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Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

theguardian.com

31–40 of 206 posts

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#32
post #27
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worry that MAD requires the other actors to have accurate information, and act rationally. When an “insane” person makes the call I fear the entire system of deterrence falls apart…

I don't think Putin is insane. If he were we'd all be dead by now. Also: Suicidal people don't go to lengths to murder former threats to make a point, like he did today with the Wagner Group leadership.

I don’t know if he is.

I’m more generally concerned that the system we have now doesn’t cover insanity.

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#33
post #31

> The submarine's captain, Robert Dunn, feels they have been largely written out of the Libyan campaign and is keen his crew get their due. Interesting, how did that turn out for Libya and North Africa in general?

Whether this captain gets recognized or not does not affect the results of missiles launched. With that in mind, we know how it turned out for them.

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#34
there are things that happen in one's life that dramatically impact the rest of one's life from that point forward. when i was in school looking at college, i very nearly became a submariner. as it happens, i was third in the list, but they only took the top two. at the time, it was devastatingly disappointing. these oh so many years later with hindsight and all that, i'm no longer disappointed. i can't see how the divergence in lifestyles could not be any wider. i do still love to read some Tom Clancy and similar Navy scifi

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#35
post #29
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Putin is insane. If he were we'd all be dead by now. Also: Suicidal people don't go to lengths to murder former threats to make a point, like he did today with the Wagner Group leadership.

> I don't think Putin is insane. If he were we'd all be dead by now. How do you know the next leader of Russia will also be rational? Or the leaders of all other nuclear armed nations that may retaliate against Russia's "rational" actions? > Also: Suicidal people don't go to lengths to murder former threats to make a point, like he did today with the Wagner Group leadership. If your days are numbered the consequences…

> How do you know the next leader of Russia will also be rational?

That's probably our largest worst-case risk.

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#37
post #5

This 2012 article mentions that the Royal Navy might have female submariners "next year". It happened in 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/female-submariners-make-h... And here's the next article I found on the subject, from last year, looks like it's not going so well: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opindia.com/2022/11/women-o...

Years ago I did a bit of speleology so I'm not afraid of confined spaces but as a male I'd be scared to spend time on a submarine in cramped conditions and in mixed company. I reckon I'd be under constant stress in case I accidentally said something out of place unlike in all-male work environments I've worked in the past where banter and certain types of comment pass without thought.

The nature and politics of the times has to make this such a volatile work environment especially when one can't 'go home' during off hours.

I've also worked in mixed company. Decades ago, I worked in a somewhat crowded building of some hundreds of people. My office was small and in an isolated part of the building and I shared it with three young attractive women who were part of my staff. Whilst I also had male staff they worked in other sections of the building.

Working with these women in close quarters was very different to working in an all-male environment which I had been used to previously. I enjoyed their company and we got along well together, and I was always well behaved and there were no complaints about my behavior. In fact, as their superior, they'd gang up and bully me—they ruled the office, not me.

Times have changed, there's absolutely no way I would accept working in that situation today as it'd be just too risky. Similarly, I wouldn't expect my employer to allow me to work for eight hours per day under such risky conditions.

Sure, women have rights to equality and I'd never deny them that right, but it seems to me that mixed company on a submarine is an 'explosive' environment and it's inevitable there will be trouble. (A group of males locked up and isolated without sex for three months but still in the tempting presence of women isn't natural.)

One has to feel some sympathy for all of those submariners.

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#38
post #5

This 2012 article mentions that the Royal Navy might have female submariners "next year". It happened in 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/female-submariners-make-h... And here's the next article I found on the subject, from last year, looks like it's not going so well: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opindia.com/2022/11/women-o...

Years ago I did a bit of speleology so I'm not afraid of confined spaces but as a male I'd be scared to spend time on a submarine in cramped conditions and in mixed company. I reckon I'd be under constant stress in case I accidentally said something out of place unlike in all-male work environments I've worked in the past where banter and certain types of comment pass without thought. The nature and politics of the t…

Or you just shut off the lizard brain and don’t think about your coworkers that way.

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#39
post #5

This 2012 article mentions that the Royal Navy might have female submariners "next year". It happened in 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/female-submariners-make-h... And here's the next article I found on the subject, from last year, looks like it's not going so well: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opindia.com/2022/11/women-o...

Years ago I did a bit of speleology so I'm not afraid of confined spaces but as a male I'd be scared to spend time on a submarine in cramped conditions and in mixed company. I reckon I'd be under constant stress in case I accidentally said something out of place unlike in all-male work environments I've worked in the past where banter and certain types of comment pass without thought. The nature and politics of the t…

This comment says more about you than the work environment.

Re: Life on board a British nuclear submarine (2012)

#40
post #5

This 2012 article mentions that the Royal Navy might have female submariners "next year". It happened in 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/female-submariners-make-h... And here's the next article I found on the subject, from last year, looks like it's not going so well: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opindia.com/2022/11/women-o...

Years ago I did a bit of speleology so I'm not afraid of confined spaces but as a male I'd be scared to spend time on a submarine in cramped conditions and in mixed company. I reckon I'd be under constant stress in case I accidentally said something out of place unlike in all-male work environments I've worked in the past where banter and certain types of comment pass without thought. The nature and politics of the t…

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