# Stupid question special Christmas Ed.): How do they keep subs so exquisitely still? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085 "2013-12-24T15:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/1 "2013-12-24T15:41:01Z")
See subject. [See photo.](http://chivethebrigade.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/santa-01-920-16.jpg) See friends, family. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/2 "2013-12-24T15:42:17Z")
You do know that’s a picture and not video, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/3 "2013-12-24T15:46:02Z")
Inertia. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/4 "2013-12-24T15:53:49Z")
Water looks pretty calm. Sailors are used to standing on a deck, at sea. What’s the issue? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/5 "2013-12-24T16:04:41Z")
Well, I was going to ask the same thing about big ships too, but I thought subs are even harder because they’re narrower. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/6 "2013-12-24T16:11:19Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > You do know that’s a picture and not video, right? 😉 Win. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/7 "2013-12-24T16:14:15Z")
Do they (does one) feel the sway? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/8 "2013-12-24T16:51:14Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Do they (does one) feel the sway? I’ve stood in that same position on the deck of a submarine many times (without Santa). The picture shows a 688-I submarine (it may even be my old submarine) returning to port, coming up the Thames River in Connecticut. That’s the Gold Star Bridge and the railroad bridge in the background. On deck is the group of sailors (along with an officer or two) that assist with with mooring lines and deck cleats on the sub’s top deck. When returning to port, they stand on the deck at attention (because it looks more professional than a group of sailors shooting the bull and smoking). Anyway, once you get into the Thames, the water is very calm. The sub is moving very slowly (\<5 knots). You have a tugboat for close maneuvering. There’s very little sense of motion. The only real danger is that someone could possibly trip or walk too close to the side and end up in the water, but I never saw it happen. The top of the deck is coated in non-skid to help prevent this. Farther out to sea, where the waves and sea state are higher, sailors generally remain on the sail (i.e. conning tower). If it’s absolutely necessary to go onto the deck, a sailor needs to have a harness that’s connected to a grooved rail that runs the length of the hull. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/9 "2013-12-24T17:36:00Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I’ve stood in that same position on the deck of a submarine many times (without Santa). The picture shows a 688-I submarine (it may even be my old submarine) returning to port, coming up the Thames River in Connecticut. That’s the Gold Star Bridge and the railroad bridge in the background. It was the [USS Miami](http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/csg2/Pages/MiamiReturnsfromDeployment.aspx). Just a year before it’s “accident”. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/10 "2013-12-24T18:12:42Z")
I can remember seeing guys fall off the Spadefish down in Norfolk in a winter transit in, the Chesapeake can get a bit rough at times and NOB Norfolk is not as sheltered as Groton is. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/11 "2013-12-24T20:30:06Z")
Don’t they have gyroscopic stabilization? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/12 "2013-12-24T23:48:30Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Don’t they have gyroscopic stabilization? There are gyros for the navigation equipment, not the submarine itself. The submarine itself is stabilized by a combination of fixed ballast, variable ballast tanks (containing variable amounts of seawater), and the main ballast tanks (along with the control planes when submerged). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/13 "2013-12-25T00:49:35Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Water looks pretty calm. Sailors are used to standing on a deck, at sea. What’s the issue? They are used to standing on a deck, which looks like [this](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2_uss_intrepid_aircraft_carrier_flight_deck_2010.JPG). In that sub photo, it looks more like standing on a log. If the sub rolled a little it looks like you’d be dunked. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/14 "2013-12-25T01:54:44Z")
Back in the age of sail, they’d pull in like [this.](http://www.tfaoi.com/am/14am/14am307.jpg). Made for a good conversation-starter with the local girls ---
**Author:** ![zqhltb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f04885/32.png) [@zqhltb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zqhltb)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/15 "2013-12-25T03:37:14Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Back in the age of sail, they’d pull in like [this.](http://www.tfaoi.com/am/14am/14am307.jpg). > > Made for a good conversation-starter with the local girls We still [man the rails](http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/csg2/PublishingImages/ARCHIVE%20NEWS%20IMAGERY/DECOM%20BOATS/USS%20MEMPHIS/110302-N-AW342-019.jpg) occasionally, it’s just not as impressive with 4 or 6 guys instead of 40. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/16 "2013-12-25T03:44:42Z")
The thing about subs is that before you can man the rails, first you have to put them up without falling overboard. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/17 "2013-12-25T04:36:10Z")
> [@zqhltb](#): > > We still [man the rails](http://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/csg2/PublishingImages/ARCHIVE%20NEWS%20IMAGERY/DECOM%20BOATS/USS%20MEMPHIS/110302-N-AW342-019.jpg) occasionally, it’s just not as impressive with 4 or 6 guys instead of 40. I imagine the camera angle is part of it, but that submarine looks a tad ‘small’, IMHO. Any idea about what type the one in the pic is? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![kaltkalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bb73d2/32.png) [@kaltkalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaltkalt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/18 "2013-12-25T04:51:30Z")
in this slightly-surfaced position, unlike with a boat, the vast majority of the sub is underwater, well below the waves on the surface. The center of gravity is likewise well below the surface. So any surface waves (and this does look like very calm water obviously in a port) won’t have nearly as much affect. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/19 "2013-12-25T05:58:53Z")
Thanks to all. ::…ATTENTION: Standby for correction on “boat”…:: ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085/20 "2013-12-25T06:01:07Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > I imagine the camera angle is part of it, but that submarine looks a tad ‘small’, IMHO. Any idea about what type the one in the pic is? 😕 Yes, and which holiday has late-Elvis visits like Christmas has Santa? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-question-special-christmas-ed-how-do-they-keep-subs-so-exquisitely-still/677085.md?page=2)