# What is the weakest point on a modern submarine?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-weakest-point-on-a-modern-submarine/530236>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 24, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-weakest-point-on-a-modern-submarine/530236 "2010-02-24T04:54:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-weakest-point-on-a-modern-submarine/530236/61 "2015-05-20T20:55:37Z")

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If this [long list of problems](https://wikileaks.org/trident-safety/)from an ex RN submariner is true the British submarines seem to be a disaster waiting to happen. It’s doubtful his sub could even have launched it’s missiles if it had to:

> [@](#):
>
> Final tests - At the end of a patrol tests are done to see if the weapons system could have performed a successful launch. These tests let us know if we really were providing the UKs strategic nuclear deterrent / CASD. It had reached the end of my three month patrol. It was time to do WP 186 missile compensation test. The test was carried out 3 times and it failed, 3 times. Basically the test showed that the missile compensation system wouldn’t have compensated for the changes in weight of the submarine during missile launches. Which means the missiles would’ve been launched on an unstable platform, if they decided to launch. Another test was the Battle Readiness Test (BRT) which proves that the muzzle hatches could’ve opened whilst on patrol; if they needed to launch, they could’ve launched. The BRT was cancelled due to the main hydraulic system containing mostly sea water instead of actual hydraulic oil. Basically they’re endangering the public and spending Billions upon Billions of tax payers money for a system so broken it can’t even do the tests that prove it works.

One shudders to think what the Russian boats are like…

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**Author:** ![pdunderhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pdunderhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdunderhill)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-weakest-point-on-a-modern-submarine/530236/62 "2015-05-20T21:00:55Z")

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Well done Capt. for resurrecting this particular Zombie.

As an aside the story of U864’s sinking amazes me [German submarine U-864 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-864)

It is the only instance in the history of naval warfare where one submarine intentionally sank another while both were submerged. Nothing in the Pacific campaign and nothing since.

To the OP’s question, the weakest point, as with most complex machinery, is the operator. human error.

Peter

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