Hehe, well subnuts got the thumbs up smilie because it seemed apparent that everyone knew the answer, as Drebbel so kindly hinted, and I thought his would be the only guess, and the fact that just before his guess I had given the answer and was having a little fun :).

As I know it, the Silent Service moniker was coined by the press because the sub guys didn't talk. As Blair puts it in Silent Victory, the reasons for this were many, but chief among them was the desire for security. They did not want the Japanese gaining any info on operations, areas, tactics, etc that might leak out through the press. He wasn't a sub guy, but the Congressman May incident -- where he blabbed the Japs weren't setting the DCs deep enough, and newspapers ran it. Lockwood later said he thinks that indiscretion cost the US sub force 10 boats and 800 men -- is a prime example of what they wanted to avoid.

Another reason Blair gives is that the sub force didn't want any inquiries into the sub force's failures, defense of the Philipines, of Java, of cautious skippers, or defective torpedos, etc.

Originally Posted by Threadfin Who can tell me why the US submarine force was sometimes referred to as the 'Silent Service'? First correct answer gets a thumbs up smilie. :)

Originally Posted by Subnuts Everyone in the submarine force was so happy to air conditioning, ice cream machines, and enough bunks for everyone that nobody ever complained, and thus, were "silent." :hmm:

Originally Posted by Rick Martin Quote: Originally Posted by Threadfin Who can tell me why the US submarine force was sometimes referred to as the 'Silent Service'? First correct answer gets a thumbs up smilie. :) I believe the name came about due to the very tight security around submarine operations and the fact that very little was released to the press (you see back in the day, the press kept their noses out of military operations thus avoiding the possibility of aiding the enemy) Even after the war the tradition continued up to today's boomers and fast attacks. (No sir, I am with the government and to the best of my knowledge we have no sense of humor) Rick Martin (do I get a thumbs up?)

Originally Posted by Cage Quote: Originally Posted by Subnuts Everyone in the submarine force was so happy to air conditioning, ice cream machines, and enough bunks for everyone that nobody ever complained, and thus, were "silent." :hmm: Until that one fateful day when the men learnt that there were beer machines on other nations subs. ;)