I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea. H G Wells
Bridge – Radar – got a spook. The Enemy Below 1957 starring Robert Mitchum & Curt Jurgens & Theodore Bikel & Al Hedison & Russell Collins & Kurt Kreuger & Ralph Manza & Frank Albertson & Biff Elliot & Doug McClure et al, director Dick Powell, radar bloke
I’m sick of this war. It’s not a good war. ibid. captain of U-boat
There’s no end to misery and destruction. ibid. Mitchum
I want something better for them than war, and I think it’s possible. ibid. doctor to captain
I don’t want to know the men I’m trying to destroy. ibid. captain to doctor
Chapter 1. Alarming Rumours! In the year 1868 the shipping world was alarmed by rumours of an avenging monster on the loose. A series of strange events befell certain vessels cruising the great South Seas and travel on the nightmare sea lane dwindled to a few bold ships. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1954 starring Kirk Douglas & James Mason & Paul Lukas & Peter Lorre & Robert J Wilke & Ted de Corsia & Carleton Young & J M Kerrigan & Percy Helton & Ted Cooper & Fred Graham et al, director Richard Fleischer, opening caption
There’s the monster! ibid. on-board ship
You are not only a murderer, you are a hypocrite. ibid. professor to captain Nemo
Think of it: On the surface, there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight and tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves, their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here, I am free. Imagine what would happen if they controlled machines such as this submarine boat. Far better that they think there’s a monster and hunt me with harpoons. ibid.
The submarine: silent, efficient and deadly. It was one of the ultimate weapons of World War II. Yet there is a secret side to the submarine war: the Second World War was a battleground for tiny deadly submarines whose very existence was kept a closely guarded secret. Secrets of War s1e52: Secret Submarines, History 1999
The training of the swimmers included not only the use of explosives but the teaching of unique swimming techniques. ibid.
Allied Underwater Demolition Teams or UDT were responsible for sinking hundreds of tons of shipping. ibid.
An extraordinary method the cartels now use to traffick their drugs: they build their own submarines. Jason Fox, Meet the Drug Lords: Inside the Real Narcos II, Channel 4 2018
She is one of Britain’s biggest and most secretive engineering projects costing over one billion pounds. And it took more than 5,000 people 14 years to build her. How to Build … a Nuclear Submarine, BBC 2010
‘There’s an extraordinary amount of expertise in putting one of these submarines together.’ ibid. Navy man
It’s a wet and windy weekend in the middle of November. And the first new British submarine to be built for ten years is now preparing to sail out into the open sea for the very first time. ibid.
She is one of the technologically advanced machines in the world. ibid.
The current owner of the shipyard is British defence company BAE Systems. ibid.
The surface of the boat is covered with around 40,000 rubber tiles designed to make the boat almost invisible. ibid.
The submarine’s nuclear reactor will need to be switched on. ibid.
The Astute is almost four years late on its delivery and estimated to be overspent by around £800 million. ibid.
‘You can tell the day of the week it is by the food.’ ibid. commander
The Wasp merely stung the submarine ... Other Wasps from the British frigate HMS Plymouth began to swarm around the submarine … In the confusion, the runaway torpedo missed its target. As the Argentine submarine slipped away, the torpedo found a new target: a British submarine. Down but not out, the Santa Fe submarine was still seaworthy and still on the move. It evaded its British attackers. Wings of War s1e9: Helicopters, Discovery 2019
In May 1939 the crew of the submarine USS Squalus were struck by disaster deep below the surface of the Atlantic ocean. They were trapped on the ocean floor with the air running out and no means of escape. The latest victims of what the US Navy dubbed the Coffin Service. Their fate rested on one man: Naval inventor Charles ‘Swede’ Momsen. Voyages of Discovery s1e5: USS Squalus, BBC 2006
In the previous 20 years worldwide 22 subs had been lost along with the lives of over 1,000 men. They didn’t call it the Coffin Service for nothing … No crew had ever been saved from the ocean depths. ibid.
Water from flooding from the rear to the front of the sub. ibid.
A poisonous chlorine gas was beginning to spread. But there was no way out. ibid.
The Squalus had been equipped with Momsen lungs … This is a submarine rescue bell based on Momsen’s design … It was Momsen’s big moment … The unbelievable had happened: a rescue mission had reached the submarine. ibid.
The U-boats that were floating bombs: a journey through the heart of the Nazi war machine. In this episode I’ll be going to the depths of the Wolf packs, Germany’s U-boat army, a force that threatened Britain’s survival like no other. Nazi War Machines: Secrets Uncovered III: U-boats, Channel 4 2019
At the start of the Second World War, Britain ruled the waves: the Royal Navy was the largest and most powerful seaborne force in the world. ibid.
His notion of a Navy was a grandiose fleet of massive battleships that could take on the Royal Navy on the high seas. After all, where’s the fun in launching U-boats when you could be smashing champagne bottles against giant battleships. ibid.
Away for weeks at a time: the smell of this place must have been absolutely horrendous: the sweat, oil, rotten food, a really physically incredibly tough environment on which to live and try to fight a war. Operating in wolf-packs, the U-boats targeted Britain’s lifeline: the merchant ships supplying goods and materials from the United States and Britain’s colonies from around the world. The wolf-packs were staggeringly successful. ibid.
Small mass-produced vessels: the midget submarine … these midget subs were soon to prove more dangerous to their crews than the enemy. ibid.
Some 60% of these were lost. ibid.
Something that could change the face of the war … This is U-boat 2540 … a type 21. ibid.
Early submarines were not taken seriously. David Hayman, War at Sea: Scotland’s Story II, BBC 2015
But as the Dreadnought war ended, the U-boat war intensified dramatically. ibid.
HMS Trenchant is a billion-pound nuclear submarine. Known as a hunter-killer. This top secret boat is designed to silently track enemy vessels and keep them out of British waters. But for her all-male crew this is also home. Submarine: Life Under the Waves, Channel 5 2021
HMS Trenchant is getting ready to leave port … a male crew of up to 130 … She can go for years without refuelling … Andy must ensure there is enough food on board for up to 120 days. ibid.
Trenchant’s mission is to defend Britain’s Trident nuclear missiles. ibid.
Over the coming weeks at sea the galley must produce 300 meals a day in a space the size of a small garden shed. Submarine: Life Under the Waves II
Carbon dioxide levels are rising. But the crew don’t know why. And the emergency oxygen supply will soon run out. ibid.
The acid has done the trick. The toilets will soon be back in service. ibid.
A US nuclear sub goes missing. Is the Cold War about to get hot? … The USS Scorpion, a nuclear submarine deployed to spy on Soviet manoeuvres, goes missing. Conspiracies Decoded s1e9: Secrets of the Scorpion, Discovery 2020
A fleet of new mega-subs ... He [Hitler] was using slaves to build a super-factory. What the Dumbusters Did Next, Channel 5 2014
One of Britain’s most secret military establishments – Faslane, on the west coast of Scotland. This is Britain’s Royal Navy submarine base … Behind this fence is Britain’s most secret and most powerful weapon of war … This is the home of Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet and our Trident nuclear missiles. Rob Bell, On Board Britain’s Nuclear Trident Submarine, 2020
Over 6,500 people work here at the base. ibid.
HMS Vengeance is 150 metres long and weighs 15,000 tons. She’s one of four Vanguard class of submarines. ibid.
In 1969 the British Submarine Service began carrying nuclear missiles. ibid.