What did a former officer on a nuclear submarine learn about 'how to survive in extremely isolated conditions'?
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Many people around the world are under lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and many are stressed by the situation in which they cannot go outside as they have done in the past. Meanwhile, Steve Weiner, a former U.S. Navy officer who served on the nuclear submarine Connecticut , an extremely isolated vehicle from the outside world, talks about his memories of being on board the nuclear submarine.
How a Nuclear Submarine Officer Learned to Live in Tight Quarters - Issue 84: Outbreak - Nautilus
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'I'm used to forced isolation,' says Weiner, who spent much of his 20s as an officer aboard the USS Connecticut, a nuclear submarine of the US Navy. The Connecticut's reactor was loaded with decades' worth of enriched uranium fuel to provide propulsion and electricity, allowing it to remain submerged for long periods of time without returning to port. The longest Weiner stayed on board was two months, when he and a team of scientists conducted environmental surveys of the Arctic and tests such as high-frequency sonar.
In early March 2020, Weiner visited his partner's family home in a town on the outskirts of Izmir , a city in Turkey facing the Aegean Sea. He had originally planned to stay for two weeks, but due to the impact of COVID-19, he was unable to return home, so he is living in isolation with his partner, his parents, and their seven cats and puppies.
Forced to live in isolation in a foreign land where he cannot speak the language, Weiner said he found himself in the same mental state he had when he was on board the nuclear submarine. Weiner checks COVID-19 information every day and shares it with others at breakfast. Some people may feel like they are going crazy after a long quarantine, but Weiner said, 'What my experience as a submarine officer teaches me is that it is possible to feel comfortable even in uncomfortable situations.'
By Steve Weiner
Even after Weiner was allowed to board the submarine after completing the rigorous training process, he continued to study and work for the first year. He recalls that he spent most of his waking hours monitoring the submarine's operations and learning about the scientific mechanisms of the submarine. Since electrolyzers that split water molecules to produce oxygen were not available in most cases, he used chemical oxygen generators (chlorate candles) using sodium chlorate to produce oxygen for breathing inside the submarine .
Drinking water and shower water were distilled from seawater, satellite internet had very low bandwidth, and to prevent detection of communications from the submarine from the outside, internet access was limited to certain locations and times, and only text-only emails could be sent to friends and family.
The Connecticut continued to operate almost without stopping, except when entering and leaving the port. However, when anchored, the submarine was rocked by the waves and was prone to seasickness, so 'the really comfortable place for a submarine is under the waves, so as soon as we left the pier, we navigated the submarine to a depth deep enough to dive,' says Weiner.
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In the submarine, the crew members were constantly rotating, visually checking thousands of valves and systems to make sure there were no problems, and in between they did various training exercises, ate meals, showered, and slept. This cycle was 18 hours instead of 24 hours, and the submarine crew's circadian cycle was constantly changing. As a result, Weiner would fall asleep as soon as he touched his bunk bed.
Most of the crew slept in rooms with bunk beds stacked like lumber, with 18 people per room. As a lieutenant, Weiner was assigned a relatively nice room, but the three of them still slept in a space smaller than a walk-in closet. The sleeping area was kept quiet like a monastery, and it was strictly forbidden to close doors or ring alarm clocks. So, when waking someone up, the crew would call out to them in a low voice, but Weiner still dreams of the words, 'Lieutenant Weiner, it's time to wake up. The lieutenant is on night duty, sir.'
In order to prevent sonar from detecting the location of the submarine, it was strictly forbidden to make loud noises inside the submarine, not just in the bedroom. Therefore, to keep their sanity and strength, they had no choice but to secretly use the rowing ergometer in the engine room or the exercise bike placed among the electrical equipment. In the midst of such a harsh life inside the submarine, Weiner said that he looked back at the photos he had taken outside to maintain his connection with the world he would soon return to.
Wainer, who continued to live a life similar to religious training in the submarine, eventually became able to 'let go of his anxiety.' Therefore, even during his quarantine in Turkey, he was able to maintain his sanity through yoga, treadmill exercise, and looking at photos sent by friends. 'It's hard to imagine us resuming our previous lifestyles in the same way, but the submariner in me is optimistic that as long as we're safe when we return to the surface, we can adapt to whatever awaits us,' Wainer said.
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