Why Silent Service?

[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.

[Drebbel]

You are kidding, right ?

[Threadfin]

No, not kidding, guess no one wants to play

A recent conversation with a gentleman at work showed me that some believe the term Silent Service was due to the fact that submarines move and attack silently beneath the sea, and attempt to avoid detection by sound.

The term silent service was used though because the men were not allowed to talk to the press, interviews were not granted as was common on surface ships, and there was a general 2 month blanket on submarine related news. They were silent in that they didn't speak to the press.


Perhaps this is universally known at Subsim however.

[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."

Am I close? :hmm:

[Threadfin]

OK, good enough

I have never heard either of those last two explanations; I always just assumed it was because they attacked silently.

I would however love to see documentation for both, or else to me they're just good stories.

[Cage]

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.

[bookworm_020]

Originally Posted by Cage

Until that one fateful day when the men learnt that there were beer machines on other nations subs.

The Aft tubes of the oberon class subs were used for storing beer!

Part of the reason for the "Silent" routine for subs in the media is they operate alone and usual deep inside hostile waters. This continues today, as the greatest wapon for a sub on patrol is stelth and suprise, blow either of these and your in trouble!

[Rick Martin]

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?)

[Bum]

Certainly !

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Rick Martin

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?)

Another reason i think was that they didnt like admitting that we participated in unrestricted submarine warfare. That was something the "dirty kraut's" did in their "u-boots".

But ya, generally speaking for many reasons, everything surrounding US submarine operations in WW2 is kept hushed up, or so is my understanding of it.