Am I the only person on this planet to have a fascination with submarines? - from the hand-cranked Turtle of the American War of Independence and the Confederate "Peripatetic coffin" (CSS HL Hunley), to JB Holland, Irish separatists & the Fenian Society, U Boats, Admiral Rickover & Trident?

Yeah, submarines are pretty cool.

I think it has something to do with getting back to nature, and getting a sense of what it's like to be an underwater creature.

Despite a vague interest in the Cold War, submarines never quite captured my imagination. About the only thing I know about subs is that the Typhoon class is ludicrously big.


...if you were a hollow underwater creature made of metal perhaps

Well, some fish do contain high amounts of mercury.

Not mercury but titanium. Unlike steel, titanium does not deflect the earth's magnetic field, so is undetectible, which was important when carrying ballistic missiles. Subs are great because they combine science and history. With underwater ballistic missile carrying nuclear powered subs, the people in them had to stay alive in an extremely hostile natural environment and also remain undetectible as well as stay sane. As for history, can anyone tell me why submariners sometimes fly the pirate flag of skull & crossbones?

Ans: English Admiral Arthur Wilson's comment on submersibles at the turn of the last century was that they were "Underwater, underhand and damned unenglish" to which he added that submariners caught in wartime should be "hanged as pirates". Some British & Australian submariners to this day fly the Jolly Roger as a sign of their status. I have seen this in Anzac day parades in Sydney. No-one has ever been able to answer that question.