Rare Look Inside A Nuclear Submarine, The USS Seawolf (SSN-21) | Super Structures | Spark

rising from beneath the waves a silent predator suddenly strikes for almost a century submarines have patrolled the world's oceans their missions even their construction cloaked in secrecy now we'll take you where cameras have never been allowed before to witness the incredible birth of a modern nuclear submarine about to embark on a potentially dangerous mission this is the story of the most complex military machine of the 20th century a superstructure called sea wolf [Music] [Music] it's a ritual like no other a centuries-old tradition of pomp and pageantry welcoming a new ship to the fleet [Music] but while the christening of this vessel follows a time-honored custom that's where tradition ends this is a ship for the next century an entirely new class of submarine needing the water for the first time piece of revolutionary design and construction techniques the nuclear-powered USS Seawolf takes its place in the ocean as the most advanced and lethal submarine ever created it's taken over 3,000 workers more than a decade to build what the Navy calls the most complicated machine on earth [Applause] [Music] the crew of Sea Wolf has endured years of training to earn a place aboard this mechanical marvel she is a prototype for the navy's undersea future but before they can claim the title of sovereign of the ocean man and machine must pass a complex and dangerous series of tests known as the sea trials the stakes could not be higher in the post Cold War era of budget cutbacks the Navy is relying on sea Wolf's to prove a can do more with less if this ship fails her sea trials the entire future of the Navy submarine program will be affected the 14 officers and 124 enlisted men of Sea Wolf are well aware that they and the submarines builder are under intense scrutiny judo generated bearing the number of sea Wolf's approved for construction has already been slashed from thirty to three workers at the electric boat company who built Sea Wolf have seen their numbers dropped from 25 thousand to seven thousand to them a successful sea trial could mean the difference between economic life and death but as the world's most sophisticated weapons slowly descends beneath the waves the ultimate test will come from the ocean itself and bone crushing pressures deep below the surface there's no margin for error there are a few places in the world large enough and sophisticated enough to build a nuclear submarine this is one of them the electric boat company's machine shop in Quonset point Rhode Island for the first time ever the company has allowed cameras inside to witness the birth of a nuclear submarine here giant pipes are twisted into intricate shapes while massive grinding machines polish tons of special metal alloys into parts that will become the body of Seawolf there's about eight million parts on a submarine those parts have to fit together electronically mechanically the tolerances are extraordinarily close the electric boat company was co-founded by submarine pioneer John Holland in 1899 while the construction of Sea Wolf marks a new chapter in the history of underwater vehicles like all subs its life began on the design tail from the 19th century through the Cold War submarine construction has always required enormous amounts of precise planning for instance on trident there were 10,000 drawings that defined that ship there were probably five or six revisions into ten thousand drawings said 60,000 pieces of paper it's been about 30 years we've designed a new class of submarine in those days we designed as a submarine used to use slide rules there's a lot of hand calculations and so when they designed Sea Wolf it was computer-aided there the first time we did that when Sea Wolf was designed in the 1980s the computer revolution was just beginning with the advent of computer assisted design or CAD technology her creators could drastically reduce the staggering amount of hand calculations required now basic design measurements such as length and diameter could be visualized in ways the early pioneers couldn't imagine but the design process was still full of challenges the three main problems facing modern Navy designers today were also faced by their forefathers first how to create a vehicle that could stay underwater for extended periods of time [Music] how to install enough weaponry to make it a viable threat finally how to remain undetected in the past submarines were constructed by welding together steel plates to form the hull then the machinery or guts of the sub would be lowered inside through openings in the top this was the primary method of submarine construction from World War 1 through the Cold War the Cold War was one of the most volatile and dangerous times in American history as the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated the government turned to its undersea force for defense the Navy developed two kinds of submarine classes the ballistic missile submarine and a smaller class of subs the attack class the ballistic subs often called boomers because of their enormous firepower were essentially large mobile platforms for launching nuclear weapons deployed on secret missions throughout the world's oceans the ballistic missile submarines served as a threatening deterrent to an enemy first strike their companion class the attack subs were smaller and faster than the Boomers these subs were designed to do exactly what their name implied attack quickly silently and with deadly force following the Cold War the threat of a superpower conflict decreased while the likelihood of smaller regional conflicts increased in response a new kind of submarine was needed a submarine like Sea Wolf the Gulf War with Saddam Hussein actually started the attack started with a couple of missiles out of a submarine hundreds of miles away it keeps your personnel safe and has the ability to be used in every conceivable a situation for this new class of submarine a new building approach was employed the Navy created Sea Wolf using a modular construction method for the first time a submarine would be built as a series of modules with the piping machinery and fittings installed at the same time this hull cylinder about 40 feet in diameter is about to become part of a larger complete module using this new method of construction the hull will not only be much stronger but maintenance on the sub will also be easier in the past engineers would have to cut holes in the pressure hull to add or remove machinery this time-consuming labor-intensive process required extensive recertification tests now machinery can fit through special openings that are covered by a watertight hatch increasing the efficiency of the construction process and the strength of the hull [Music] even a pencil-sized puncture in the ship's hull would bring in water with the velocity of a bullet fired from a rifle to learn how to survive against such impossible odds the crew must now face their own certification process that training begins here at the Naval Submarine school in Groton Connecticut these trainees submariners know that someday they may face a situation of life and death an emergency in which their response will either save the ship or send it to the bottom of the sea [Music] during World War two submarine crews in the Pacific faced impossible odds with terrifying regularity under constant attack from Japanese depth charges submarines became the final resting place for thousands of American servicemen despite the losses American submarines inflicted major damage on the Japanese Navy and merchant fleet one after the other these steel sharks rolled out of shipyards as fast as they could be built in response the Japanese tried every possible method to turn back the u.s. sub fleet including propaganda but neither depth charges nor propaganda could silence these warriors of the deep and the American submarine fleet dramatically affected the wars outcome the submarine force represented just a mere 2% of a very very large Navy the submarine force with that 2% of the Navy sank just about 55% of all the Japanese shipping that was sunk in the entire Pacific War ultimately the end of World War two was brought on by a catastrophic new weapon an apocalyptic device using an energy source of unimaginable power after the war's end one man began experiment with a way to safely harness this awesome power under the sea he envisioned a new kind of submarine powered by an energy source that would give an incomparable speed and stealth his vision would lead to the awesome creation called sealed [Music] somewhere off the Atlantic coast the world's most advanced submarine has begun its most crucial test called the Alpha trial this is the first of three sea trials which will determine whether USS sea wolf is ready to join the fleet its nuclear reactor provides an almost limitless supply of energy for pounds of enriched uranium will provide the same amount of energy as 10 million gallons of fuel oil used by early diesel-powered subs the advent of nuclear power was the most important development in the history of submarine construction and now as the most sophisticated submarine ever built continues its top-secret mission it does so because of the dream of one man Navy Admiral Hyman rickover Submariner and with a strong faith in both of the practicality and necessity of atomic propulsion he was a visionary of this business before we had the word vision his convictions and determination soon made him a dedicated and efficient spokesman for a nuclear Navy Admiral rickover was the first person to realize that nuclear power could turn the submarine into the most feared weapon on the planet with this new power source rickover reasoned he could counteract the submarines Achilles heel the need for frequent resurfacing which made them vulnerable to attack was no precedent and no technology available for such an undertaking he had to start from scratch prior to do fuel of propulsion typically during World War two submarines were essentially surfer ships that were capable of submerging once in a while but with new fuel of propulsion and now you had a ship that was fully submersible but translating nuclear fuel into a practical energy source presented rickover with a paradox on one hand harnessing the power of the atom on a submarine would be extraordinarily complex but once accomplished using that power to propel the sub would be relatively simple utilizing the same principle as a steam boat the process begins with a nuclear reaction as control rods carefully reveal uranium in a sealed container extraordinary heat is produced liquid is then pumped through the system it carries that heat away from the reactor core and circulates cooler temperatures back to the nuclear fuel the liquid then flows through a heat exchanger where the high temperatures are transferred to water coursing through thick pipes this assures there can be no release of radioactive materials during the energy exchange process this tremendous heat turns water into saturated steam the steam power is a turbine which drives a generator supplying all the electrical energy needed to operate the ship excess power is diverted to energy reserves stored in massive banks of batteries on board Admiral rickover understood that nuclear engines could not only generate more power they could give submarines virtually unlimited range in 1955 Rickover's theory was put to the test as USS Nautilus became the world's first nuclear-powered submarine although the Nautilus speed is a secret it is known to be by far the fastest submarine in the world three years later Nautilus proved the submarine was now master of all the oceans even those that were largely unexplored in her historic four-day journey novelist opened a new frontier when across from the Pacific to the Atlantic under the ice of the Arctic Ocean passing directly under the ice packs of the North Pole Nautilus completed the first undersea transit of this hostile environment the ship returned to a hero's welcome step forward in the mastering of the 7c very well done later in that same month the crew of a different atomic submarine would establish a new endurance record for underwater operation for 60 days between August seventh and October 6th 1958 the crew of this ship remained submerged beneath the forbidding ice floes of the North Pole the name of that ship was USS Seawolf predecessor to today's nuclear-powered wonder [Music] on board today Sea Wolf submerging for 60 days is simply routine with its nuclear powered engines and ability to manufacture oxygen and water sea wolf could theoretically remain underwater for years at a time but beyond her extended range nuclear power has also given Sea Wolf another important edge speed while her top speed is a closely guarded Navy secret officials admit she cruises faster than 25 knots about 30 miles per hour experts privately acknowledged Seawolf can actually travel much faster well it's funny people try to figure out how fast the ship goes they always ask the crew and the crew will say they have an acronym they say it go so fantastically fast that stuff falls off you know that's that's their little job but they won't tell you for sure how fast it goes it is certainly a it is certainly a sports car compared to the other ones the left 10 degrees rudder state course zero eight zero in fact even the designers of this undersea sports car we're surprised by how fast she really is the ship is tremendously fast and what they expect and people don't believe you go back to some of the scientists does the original calculation they refused to believe it for all its high-tech power Seawolf is still a warship and life aboard this ship is no pleasure cruise every square inch of sea wolf is designed for maximum efficiency which doesn't leave much room for human comforts the crew eats in shifts over 130 men will pass through this compact galley three times each day space and privacy aboard Sea Wolf are luxuries the crew learn to live without even their sleeping quarters are designed for efficiency the reason we why you call it hot racking our hot bunking is you have three guys to two racks the reason why you have that is because you don't have enough space available for each member of the crew the reason why they call it hot racking is because why you always have one on watch you have two in the rack when that person gets off watch the rack is still warm from the other person so it's pretty much why they call it and plus he jump around from rock to rock you'll never sleep in the same rack twice it's not uncommon for some sailors to actually sleep in the torpedo cradles luxurious accommodations for taller men frustrated by confined bunks because space aboard a submarine is at a premium maximizing every available inch has always started with the design phase during the 1980s sea wolf designers were able to use emerging technologies to increase available space for example cd-rom technology meant thousands of technical manuals and drawings required on early subs could be replaced by compact discs no minor achievement this freed up 350 cubic feet of space and eliminated over 6 tons of paper onboard a major tactical advantage of Sea Wolf is her arsenal of computers this massive network of incredibly powerful machines are the most ever used on any naval vessel her communication software alone uses 6 million lines of programming code sea welcome submarine is probably the most complex product built by man in the world today if you took the floppy disks 1.4 megabit floppy disks and took the data that's in this submarine and store them in those floppy disks they would be taller than the world trade zone it's just an enormous complexity of material science machines computers the computer driven sensor systems on Seawolf are so advanced they can even pick up the most minut natural sounds of the deep what you're hearing is shrimp feeding in the cold waters of the Atlantic the crew listens as dolphins swarm in for lunch but beyond just hearing faint natural sounds Seawolf sensors can detect and identify even the most silent a ship's by their sound signatures today's acoustic sensors both on the submarine and also towed behind the submarine have allowed us to be able to detect very quiet submarines and surface ships out to thousands and thousands of yards in range out to many many nautical miles those sensors combined with very improved and highly capable heavyweight torpedoes give us the capability to attack both submarines and surface ships almost it will crewmembers say the difference between sea wolf and non-nuclear submarines is like comparing a biplane to a jet but for all its space-age capabilities the job of traveling beneath the sea remains extremely dangerous and no mission is more dangerous than the alpha trial the submarines first meeting with the sea as the crew of USS Seawolf continues their shakedown voyage a mission from decades earlier casts an ominous shadow a mission in which another nuclear submarine was being tested a mission that would be cut short by tragedy a tragedy that would shock a nation and forever change the nature of submarine construction the Navy's newest nuclear submarine the thresher has launched at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard when USS Thresher was launched in July 1960 she was the first of her kind a new class of submarine like the crew of Sea Wolf thresher faced a regular series of tests designed to further submarine exploration but on April 10th 1963 the incredible danger associated with any undersea journey became all too clear [Music] at 7:47 p.m. about 200 miles east of Boston Thresher began a deep descent known as a test dive for reasons still unknown at 9:13 p.m. the ship radio to message that it was experiencing minor difficulties and was attempting to blow its ballast tanks a procedure used to surface during an emergency four minutes later a garbled message was received then the horrifying sound of the ship breaking up USS Thresher along with her crew of 129 men was gone and chilling and memorable day it was almost like where you were when the president was assassinated was also thank you as ships and deep diving equipment scoured the ocean for the wreckage investigators began a decades-long quest to find out why she sank in a remarkable series of pictures the Navy photographs the ill-starred some in one photo her number shows clearly the tail section with the stern planes is plainly visible here Navy submersibles found what was left of thresher in June of 1963 at a depth of over 8,000 feet a navy court of inquiry however was never able to fully determine the exact cause of her demise no Navy official was more devastated by the loss of thresher than the father of nuclear submarines Admiral rickover while some critics attacked the performance of the ship's nuclear reactor rickover believed that submarine construction itself must change he lobbied for improved fabrication techniques better inspection methods and more attention to emerging technologies and new ways of thinking when we lost the pressure we went from what had been a proactive approach to building submarines to a very strong reactive approach and it focused our engineering discipline into what do we have to do to make a submarine safe for the people in the harsh environment not just in wartime but in peacetime too and so treasure is not only historical memory we remind people of thresher as part of our submarine education and training we go around remind them the consequences of not adhering rigorously to these technical specifications of the processes so it's still the backdrop for the sub safe program and now here it is 34 years later [Music] the design and construction of submarines are highly specialized crafts constantly being revised to accommodate new technologies as technologies develop the workers who build subs must also adapt continually undergoing rigid certification tests which measure their skill and expertise even the body of Seawolf is made from a new material the hulls of early subs were made from a high-strength steel called hy 80 this material could withstand pressure of 80 thousand pounds per square inch the Sea Wolf class submarines are created using a new super steel called hy 100 able to withstand 100,000 pounds of pressure per square inch this means the designers can now create submarines which can dive deeper than their predecessors of the same weight although just how deep is classified or they can create new lighter weight subs capable of reaching the same depths as the earlier heavier subs but regardless of its weight a submarines effectiveness has always been judged by its ability to remain undetected once at sea an engine hum a mechanical noise even a crew members conversation could reveal the ship's location with deadly consequences stealth is the most important thing a submarine maintains its capability that's a safety by never being detected for example if there's a conflict a hot conflict somewhere in the world submarines especially u.s. submarine it's usually the first war fighting or peacekeeping platform on the scene and it does that without being detected it can then provide information with surveillance feed that information back to the president and so that the decisions can be made and submarine has the capability of doing that quietly quickly and it's virtually undetectable two things you know they know we have them and we can be there fast and to even when they don't know we're there they're not sure we're not there because these things are stealth so they could be thinking that well maybe around the corner there's an American sub or maybe it's just off a little bit and that will prevent countries I think from doing foolish things and after all that's much preferable to actually going to war to maintain stealth every joint and substructure within the ship is designed to minimize sound and vibration even operating at top speed sea Wolf's will be quieter than the older submarines were when idling at the pier it's quieter than any other summary in the world and that required an enormous amount of technology in quieting things like switches and valves and hydraulic piping the ship's inter decks are not attached directly to the hall but rest on rubber mountings to reduce vibrations other sophisticated anti detection strategies are also integrated into the construction process propellers are designed to produce minimal noise anti detection tiles made from sound absorbing plastic compounds line the inside of the hall and finally an additional layer of sound absorbing material is applied to the halls exterior when finished while the ship is cloaked by a silent defense its stealth flight capabilities also create a formidable offensive weapon whether gathering covert electronic intelligence monitoring and enemy's shipping lanes or detecting and deploying mines Seawolf will be able to get in and out of dangerous waters faster than any warship ever created but sometimes the most deadly threat to a submarine crew comes from inside the ship [Music] if I think probably the fire is is the worst thing to have happened yeah because you know that's something very quickly if you don't do the right thing to get out of control you see this is enclosed environment this is all we have if you get a big fire going it gets very hot here in a hurry very very hazardous there's nowhere else to go draft hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface a fire could wipe out a crew in an instant or slowly consume the ship's life-giving oxygen supplies it is a terrifying scenario but one that is planned for in the design of a ship in its construction and at the Naval Submarine school Natasha watches suck this training doesn't end once onboard on a submarine crew members constantly rehearse and plan for every conceivable situation when building a military craft like sea wolf designers must also plan for every eventualities the most obvious and most dangerous is combat like an aircraft carrier a submarine is divided into separate watertight sections this way if a torpedo should penetrate the hull or if a fire should start in one section the rest of the ship is still able to function we'd add from 75 0 feet 25 down if the crew of USS sea wolf can pass its sea trials it will be judged ready for combat carrying an arsenal of lethal weapons that can be targeted with pinpoint accuracy the ship will patrol the seas with more military power than many countries possess weapons partner captain report status of to Bay a silent and deadly predator sea wolf will be the most advanced heavily armed attack submarine the world has ever seen [Music] as the pieces of a new nuclear submarine are forged at this historic shipyard workers at the electric boat company now face an imposing task transporting the giant sections to their drydock facilities in Groton Connecticut to do this modules weighing over 700 tons each are placed on the largest transport truck in the world there are only two such vehicles in existence and both were specially made to assist in submarine construction when these two vehicles are used together workers can move modules weighing over 1,400 tons now they will travel by barge for the 60 mile journey from this Rhode Island machine shop to the Connecticut drydock facility as the preassembled pieces arrive at the drydock they are suspended in order and then pieced together to form the complete ship many months of assembly have been condensed into seconds to see this amazing process in action as the pieces of this two billion dollar puzzle are carefully assembled even top-ranking Navy officials are amazed by the complexity of the operation the design development and construction of a submarine I view it very much like eating an elephant how do you eat an elephant it's one bite at a time if the Assembly of this submarine happens one bite at a time then these are its sharpest teeth the weapon systems now with its body almost complete the deadly Arsenal is installed onboard Seawolf four levels of robotic li controlled storage racks can deploy a lethal force on a moment's notice [Music] it's Tomahawk cruise missiles can be placed with pinpoint accuracy guided by a global positioning satellite I guess we could talk about San Diego to San Francisco that's about 520 miles I would say that if this missile took off from Jack Murphy Stadium you could put it right about between pitcher's mound and second base down there in Candlestick Park see wolf's anti submarine missiles make her a fearsome underwater force as well she has stealth she has improved sensors and she has maneuverability everything that makes a fighter aircraft superior is what Seawolf brings that underwater dogfight sea wolf is the most sophisticated military craft ever created but the road leading up to this 20th century superstructure actually began hundreds of years ago it was a road paved with danger in 1775 only 25 miles from the site of the electric boat company a young Irishman named David Bushnell built this device called the turtle driven by his intense hatred of the British and with the support of George Washington Bushnell created an underwater craft that could place an explosive device on harbored British warships it's name came from the design resembling two turtle shells 7 feet long and 4 feet wide this craft of wood iron and leather could approach an enemy ship with a hand-cranked propeller and was able to stay submerged 20 feet below the surface for almost 30 minutes unfortunately when bushnell's device was tried on a British man-of-war the attaching screw could not penetrate the copper sheathing on the halt the turtle was lucky to escape but the theory of this unique weapon delivery system survived the underwater sneak attack was born during the Civil War both sides develop submarines but it was a Confederate version invented by Horace L Hundley that became the first sub to record a torpedo hit on an enemy ship it was a milestone that came with a terrible cost the 60-foot HL Hunley used a crew of eight to turn its propeller crankshaft towing a single torpedo behind it in 1864 in the Charleston South Carolina Harbor the Hunley delivered its deadly cargo against the union's USS Housatonic the attack did little damage to the Union ship but the exploding torpedo sank the Hunley as primitive as these early craft appear they actually used the same engineering principle as today's modern subs the ability to submerge and surface by adding or subtracting ballast during her sea trials one of Seawolves most critical challenges will be her ability to perform deep dives inside the hull our ballast tanks designed to temporarily fill with water in the original sub designs the ballast tanks were located port and starboard as shown here when the tanks filled with water negative buoyancy is created causing the vessel to sink when compressed air flushes the water from the compartments buoyancy returns and the ship Rises Seawolf also employs this basic principle of physics but the balance tanks on this ship are located fore and aft so the ship can submerge or surface with incredible speed the propulsion of early subs required exhaustive manual labour performed in suffocating spaces with no fresh air these ships could only die for brief periods staying close to the surface in order to ventilate the craft onboard sea wall the same nuclear power that propels the ship also supplies the crew with life-giving oxygen water molecules are formed from two hydrogen atoms spinning around a single oxygen atom on Seawolf sophisticated machines use electromagnetic force to disengage the hydrogen atoms from the molecular structure leaving pure oxygen for the ship's life-support system but it was another source of energy that first turned the submarine into a viable fighting machine John Phillip Holland was an industrious Irish immigrant who pioneered a double propulsion system for submarines Holland's boat used a 50 horsepower gas engine for surface sailing and then to keep the air breathable a battery operated motor while submerged this dual engine approach to underwater navigation gave the sub greater range and submergence capability something that US Navy officials realized in 1900 able to dive to just over 100 feet the Irishman's craft became the first submarine commissioned by the Navy the crew of USS Holland became pioneers of a new world under the sea over the next 14 years 25 more of these amazing devices called submarines were built but beneath the waves the United States would not be alone for long May 1915 the ocean liner Lusitania is fired upon and sunk by a German u-boat in under 20 minutes over 1,100 passengers died many of them Americans the US moves one step closer to war with Germany during World War one the potential of this new machine would be put to the ultimate test the age-old ritual of enemies facing each other in head-to-head combat was replaced by the sneak attack the dream of John haulin and the early submariners forever changed the nature of warfare I think certainly that Holland when he designed and built his first craft probably never recognized where we would be today John Holland might never have imagined a vessel like sea wolf but to the Navy it marks the beginning of an entirely new class of submarine high tech subs that will begin in virtual reality and end up resembling science fiction but first Seawolf must prove to the navy and the public that her design is sound that her crew is ready now as she nears the end of her crucial maiden voyage the future of the next generation of subs hangs in the balance her propulsion and life-support systems have been tested she has performed rapid dives to classify deaths under stressful warfare scenario she has been deemed combat ready as the end of USS Siegel's maiden voyage draws near captain Dave McCall has witnessed what billions of dollars worth of machinery and a highly trained crew can really do while young and aged McCall's crew are ready to become submariners its 2.3 billion dollars for the ship and the first underway watch station an 18-year old stands or occupies is he's driving this ship he has his hands on the wheel of a 2.3 billion dollar sports car and that's a lot of responsibility you have to want that kind of responsibility you have to be ready to take it and and they choose themselves they have trained rehearsed and drilled now it's time to come home [Music] but as Seawolf ends her maiden voyage she is bringing back more than just the crew over 100 workers of the electric boat company have gone with her on this dangerous but crucial first journey while these shipbuilders were on board to perform tests engaged the success of their handiwork they also wanted to send a message this was a ship that had been constructed properly and they would put their lives on the line to prove it they've literally worked 24 hours a day seven days a week for three years with very little time off [Music] years of hard work and grueling training have led to this one moment the return of USS Seawolf to her base in Groton Connecticut to the trained observer the presence of a simple wooden broom attached to the ship's superstructure tells them everything they need to know the ship has performed a clean sweep of its first major test the mission is a success there's probably a finer ship in the water today it performs beyond expectations after seeing it's not from the early stages of design early stages of construction we just started bending steel to watch the crew bring it alive it's not operating it we've been through a lot of major obstacles that would have normally brought another project to his knees and stopped it against a backdrop of budget cuts and shifting political power structures the designers builders and crew of USS sea wolf have achieved a stunning victory under a mandate to do more with less they have rewritten the book on how to build a submarine now the success of Sea Wolf will provide a blueprint for the submarine of the next century a vehicle known simply as the new attack submarine what production of these sleek new subs begins they will be able to do everything sea wolf can but cost less to build that's because advancements in computer technology just beginning when Sea Wolf was constructed now provide designers with incredible new tools tools today give us collectively as a community the Navy electric boat as suppliers the ability to go in fact integrate the very best design very early in the program this 3d generated sailor named Argo man is an example of this new space-age technology virtual reality programs like these enable designers to see what these subs will be like for human inhabitants before construction even begins another significant change based on sea Wolf's success is a brand new approach to the management of sub construe action in video teleconferences like this the workers who will build the sub and the men who will travel in them interact with the designers and engineers at every phase of development so our friends down in Washington can see that that flange we're possibly talking about eliminating today we're not interested who comes up with a good idea we make it a team effort to go produce the very best design for this country that we can produce and that's exciting and that's different than it's been in the past Seawolf and the new attack submarine are designed to evolve with technologies of the future soon even the venerable periscope itself a staple of submarines throughout history may be replaced by powerful liquid plasma display screens with the success of their first C trial the crew of C wolf will continue a long and distinguished tradition even though this is a new ship with a young crew they are traveling in the footsteps of those who have gone before many of whom did not return these are the names of United States submarines lost in the service of duty with all hands on board submariners say these ships and the men aboard them remain on eternal Patrol we'll also be checking the tubes no one is more aware of the dangers of the deep than the man who will ultimately certify the vessel as being ready to join the fleet I've come the person who signs for submarine that it's ready to go to sea and its subset and we do that through a very rigorous discipline process that literally takes thousands of hours of documentation test and retest had Seawolf failed on its first mission the consequences for the Navy would have been disastrous thousands of jobs billions of dollars and the lives of the crew were at stake now for the thousands of men and women who created her Sea Wolf successful first voyage is a time of great emotion well the day I give up the ship is gonna be kinda like the day I gave up my daughter to her husband or what its gonna be it's gonna be a hard day [Music] the design and construction of a nuclear submarine requires the imagination and determination of thousands forged from silicon and steel they are born in giant factories but here beneath the waves is where they will spend most of their lives by the time Sea Wolf ends your final mission it's difficult to imagine how far man will have ventured into the realm of the deep ocean but waiting in the wings will be an entirely new class of undersea super structures I hereby certify that he has qualified in submarines onboard USS seawall and a new generation of submariners piloting these guardians of the deep into the next century and beyond gratulations password [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Spark

Views: 2,154,549

Rating: 4.6541142 out of 5

Keywords: seawolf submarine, nuclear submarine (invention), seawolf class submarine, seawolf class, navy submarine, Spark, world best submarine, factual, submarine, submarino, documentary (tv genre), navy, us navy, united states navy, submarines, things you didnt know about, u.s. navy, largest submarine, navy submarines, Science, top submarine, largest submarine in the world, u.s. navy fears russias submarines, Technology, documentary, education, Learning, Engineering

Id: rlm1YCrFMWg

Length: 51min 44sec (3104 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 04 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Randy_Travis_In_2020]

This is narrated by Luke Skywalker, very metal.