Haha... "interesting" is an interesting way of putting it ;-)
It is true though, that as a navigator you had certain privileges. No video cameras back then, technology was still relatively simple. In fact, we were the first sub here to test satellite navigation. The device had the size of a refrigerator! Diesel-electric engine, not like the big nuklear powered giants of today.
With the periscope you had a hierarchy... Kaptain.. first and second officer.. navigator.. then the rest :-)
Best thing was, that it was the same order in which one was allowed on the bridge (top of the tower/outside), when the submarine surfaced. Only four men at a time... since smoking was forbidden inside, all the smokers were really nice to me, so I would always quickly make my spot available.. provided we had good weather... which, quite often, we did not :-b
Oh man, I can't imagine waiting for a smoke, working on a submarine! Ugh, I might even have to take up vaping.
My paternal grandfather was on the battleship Yorktown in the battle of Midway. He didn't talk much about the war, but the one story I remember was that no one was allowed to smoke on deck after dark. Apparently you could see a glowing cigarette for miles.
A Diesel-electric sounds fine to me. Ever since I read that story about the Russians and their failing nuclear reactor, and the heroes who had to go in and fix it, and die of radiation poisoning days later...
Did the satellite navigation work underwater, or did you have to surface to get a fix?
So many questions! Have you posted your submarine stories before? Guaranteed upvotes from me if you share them!
Yes, for the smokers it was hard. In a real combat situation, the sub would have never even fully surfaced and only stick out the snorkel.
Haven't posted anything else about my past as a submariner.... If you are interested, here is a clip, where you can see the type. There is quite a bit on u-tube. Sounds funny to look there for u-boot.. just look for "U Boot Klasse 206", they are no longer in service.
Yeah.. K19, very tragic story. When you served on a sub yourself, watching the movie is almost unbearable. You feel with your comrades, no matter what nation...
The satellite navigation was in its very early stages. The navigators had to take a 2 day class, just to be able to turn on that thing. The sub pulled a cable like antenna and we had to be close to the surface for it to work, and it wasn't very precise :-b