Submarines in the United States Navy
Attack submarines have several tactical missions, including sinking ships and subs, launching cruise missiles, and gathering intelligence.
The submarine has a long history in the United States, beginning with the Turtle, the world's first submersible with a documented record of use in combat.
The submarine skippers of the fleet boats of World War II waged a very effective campaign against Japanese merchant vessels, eventually repeating and surpassing Germany's initial success during the Battle of the Atlantic against the United Kingdom.
[5] U.S. Navy submarines also conducted reconnaissance patrols, landed special forces and guerrilla troops and performed search and rescue tasks.
[8] In addition to sinking Japanese merchant ships, postwar records compiled by the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee indicate Japan lost 686 warships of 500 gross tons (GRT) or larger to submarines during 1,600 war patrols.
[9] While in command of United States Navy aircraft carrier task force 50.1 Rear Admiral Charles Alan Pownall, proposed to Admiral Charles A. Lockwood (commander of Pacific Fleet Submarine Force) that submarines be stationed near targeted islands during aerial attacks.
[10] In what became known as the "Lifeboat League", pilots were informed that they could ditch their damaged planes near these submarines (or bail out nearby) and be rescued by them.
Eventually the rescue of downed American pilots became the second most important submarine mission after the destruction of Japanese shipping.
[10] As fighting in the Pacific theater intensified and broadened in geographic scope, the eventual creation of Standing Operating Procedure (SOP TWO) led to several improvements such as the assignment of nearby submarines before air attacks, and the institution of reference points to allow pilots to report their location in the clear.
"[14] Up until that point, submarines had been torpedo boats tied to the surface by the need to charge their batteries using diesel engines relatively often.
[16] 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.
[17] The mainstay of the Tomahawk equipped vessels in the early days of the missile's deployment were the Iowa-class battleship, and the submarine fleet.
On that day, for the first time since the surrender of Japan in 1945, an American submarine fired in combat, when 12 Tomahawks were launched by U.S. boats in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Tomahawk can be fired through 21-inch torpedo tubes, but the Virginia-class and Los Angeles-class submarines since USS Providence (SSN-719) have been fitted with vertical launch systems to enable them to carry more of the weapons.
Ships from the Virginia-class except for USS John Warner (SSN-785) are named after U.S. states, a convention traditionally reserved for battleships and nuclear missile submarines.
In order to comply with arms reduction against the START II treaty, the U.S. Navy modified the four oldest Ohio-class Trident submarines (Ohio (SSGN-726), Michigan (SSGN-727), Florida (SSGN-728), and Georgia (SSGN-729)) to SSGN configuration.
The conversion was achieved by installing vertical launching systems (VLS) in a configuration dubbed "multiple all-up-round canister (MAC)."
The 2 remaining tubes were converted to lockout chambers (LOC) to be used by special forces personnel who can be carried on board.
The George Washington-class "boomers" were named for patriots, and together with the Ethan Allen, Lafayette, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin classes, these SSBNs comprised the Cold War-era "41 for Freedom."
(See adiabatic expansion) Once pressure is fully released, the candidates are examined with an otoscope to check for ruptured eardrums.
The chamber immediately adjoins a cylindrical tower full of water, tall enough to simulate the depth of a stranded submarine.
Donning the Steinke hood, the test subject enters the water and immediately commences a rapid ascent, due to the buoyancy of the escape device.
As they ascend, each test subject must allow the air in his lungs to escape, this is facilitated by yelling as loudly as possible.
As of 2008[update], the Steinke Hood has been replaced with the Mark 10 Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment (SEIE) suit.
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.
[citation needed] Eddy, using sketches of the 1926 Naval Academy class crest that he had designed, presented the submarine insignia which is used to this day.
[29] 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.
[27] 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.
The Reverend Gale Williamson wrote the following verse, which is generally associated with ballistic missile patrols:[32] In 1965, David Miller composed the following lyrics, which are used for submariners and divers:
