from the install CD up on one deployment. If you're senior enough, you get your own rack. Perks :) And once you're off watch, there's routine to do but after that you have your own music, games if you like, movie nights (voting gets weird sometimes), read, we even made up a Stellar Conquest type game once, played out on paper, one turn per watch rotation. The family thing could be a big deal but I was already pretty estranged from my very small number of relatives, so wasn't much for me. YMMV.
c0nsumer 7y ago
A buddy of mine headed out to Alaska to do the full 1000 Mile Iditarod Trail Invitational on a bicycle before this all really kicked off. The world she came back to is really, really different: https://salsacycles.com/culture/an_interview_with_jill_martindale_iditarod_trail_invitational_1000_champion https://salsacycles.com/culture/an_interview_with_jill_marti...
izzydata 7y ago
It sounds rather peaceful to me.
- gregoriol 7y ago
  They are likely on alert 24/7, training when nothing happens, ... so not sure about peaceful; but to get a taste of peaceful, throw away your TV and everything will be much more fine
- yourapostasy 7y ago
  It's smelly. Check out submariners' recall of the amine smell that permeates even their skin. They're experimenting with a nanomaterial that might replace the amine. https://www.quora.com/Does-a-Navy-submarine-have-a-distinctive-smell-you-can-describe-Do-your-ears-pop-while-underwater https://www.quora.com/Does-a-Navy-submarine-have-a-distincti... https://paulamrozowicz.com/2015/02/10/submarine-life-what-i-definitely-dont-miss/ https://paulamrozowicz.com/2015/02/10/submarine-life-what-i-...
  - zentiggr 7y ago
    Twenty years later, I still remember that exact smell, so yeah. But I can't say it bothered me any more than walking into other people's houses to their distinct combination of odor. Just very different and something you get used to.
chrisseaton 7y ago
I think it's only up to around three months - 90 days - it isn't like a full-length tour.
- zentiggr 7y ago
  Boomers, yes. Fast attack boats are never really underway that long, but they deploy away from home port for 4 - 6 months at a time. I did five deployments in a 54 month sea tour. (My time away from home port was 68+%)

dhosek 7y ago

When I was a kid and would go off on boy scout camping trips of 1–2 weeks, I always imagined returning from the trips to discover some big important thing had happened while we were cut off from civilization. It never had. It'll be strange coming to the surface from this mission.

arethuza 7y ago
That reminds me of the excellent novel Earth Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides
- ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
  What struck me most with this book was the rats! Most humans die due to a virus and cities are left 99% empty. There reaches a point where all the rats flee the city (having eaten all the food they can) and arrive in endless waves at the protagonist's home.
grecy 7y ago
We do that often when we drive up the Dempster Highway into the Arctic Circle. No Cell, no radio, just a couple of weeks exploring the wilderness. One of the massive perks to living the Yukon for sure. I personally need that kind of "off time" from the constant connectivity, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Photos here if anyone is interested http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway-fall http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway http://theroadchoseme.com/the-dempster-highway
war1025 7y ago
There was an article a couple weeks ago about a group that went on a rafting trip and experienced just this. The guy scheduled to pick them up tried telling them about it on the ride home, but no one believed him until they saw it on the news.
lb1lf 7y ago
-I have found that the news cycle (for anything but the largest of events) is so short that several times when I've worked offshore, something happened back home - some celebrity died, some place burned down &c - but by the time I get back home, it is old news. Hence I am blissfully unaware until the topic comes up, perhaps months later. "Oh, so that is why Wenche Foss hasn't been in the news lately..."

soneil 7y ago

I’m not sure there’s anything specific about France here. The UK’s bombers operate similarly, and I can’t see any reason anyone else’s wouldn’t. My father worked aboard one, and we got to send a weekly “familygram” message - a short, telegram-style message where you put one word in each box until you’re out of boxes, and then mail it off to the Navy. You weren’t allowed to even hint at any bad news - not even that the dog had died - and we were told that any bad news would be removed from the message. And receiving a too-short, redacted, or no familygram at all would probably be more worrying than not being told at all. The reality of it is that if you’re half-way through a 10-week patrol, there’s nothing about this pandemic that’s remotely useful to you. Nothing you can do, nothing you can say, no way you can benefit from this information. It’s 100% useless mental overhead. And to be honest, I think I’m a little jealous right now. I don’t think 100% news saturation is good for us either.

chrisseaton 7y ago
> there’s nothing about this pandemic that’s remotely useful to you Surely it's a planning consideration for the commanders? I think they get world news so that they can inform their decision if they need to decide for example where they go if they can't contact London.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  The article notes that the commanders are likely aware.
  - sgt101 7y ago
    How? The ULW comms network was decommissioned years ago! How would they know?!
    - ceejayoz 7y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines Radio and satellite comms on the periscopes, among other things.

setgree 7y ago

> Salles himself was at sea in a sub when his father died, but the news was kept from him until he had finished his 60-day mission. Goodness -- I already thought 'submariner' might be the world's worst job and this clinches it.

Cthulhu_ 7y ago

Isn't that by design? IIRC the nuclear submarines go dark for a long time and are trained for a scenario in which their home country has been nuked into obliteration. Or plans what they need to do if there is no contact with the home front anymore (that is, fire the nukes). This may no longer be the case though, I'm just going with bits I may have seen on the TV from the cold war. But yeah, tldr they are trained to find a nuclear apocalypse when they resurface.

aequitas 7y ago

Just in: a Dutch submarine had to abort it's mission because part of the crew has been tested positive for corona. https://nos.nl/liveblog/2328775-deel-bemanning-nederlandse-onderzeeer-besmet-taxichauffeurs-mogen-niet-demonstreren#UPDATE-container-44392127 https://nos.nl/liveblog/2328775-deel-bemanning-nederlandse-o...

zelon88 7y ago

Anybody have a non-paywall version?

pjc50 7y ago

Reminder that the nuclear ballistic missile submarines were built for - and continue to be operated for - a war of total annhiliation. Assuming they were submerged when the first strike missiles launched, there would be a period of under an hour before they struck their targets. During that time, the ground based second strike might be launched by the United States, but France and the UK have no ground based nuclear launch capability. Operational depth is usually below radio depth, so there would be no contact until surfacing again, at which point the submarine commanders would have to face the knowledge that most people they ever knew were probably dead and their cities destroyed. They would then have to open their sealed orders and decide if they wanted to carry out another mass murder of civilians as a reprisal, find someone to surrender to, or simply turn the gun on themselves.

kc0bfv 7y ago
Some communication is possible... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines#Extremely_low_frequency https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarine... The VLF section above that one is also relevant.
JoeDaDude 7y ago
To be fair, the subs are not 100% isolated when submerged. I don't know the protocol or time interval between communications, bur there are two systems that at least the US uses to maintain command of then nuclear subs. One is the TACAMO ELF system [1], which transmits radio signals capable of reception at some depth below sea water [1]. A second is the Navy EHF Satellite Support System (NESP) [2] in which a small satellite dish mounted on the periscope is used. I can only speculate on what the operating orders are should a sub not receive communications from one of those after some period of time. [1]. https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/scmp/part07.htm https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/scmp/part07.htm https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-deadliest-aircraft-the-us-militarys-arsenal-you-have-20305 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-deadliest-air... [2]. https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/Issues/Archives/issue_01/voices.htm https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine/I...
- 7y ago

hopfog 7y ago

To get an idea how it would be to "wake up" to all this I've found clips from Big Brother pretty interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vwVUYmv7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6vwVUYmv7I I even think there are some countries where they still don't know anything (Brazil?).

jedc 7y ago

Former US Navy submariner here. This article seems... overblown. Now I was on fast-attack submarines (versus ballistic missile boats), but we regularly got email roughly every day when at sea. During certain operations, we would even regularly get an abridged NYTimes PDF news summary sent to us. And my grandmother died when I was underway on deployment - I got notified immediately. (Though obviously wasn't able to travel back.) One important thing is that the IT admins on the boat had various scripts they'd run against all the email sent/received to help ensure that classified information didn't leak out, or troubling information (I think like family deaths?) leak in. But it never felt invasive. Maybe the French Navy operates very differently than the American Navy, but... I call BS on this article.

baud147258 7y ago
From what I've heard from people in the French navy, the submariners aboard the ballistic missile boats are nearly fully isolated from the rest of the world, as described in the article. But the French attack subs might be like you describe.
- jedc 7y ago
  Key point - the variation only applies when a ballistic missile submarine is "on patrol". Which is definitely not the same period of time as when they're out at sea. When a ballistic missile submarine is NOT on patrol they operate just like a fast-attack submarine.
palijer 7y ago
Ballistic submarines operate entirely different than fast attack submarines. The article is consistent from my understanding of how UK and Russian ballistic submarines operate.
soneil 7y ago
I think it’s more attack boats operating very differently to bombers. Attack boats essentially operate like surface ships with tactical advantages. Bombers operate like minuteman silos with mechanical complications.

ur-whale 7y ago

https://archive.is/hM3Mq https://archive.is/hM3Mq

ryancnelson 7y ago

I'd bet that there's usually at least a reporting of "the latest sports scores", etc, to keep people somewhat entertained with the world above. I'd think that the staff would question "all sports are cancelled, everywhere" without follow-up questions. UNLESS someone is just making up scores for an imaginary league that's being played. That'd be an elegant solution ... and a FASCINATING story to uncover someday (or write up, as fiction)

GreedCtrl 7y ago
> making up scores for an imaginary league that's being played. Real sports might not work this way, but there is an imaginary sport whose virus-immune atheletes continue to compete even now. Jelle's Marble Runs [1] is a Youtube channel that hosts marble races in Olympic or Fomula One fashion, complete with TV-style animations and commentary. It's all for fun, of course, but it is an interesting look at sports without sports, in a sense. [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJdpnjuSWVOLgGT9fIzL0g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJdpnjuSWVOLgGT9fIzL0g
- nexuist 7y ago
  Similar to this: The Diecast Racing League! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUEDZmOCqa0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUEDZmOCqa0 (not affiliated)
bryanmgreen 7y ago
Reminds me of the film Good Bye, Lenin. A kid has to trick his mom when she comes out of a coma to believe that East Germany still exists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjSaHUKD5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjSaHUKD5I
aggie 7y ago
You may have described the precise reason that kind of news is not reported.

neonate 7y ago

https://archive.md/V1HO8 https://archive.md/V1HO8

ryanmercer 7y ago

Given that it appears at least 2 of the United States's aircraft carriers [1] have confirmed cases aboard, I'm sure every military has been in touch with their silent service folks, if just the captains at a minimum. While subs sometimes run silent, at least the United States ones still receive communication while doing so via VLF and even ELF. ELF at a few characters per minute can still communicate enough to have them come up just enough to to be optimal for VLF and receive whatever info. I think informing the ships about a highly contagious virus would probably rank up there with very important information. I'm no military expert but if I had a bunch of guys in subs with finite supplies I might want to communicate "hey, maybe implement mild rationing because when you guys come home we might send you right back out after we send heavily sanitized stores out to you that you shouldn't open for a week or so. - [1] https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/covid-19-cases-reported-on-both-us-aircraft-carriers-in-western-pacific/ https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/covid-19-cases-reported-on-b...

timonoko 7y ago

My cellphone broke last summer I was paddling on lake Inari. Immediate panic. There is no-one I need to have contact with. The housing co-op will take of the apartment and there is nothing of real value in there. My other inventments transactions were blocked until september. But I just could not stand it. After a day or two I paddled to Ivalo. The point is that I have lived up to 6 months in wilderness without any human contact. In Kodiak 1996 I occasionally listened to BBC shortwave, but nothing of interest ever happened so I soon forgot about it. There is some fundamental issue that needs to be fixed. Maybe they should have sign on the moon, "NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, just take it easy".