Stealth Catch 22

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Puster Bill

They could do that, in theory, but it is an extremely delicate balancing act. In fact, just having one person move from the stern compartment to the bow compartment would make the bow heavy enough to point down and upset the trim.

It can be done in modern subs, with computer controlled ballast systems, but really it wouldn't be practical in a sub like a Type VII. You need some headway to make the planes effective to overcome any inaccuracies in trimming the boat.

It's also very noisy.

As for the sub rising or sinking, I prefer NYGM's balance model, called the 'Anti-Hummingbird Mod', not only because the boat sinks at low speeds or full stop, but because it's not just two meters; it keeps sinking until you do something about it.

This was a lot of fun in Aces Of The Deep. You would be at Silent Running for a while, and then your chief would suddenly say "Herr Kaleun, we cannot maintain depth unless we run the pumps!"