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Originally Posted by Dallsim
If the submarine were submerged deep in the water while in enemy territory, were they forced to come up in order to receive status updates and new orders? How were they able to remain "in the game" while deep under water?
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It is called the "floating wire" for a reason. ;-) The boat can remain submerged at a certain depth and the wire floats to the surface. Boat speed is restricted because the wire will stretch and break at high speed due to surface tension. Oh, and radiomen hate the darn thing because you WILL get wet deploying or retrieving it. (stupidfloatingwireihatethatthingstillhavenightmar es) However, most VLF broadcasts are received at periscope depth utilizing the standard antenna, which doesn't have to break the surface to receive the VLF signal.
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So are you saying that, even with today's technology, a submarine would still need to come up to the surface to receive updates? What about communcating under water? Could they get information under water from a friendly submarine that was in a safe area?
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The surface, no. Periscope depth, yes. Though I am told that Virginia class boats have a retractable comms buoy so the sail doesn't have to get near the surface. I'm personally skeptical of such newfangled tech.
The sail breaking the surface at PD used to be a problem in high sea states. And if the boat had fairwater planes instead of hull mounted dive planes, the sound of those slapping the water could wake the dead.
And yes, submarines can communicate with each other underwater, via sonar, if close enough.