Actually I just remembered I made an error in decipering a variable:
Displacement, Surfaced : 1860
Displacement, Submerged : 2428
Displacement Coefficient : 2438 << this isn't a coefficient.
It's actually the "death displacement".
See, when you get damaged, your sub will start shipping water on board; and this will affect your displacement. Eventually, if you take on enough water, your submerged displacement will go above the Death Displacement; and you'll die.
I found this out when I tried to mod in the Nautilus into the Tench Slot -- the surfaced displacement -- 3,533 tons was above the death displacement; so each time I loaded the game, I died instantly from flooding.
This mechanic is probably to simulate eventual death if you're stuck on the ocean floor above crush depth, but your boat is filling with water.