The inspiration for the song was Dolby's late uncle, who died as a submarine crewman during World War II.
On February 2, 2018, Dolby published this statement on his personal Facebook page:[2] In 1981 I wrote a song called 'One Of Our Submarines.'
It was the B-side to the single 'She Blinded Me With Science', and the two songs were included on a reissue of my debut album The Golden Age of Wireless.
In interviews I often told the story of my uncle, Stephen Spring-Rice, who was 2nd in command of a British Navy WW2 submarine P48 when it sank, with the loss of all hands.
In 2002, an EP of techno remixes was released on Salz Music, including versions by Ricardo Villalobos and Hardfloor.