Before Sinking the Belgrano, the Deputy Commander Halted the Firing Order
Before the nuclear submarine Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser Belgrano, Deputy Commander Maikelaimen (麦克莱蒙) halted the captain in the control room, waiting only for a better firing angle—it was the first time a British submarine had actually fired since World War II.
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The Submarine That Almost Changed the Outcome of the American Revolution
In 1776, David Bushnell designed the Turtle with the core elements of a modern submarine—ballast tank, ventilation pump, drilling explosives. It successfully approached HMS Howe, but couldn't find a suitable wooden section on her iron hull to drill through for the explosive charge. According to the curator, success that night would have directly altered the course of American independence.
— Alexandra GearyThe Royal Navy Treated Submarine Warfare as Piracy
When the Royal Navy built Holland One, its first submarine, in 1901, Admiral Arthur Wilson publicly called submarines dishonorable and unfair weapons, threatening to hang anyone who used them as pirates. The submarine was therefore commissioned in secret. Its first commanding officer complained that the control room was stuffed with wheels, levers, and valves—as if operating it required one person to simultaneously fire torpedoes, dive, and steer.
— Alexandra GearyOne Hour After War Was Declared, Three Ships Sank Before Breakfast
One hour after Britain declared war on Germany, the U-boat U-9 sank three British warships, earning the name ‘Three Before Breakfast’. Compared to expensive battleships, submarines were far cheaper, and this attack first demonstrated to the Royal Navy the asymmetric power of submarine warfare.
— Alexandra GearyThe Seaplane Experiment That Sank a Submarine With All Hands
Between the wars, M-class submarines experimented with adding seaplane hangars to the hull, launching aircraft by catapult. In one mission, the hangar hatch wasn't sealed properly; seawater flooded in, and the M2 went down with all hands lost. The salvaged note read only: ‘Help, M2 sinking, Hatch 2, open’. This tragedy later directly prompted improvements in submarine design.
— Alexandra GearyIn World War II, British Submarine Crews Died Five Times Faster Than Surface Sailors
During World War II, British submarine crews suffered a 36% casualty rate versus 7% for surface vessels. Danger came not only from enemy attack; underwater identification was extremely difficult, and many losses actually resulted from friendly fire. Even veteran submarines like Upolda, which sank 120,000 tons of Axis shipping, eventually disappeared on routine patrol; all 33 crew members perished, and the cause remains unknown.
— Alexandra GearyThe X-Crafts That Slipped Through Defensive Nets to Cripple a Battleship
To disable the German battleship Tirpitz, hidden in Norwegian fjords and protected by layers of torpedo nets and anti-submarine nets, Britain designed the X-Craft—a micro-submarine so compact that only one person could stand upright inside. Each carried two tons of explosives in side-mounted cargo containers. They threaded through the net barriers and entered the harbor to plant charges that disabled the Tirpitz for months. Churchill called destroying or even severely damaging this warship the greatest naval victory of the time.
— Alexandra GearyOne Second Before Opening Fire, the Deputy Commander Called Stop
In the 1982 Falkland War, nuclear submarine Conqueror was ordered to attack the Belgrano—a decision approved by the Prime Minister. When the captain ordered firing preparations, Deputy Commander Maikelaimen (麦克莱蒙) publicly shouted stop: the firing angle wasn't optimal, and waiting would give them a zero-gyro angle with far higher accuracy. After pausing several seconds, the captain calmly asked if they could fire now, and the crew's confidence immediately refocused on him.
— Tim McClemonAI Beats Humans Alone, But Humans Plus AI Beats Pure AI
The First Sea Lord, Gwyn Jenkins, discussing unmanned systems, noted that AI can certainly beat any human in strategy games, but a human team augmented with AI can beat pure AI. He believes submarines' future advantage doesn't lie in replacing large nuclear submarines with unmanned systems, but in combining both with well-trained crews.
— Gwyn JenkinsIn their own words · checked verbatim
they were underhand and unfair, and I will regard them as pirates and have them all hanged.
Alexandra Geary11:19
the ingenious designer in New York evidently did not realise that the average naval officer has only two eyes and two hands.
Alexandra Geary12:24
Within an hour of war being declared, the German submarine U-9 sank three British warships. And it came to be termed the three before breakfast.
Alexandra Geary15:50
It reads, help, M2 gone down, number two hatch, open.
Alexandra Geary19:19
do not fire! The captain put the periscope down, four steps to the port forward corner of the control room where I was, said, why not?
Tim McClemon43:12
because the second in command had just stopped the captain firing the first torpedo since the Second World War.
Tim McClemon44:12
I love this kind of analysis that says that artificial intelligence will beat any human at any strategy game now. However, artificial intelligence teamed with a human team will beat any artificial intelligence at a strategy game.
Gwyn Jenkins50:38
Figures
| U-9 ships sunk in one hour | 3 | 15:50 |
| British submarine casualties in World War I | approximately one-third | 17:35 |
| British submarine casualty rate in World War II | 36% (surface fleet 7%) | 23:58 |
| Conte Rosso casualties | over 1,200 | 21:49 |
| Trieste dive depth in 1960 (Mariana Trench) | nearly 11 kilometers | 33:04 |
| HMS Vanguard's latest continuous submerged operation | 205 days | 46:21 |
| Operation Struggle underwater duration | 19 hours | 30:01 |
Glossary
- X-Craft
- An ultra-small submarine used in World War II to infiltrate well-defended harbors and plant explosives.
- bathyscaphe
- A deep-diving research vessel capable of vertical descent to the deepest ocean trenches.
- SSN
- A nuclear-powered attack submarine primarily tasked with searching for and destroying enemy submarines and warships.
How to listen
Military history enthusiasts interested in submarines, WWII naval warfare, and the Falkland War; defense observers concerned with how unmanned systems coordinate with crewed platforms.
The opening museum visit and early technical details about the Turtle and the Nautilus can be skipped; the core story focuses on World War II and the Falkland War.