When on a submarine why do the crew have to be quiet when on a silent run to avoid detection by the enemy?

Raoul Duke

the sound and vibrations will be detected by sonar, which in turn will give away the submarines position

oldmarine08

uh.......wait for it........"to avoid detection by the enemy"!

Lurch

Because the sonar system of an enemy sub can hear someone dropping a wrench or making any moderate to loud noises in another sub.

David M

because they enemy has underwater listening devices that can pick up voices. Sound travels very far in water.

fairly smart

Because sound travels thru water *really* well...you can hear conversation on a sub if you listen!
Since the other guy suggested Red October, which is very good, Down Periscope is a funny one, with Kelsey Grammar, where the radio guy uses whale songs to disguise his sub! Interesting stuff.

Trollbuster

Sound travels through water.

chickie

Water is an excellent conductor of noise

CG-23 Sailor

Why do you ask a question you already know the answer to and stated in your question?

"to avoid detection by the enemy?"

MadMaxx

lil thing called vibration!

netnazivictim

"silent" where is talking and such listed in that definition.

trvrs

YOU ANSWERED YOUR OWN QUESTION

Anatol Kuragin

As the noise levels aboard increase the enemy's equipment can pick that noise up.

Nugget

US Navy Sub Sonar Tech here

9 times out of 10 Subs are picked up on transients, that means Nuks back aft have tea parties and wispering sweet nothings to each other. GOT IT
They call us the Silent Service because we like to stay hid and undetected. Thats why your safer in a Sub underwater than a ship in plain sight.

Danial J

Watch the movie "Hunt for Red October" and you might get a good idea of why. Sounds can be heard through water much better than air and the very sensitive microphones on ships can pick up about anything in the water.

Vinod R

A modern submarine is a multi-role platform. It can conduct both overt and covert operations. In peacetime it can act as a deterrent as well as for surveillance operations and information gathering.

In wartime a submarine can carry out a number of missions including:-

* Surveillance and information gathering
* Communication of data
* Landing of special operations forces
* Attack of land targets
* Protection of task forces and merchant shipping
* Denial of sea areas to an enemy

A submarine will have a range of sensor types that depends on its purpose. Modern military submarines rely almost entirely on an extremely sensitive suite of passive and active sonars to find their prey. Active sonar relies on an audible "ping" to generate echoes revealing objects around the transmitting submarine. Active systems are rarely used, as the transmitting submarine will invariably reveal its own position to its target. Passive sonar is literally a set of extremely sensitive hydrophones set into the submarine's hull or trailed behind said submarine in a towed array, generally several hundred feet long, if not more. The towed array is the mainstay of NATO submarine detection systems, as it reduces the amount of flow noise that is heard by the operators. Hull mounted sonar is employed to back up the towed array, and in confined coastal waters where a towed array could be fouled by sea floor obstacles.
SONAR (SOund NAvigation and Ranging)â€”or sonarâ€”is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater) to navigate, communicate or to detect other vessels. There are two kinds of sonarâ€”active and passive. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may also be used in air for robot navigation while SODAR (an upward looking in-air sonar) is used for atmospheric investigations. The term sonar is also used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The frequencies used in sonar systems vary from infrasonic to ultrasonic. The study of underwater sound is known as underwater acoustics or sometimes hydroacoustics.

Sound propagation

Sonar operation is affected by variations in sound speed, particularly in the vertical plane. Sound travels more slowly in fresh water than in sea water, though the difference in speeds between fresh and salt water is small. In all water sound speed (sometimes called velocity though this is incorrect) is determined by its bulk modulus and mass density. The bulk modulus is affected by temperature, dissolved impurities (usually salinity), and pressure. The density effect is small. The speed of sound (in feet per second) is approximately equal to:

4388 + (11.25 Ã— temperature (in Â°F)) + (0.0182 Ã— depth (in feet)) + salinity (in parts-per-thousand ).

This is an empirically derived approximation equation that is reasonably accurate for normal temperatures, concentrations of salinity and the range of most ocean depths. Ocean temperature varies with depth, but at between 30 and 100 meters there is often a marked change, called the thermocline, dividing the warmer surface water from the cold, still waters that make up the rest of the ocean. This can frustrate sonar, for a sound originating on one side of the thermocline tends to be bent, or refracted, through the thermocline. The thermocline may be present in shallower coastal waters. However, wave action will often mix the water column and eliminate the thermocline. Water pressure also affects sound propagation. Increased pressure increases the sound speed, which causes the sound waves to refract away from the area of higher sound speed. The mathematical model of refraction is called Snell's law.

Now an Active sonar has advantages but more risks and a passive is a silent hunter but needs too many costly drills and equipments so depending on a mission a silen run can mean anything..
Silence before pouncing for an attack or a silence before the hell breaks loose when you get attacked .

p.s:It can be an Evasive action plan or in the Hunter mode to seek and destroy.

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