AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 262 of 332 10 Life Onboard Submarines Cmde Aspi Cawasji NM VSM Genre: Reminiscence hen citizens think about submarines, they visualise a vessel with large glass windows through which one can see the beautiful ocean. Such submarines do exist but are for purely touristic purposes and dive to very shallow depths to show the marine creatures living on a reef. There are other private deep sea submersibles able to carry a few persons that are used for repairing underwater pipelines and cables. And lastly, there are military submarines made from alloy steel or titanium which obviously do not have any windows and spend many months under the sea. These are the real denizens of the deep. These are the weapons used by countries to strike terror in the hearts of their adversaries. Indian Navy’s submarine operations have remained silently underwater, extremely secretive, that is why they are called the 'Silent Service'. Even hard core sailors of the navies of the world think ‘submariners' are crazy, but they do so with great regard and respect. Any man with the Dolphin pinned on his lapel deserves all the respect, for they are submariners; men who volunteer to lock themselves up in a windowless, cramped, steel contraption of a vessel to work tirelessly below the sea. Submarines are of generally two types. Attack submarines with conventional diesel-electric propulsion and those with nuclear propulsion. Then there are those that carry nuclear tipped missiles called SLBMs. We have one Nuclear attack submarine Chakra in our inventory, one ballistic missile submarine SSBN Arihant and 13 conventional submarines in the Indian Navy. The diesel electric subs have diesel generators which charge the batteries and which in turn run the electric motors for propelling in the water. Even today, submarines strike terror in any adversary's heart and compel them to spend disproportionate amounts on human and material resources in order to hunt them down. An average crew strength is about 70 men in a space which is roughly as big as a one bedroom flat. A total of 10 officers and about 60 men of various specializations man the submarine. W