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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Submarines

A look inside The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Submarines,
by Michael DiMercurio and Michael Benson, [IMAGE]2002

THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO SUBMARINES

Introduction -- Touring a Submarine

Chapter 1: To Swim Like a Fish

  • Rule Number One: Keep the Water Out of the People Tank
  • Why They Are All Shaped Like Cigars
  • Withstanding the Pressure of the Ocean’s Depths
  • The Pressure Hull
  • The Outer Chamber
  • The Ballast tanks
  • The Sail, a.k.a. the Conning Tower
  • The Persicopes
  • Radar and Radio Masts
  • Snorkel
  • Diving Planes
  • While on Surface, the Vessel’s Bridge

    • Chapter 2: The Atomic Age

  • Rickover stories and legends

    • Chapter 3: Submarine Emergencies: Fire, Flooding, Reactor Accidents, Battle Damage

  • Fire (“Good news, Captain – the flooding put out the fire”)
  • Flooding (“you find a leak – flooding finds you”)
  • The Cause Nuclear Procedure Flaws that Doomed Thresher (protected reactor at the risk of the ship)
  • Hot Run Torpedo (loss of the Scorpion)
  • Nuclear Accidents (a dozen Soviet nuclear submarine reactor accidents; American incidents, including one that happened to our co-author)
  • Collision at Sea (can ruin your whole day) at Periscope Depth – Emergency Deep
  • Control Plane Jam Dive and Jam Rise
  • Loss of Hydraulics
  • Steam Leak

    • Chapter 4: How Nuclear Subs Work

  • Sensor Systems:
  • Sonar (active, passive, broadband, narrowband, hull and towed array)
  • Underice sonar
  • ECM (electronic countermeasures)
  • IR (infrared)
  • Low light
  • Laser ranging
  • Future sensors

  • Weapons Systems:
  • Control room description
  • Torpedoes
  • Cruise Missiles
  • Firecontrol (or how I put my torpedo on the target) and Firecontrol solution

  • The Plant:
  • Nuclear Reactor and Steam Plant
  • Electric Plant
  • Evaporator
  • Atmospheric Control
  • O2 generator
  • Scrubbers
  • Burners
  • Precipitators

  • Ship control
  • Hydraulics
  • Trim and Drain
  • Hovering
  • Ballast tank vents
  • BCP

  • Toilets
  • Trash Disposal

  • Food

  • Operating a Submarine -- Fast Attack operations
  • How to start a nuclear reactor
  • Shiphandling
  • Ice Ops
  • Rig for ultraquiet, dive, deep submergence, lady visitors
  • Man Battlestations
  • Snapshot
  • Coming to periscope depth
  • Battery (charging, hydrogen explosions)
  • “Tactical situation” and “In Trail”
  • Baffle clears, counterdetection maneuvers and Dimus wiggles
  • Battleshort
  • Commando Ops
  • Surveillance Ops (offshore, 100 feet from a Chinese pier, one antenna up, praying for inattentive PLA troops)
  • Surveillance Ops II (periscope observations of enemy sub base, waiting for SSN out-chop, conducting “underhull,” SPL, conducting trail operations)
  • Sub vs. Sub attack
  • Sub vs. Surface ship attack

  • Chapter 5: A Day in the Life of a Modern Submarine and Her Crew
  • At Sea:
  • Casualty drills
  • Training
  • War Patrol (“in trail”)
  • Field Day (janitorial ops)

  • In Port:
  • Repairs, Repairs, Repairs
  • Navy Paperwork
  • Admirals and other annoyances
  • The shipyard

  • Where We Sleep and Eat (trash disposal, toilets, showers and other “routine evolutions”)

  • Staying Submerged For Months – Atmospheric Controls, Food Served Deep, Crew Psychology (or why I heard female voices in the passageway on day 53 of submerged trail ops)

  • Shipboard organization
  • Watches and watchstanding
  • Submarine careers

    • USSDEVILFISH.COM
    Michael DiMercurio
    Princeton, New Jersey
    E-mail:
    readermail@USSDEVILFISH.COM

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