Encounters of the Submarine Kind

[sailingfarmer]

I assume you thought it was a US sub..... suppose it was North Korean on a spy mission?....

[Striker37]

It could have been a USO.A underwater UFO.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

If you really want to have some fun, put on some Jimi Hendrix and put a speaker against the hull.

Thanks for an excellent description of sub nav lights.


My only addition would be perhaps, for music, you would consider The Sex Pistols song, submission (Sub Mission). Some of the lines include:
I'm on a sub mission for you...
Dragging her down, down, ....


I am sure everyone is familiar with this but just in case....

[reed1v]

Next time try to harpoon it. Subs should not be making any sounds unless they are old WW2 relics. They are suppose to be silent, or at least the ones fussing around Pearl Harbor were.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Next time try to harpoon it. Subs should not be making any sounds unless they are old WW2 relics. They are suppose to be silent, or at least the ones fussing around Pearl Harbor were.

No idea what they are using here, but WWII relics would not surprise me .

Now I don't know a whole heap about subs, but as I understand it, diesel-electric subs run noisy when they stick up their snorkels and run their generators.

[crabcake]

Originally Posted by zeehag

swl.....as i recall you see funny looking airplanes and now funny looking boats... hhmmmm.... ....and i like the idea of a speaker on the hull to send music their way--- i can think of some good songs to play to get attention....lol
you just have ALLL the fun....

I would vote for CCR - Bad Moon Rising

[winjamerk]

Used to sail alot in area with subs and they'd arrive day and night time. You don't need to add music, just keep your depth sounder functioning.

[Seaworthy Lass]

OK, perhaps I should go into stealth mode myself here. 228 people are looking at the thread.
That probably covers most of the agencies .

[kish]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Close encounter with a sub here. Heart is still pounding having briefly stopped.

4:15 am and I am on watch. Pitch black night. I hear the distinctive rumble of a sub on our port side. Five minutes later odd very bright lights pop up to starboard.

What lights do subs display?

PS I know I am edgy when catching sight of the rising moon then makes me jump!

In 1997 I sailed on a yacht through a submarine exercise area off of North West Scotland and was hailed by a British warship, 12 miles to the east, and requested to alter course.
It was early evening with no engine running, sailing in a force 6 wind.
Some 10 minutes later we were subject to a mighty low pitched rhythmic acoustic noise loud enough to disturb the crew below deck. This lasted about 2 minutes.
It was not the doorbell style "ping" shown in submarine movies, but a mighty high decibel level, cabinet rattling base sound.
There was nothing visible on the surface and no further communication with the warship.

Those were the facts and here is my interpretation:
Presumably we were being "pinged" by a submarine.
Scary. as trawlers in the western Scottish and Irish Sea areas have been sunk by being towed backwards and foundering.
It is well known that submarines use the noise of shipping to hide from pursuers by steaming underneath the surface ship and it's acoustic shadow.
A 12 metre yacht with no machinery operating, and correspondingly quiet, would present an ideal exercise opportunity to a submarine and a sonar blast will locate it.
A steel hulled ship would not feel the sub's sonar used to position itself underneath as a yacht would.

[redhead]

Many MANY years ago (when I was younger and prettier) we were entering eastern Long Island Sound just opposite the entrance to the Groton CT sub base in our beloved Pearson 365. I was wearing the briefest of bikinis and my husband was napping below. Just like a James Bond movie a sub surfaces crossing my bow heading north. Now I was sort of new to sailing and this shocked me but I'm not the type to panic in an emergency (I usually panic afterthe emergency).

Very calmly I called down to my husband "Uh, Marc you should come up here"
Nothing
A little more strongly "You need to come here now and see this"
A grunt
"GET YOUR ASS UP HERE I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE F I'M DOING I'M GOING TO T-BONE A F'ING SUB"

He was up in a jiffy.... This being pre 9/11 he got on the VHF and hailed them but they never answered just the conning tower going north really really fast.

Bikinis rule.

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

This was the last one we saw. I included a portion of our yankee sheet in the shot to give an idea of its proximity:

Turkish Type 209

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Next time try to harpoon it. Subs should not be making any sounds unless they are old WW2 relics. They are suppose to be silent, or at least the ones fussing around Pearl Harbor were.

speed dependent
The operating range might typically be from 6-8 knots to 30 knots submerged
You wont hear it at 6 knots

[Victory 28]

I was walking down the beach in Hobe Sound towards the preserve on the north end when I encountered a completely naked lady who was very, very beautiful. Not one to gawk, my eyes were completely fixated on her lovely form and right then the same fully grown man whom I had been observing prior to reaching this point in my walk, once again came running past this particular stretch of beach flying his kite, the actual direction of the breeze didn't seem to matter much to him, (typically useful for getting a kite aloft) he just kept running past about 60 or so yards then turning around and running back, unlike myself he never even glanced at her as far as I could tell though he was obviously very enthusiastic about flying his kite repeatedly past this particular spot. I gave her a surprised look after his 4th U-turn and we shared a smile and a laugh. I began to move in for a possible chat when right then a fast attack submarine surfaced in what could not have possibly been more than 40' of water, the periscope was steadfastly pointed in one direction. Meanwhile the amazing Mr. Kite had completed his southerly orbit and was pounding his way back. OK I thought this is just too much and I continued on my way feeling just a little happier.

[Cheechako]

The only subs I've encountered were almost silent.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by ZULU40

Turkish Type 209

Thanks for the ID. At the time we were sailing between Greek islands, but in doing so had briefly cut into Turkish waters.

Wikipedia link to the Type 209 (designed in the 1960's):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_209_submarine

According to the above link they are still used by both the Turkish and Greek navies.

Note:
"They are powered by four MTU diesels and four AEG generators. The AEG electric motor is attached directly to a five- or seven-bladed propeller."

I can't imagine they are silent when running generators to charge their batteries.