PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Every submarine in the U.S. fleet was designed with the height, reach and strength of men in mind, from the way valves are placed to how display screens are angled.
That’s going to change.
With women now serving aboard submarines, defense contractor Electric Boat is designing what will be the first Navy subs built specifically to accommodate female crew members.
The designers are doing the obvious things, such as adding more doors and washrooms to create separate sleeping and bathing areas for men and women and to give them more privacy. But they are also making more subtle modifications that may not have been in everyone’s periscope when the Navy admitted women into the Silent Service. more here
My mind went right to the Kelsey Grammer movie Down periscope and Emily Lake the “Dive Officer”.
Varoom! Why would the Navy spend large amounts of money to provide private sleeping/bathing rooms for women! Soldiers and Marines don’t have the luxury to subdivide a muddy foxhole!
Creating an experimental dynamic in a confined space where privacy disappears. Not like a carrier where there’s plenty of room to create safe spaces.
How are those pregnancy statistics coming Admiral?
Knock this shit off. There is no reason to put females in a confined space with normally horny males for 6 months. The left did this to waste money, tie up ships, and to have highly trained crew members get knocked up and then have to be replaced, often at critical times. This move adversely affect morale not only on the boat, but guess what it does to wives at home.
Waste of money, but it’s not like our military has enough training, weapons, ammunition, well maintained aircraft and we are $20 TRILLION dollars in debt. Has the pentagon found the missing and unaccounted for $1 Trillion dollars yet?
The joke when I was in the Navy & Coast Guard was that 100 men would go aboard a sub and after the mission 50 couples would come off it.
No mention of sammich making stations or moving the laundry to the female side. So it’s not making life any easier for the women. Or men.
Damn Bastards! The military is no place for social engineering and experiments. My 12 year old grandson knows this is a bad idea, and he doesn’t even know why. He just knows it’s bad.
” bathing areas for men and women and to give them more privacy.”
Why?
The left says we all stand up when we pee.
Or is it squat?
Im so confuzwd!
Will they have maternity centers and day care as well?
Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to build a small fleet of midget subs with Easy Buttons for the ladies?
Or maybe they want more room, not less. Fine. But the Social Engineers need to be told by the Naval Architects that “knocking out this wall to open up the space” is not an option.
If it’s a submarine with only women – then okay.
12 yrs Navy – 4 different subs – both fast attack and slow approach.
Only 1 guy was that way and kept it to himself, no one cared. We joked a bit about him but not to his face.
This will lower morale and readiness, not to mention it is wrong and will have many negative consequences and ruined relationships.
Then I went and read the article – steps up in front of the triple-high bunk beds.
I would have to grab a hold of bars mounted to the overhead and lift my body up into that top rack. Almost lost a good chunk of my ring finger when the wedding band caught between the bar mounting bracket and the overhead, stopped wearing it there and then (still work with my hands in hazardous areas). Valves easier to reach and operate, shit. Why don’t they just make all of the valves electrically or pneumatically operated? The stories I could tell just on valves alone.
This is not going to go away even with Trump in the WH. The thing the navy can do is to instill regulations that make any contact of a sexual nature so costly as to preclude it. For example, any woman that becomes pregnant on a active cruise will sit in Portsmouth Naval Prison for the duration of her pregnancy. When the baby is born a genetic sample is taken and compared to all the men serving aboard during that cruise. When the match is found both are given dishonorable discharges (maybe a year in the slammer as well) and the Commanding Officer a letter of reprimand in his/hers file. Make any other contact suitably costly. Tying the commander in with the crime will ensure they are very, very watchful over the crew. As I said, it’s not going away so better learn how to deal with it.
THEY’LL NEED AN EXTRA TORPEDO TUBE TO LAUNCH USED TAMPONS AND RUBBERS!!
How about just buying some step stools for different heights? Probably too simple and too cheap.
Oh, good. Carnal visitations. Yes, Ma’am.
Sigh. How many times does it take to learn the same lesson?
I’m not an automatic “no” on this issue. Women will serve in the military, and submarines are a vital part of our navy, so why not make them more ergonomically friendly so long as capability is not compromised? Steps, easier to reach valves and machinery, and at least a nod to privacy seems like a good thing for everyone and not just women.
Unlike WW II submarines, which were essentially topedo boats that could submerge for a short while, today’s subs are intended to remain under water for extended periods of time – actually, for most of their deployment. Design modifications which are intended to enhance livability for everyone, including women, seem like a good thing.
Not a thing.
Course correction underway.
Captains orders.
Ill-allusion vestige of ‘earlier’ multifarkled embeds running experimental engineering formulations with non-US illogical calculators.
They have been removed to Davy Jones’s Locker.
Carry On.
I heard this means that the galley will be made bigger.
Women shouldn’t be on submarines. Causes too much tension for the people actually tasked to fight a war – namely, men. It’s bad enough that they allow faggots on board.
I don’t care if I sound sexist and anti-homosexual.
I have a female friend who 25 years ago served as a sonar person aboard a submarine. She never mentioned any difficulties with the facilities. Of course she is just one generation removed from the can do generation of American heros.
SCR-North – I like the cut of your jib
I know a retired O-9 former bubblehead. I remember him railing & bitching about Clinton’s DACOWITS program. He was right.
No, women do NOT have to continue in Obama-sabotage-policy combat jobs.
And submarines ARE combat jobs.
Repeal the Obama sabotage policies that were designed to weaken and degrade our military.
Military service is NOT some generic “gubbamint job”. Guarding the free world is not the DMV.
Next they’ll be redesigning submarines to accommodate gay and Lesbian crew members.
On the positive side, though, I hear they will be able to go down faster.
Wymyns in combat is a great mistake.
Actually, it’s not a “mistake:” putting wymyn into combat roles is a way to weaken our armed forces.
Putting wymyns aboard submarines will be disastrous.
(no, I’ve never been on a sub – but my son spent some years on one (as a MM) and speaks authoritatively)
izlamo delenda est …
Please! Somebody stop this insanity.
Will there be safe spaces on the submarine? A submarine under attack can be a pretty unsettling place. Crack the hull and a lot of water can stop pouring in and get you all wet.
Since women are (on average) smaller than men, I think it would make more sense to design some subs specifically for all female crews.
… start pouring in
These women will demand granite countertops and stainless steel appliances along with all the other bullshit.
@Old guy, Don’t forget walk in closets with lots of shelves and room for their shoes.
So, we have women in very close quarters with seamen. What could possibly go wrong?
msNBC Katy Tur Top of the 2PM block…
“US Air Force Carrier” missing story
Krystal Ball dumbass
Shit You Moldyknot level
Interrupted by Trump Superbowl Victory Speech
…must see tube, eventually
A ridiculous waste of money on social engineering.
If they make them ergonomically correct for women. They will not be for men.
@Bman: You misspelled “semen”.
😉
Who will be the first gal to open the crapper ball valve while the sanitary tanks are pressurized?
I don’t see any problem with this at all.
The men will get a lot of practice loading their torpedoes.
Wish I could put my comment on top, but this’ll do.
After stand many, many chief reactor watches for 4.5 years on the Jonny Reb. I can tell you that only one woman was able to actually and properly man Feed Pumps and only 2 could effectively man CG’s.
when we are just doing donuts in the ocean, no one cares. The other guys can assist but when we are doing flight ops or operating at peak conditions, they are a hazard! The Navy has piss poor manning in certain rates and because we have a female quota to fill, we get stuck with them.
First thing first, fix the PRT standards! How is it that an 18 year old male must do 60 push-ups but an 18 year old female only has to 16?
In what world is this acceptable?!
Rocky Racoco at yer cervix…
November 30th, 2007. 4 submarines, 2 submarine tenders,
and two shore duties. Hung up my combination cover.
I don’t miss that shit at all.
The new boat’s don’t have shitter ball valves.
If you think they don’t have female problems, then yer
phukkin stoopid. Glad I didn’t have to deal with it as a
Chief before I retired.
It’s their Navy now.