1x1 - Submariners

January 1, 1993

SUBMARINERS offers a "day in the life" of a submariner and profiles the amazing teamwork constantly performed, particularly in the nuclear sub, where safety is of vital importance. On a modern nuclear submarine, the distinction between night and day becomes a blur. Isolation, confinement, lack of privacy and intense pressure mark an endless cycle of six hour shifts. It is a world punctuated by constant attack readiness drills, tracking exercises and system checks. A world in which man no longer simply operates the weapon, he lives inside it, plotting the solutions and piloting the vessel on the most secretive of all military missions. Gone are the days of the "sewer pipe sailors." Today's submariner is a specialist who knows the rhythm of his machine and the teamwork required to defeat their common threats. He is either alive or dead. It is this dark truth that has inspired fascination, fear and ultimate respect for what the submariner must endure.