Misadventures on a Nuclear Submarine: A Swollen Knee, a Gush of Water, and a Man Overboard

[Tony]

When you’re serving on a Navy submarine with dozens of torpedoes and nuclear-tipped missiles, the best days are the boring ones. Boring on a submarine is good. Boring means everything is working like it should and everyone is doing what they are supposed to do.

But, like with so many aspects of military life, there are a million and one things that can go wrong. And when they do, the crew must lean on its training and respond within seconds—or everyone dies.

In October 1988, I faced such a day when a humanitarian transfer in rough seas led to a man overboard in frigid waters.