Are There Windows on Military Submarines?

If you’ve ever seen a U.S. Navy submarine, or any other navy’s for that matter, you probably noticed they have no windows. Windows could make life a little easier at times in some ways-such as on private submersibles-but any submarine intended to dive beyond 800 feet wouldn’t gain anything from having windows in its hull.

The water pressure is too extreme at that great of a depth for windows. As Northrop Grumman describes, “The water pressure against the external hull of any vessel at extreme depths is too strong for a large window, and special, thick, cone-shaped glass would be needed to prevent a window from being pushed through the steel hull of the submarine.”

Challenges Beyond Pressure

Even if pressure weren’t a concern, visibility at depth would be a significant issue. Beyond 200 meters (656 feet), light from the surface diminishes in what’s called the dysphotic, or twilight, zone. By 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), the ocean becomes completely dark in the aphotic zone.

While military submarines aren’t typically rated to dive this deep, the USS Dolphin holds the record at 910 meters. At such depths, the visibility is restricted unless the submarine employs powerful lights to pierce through the darkness and the suspended particles in the water.

However, employing lights would defeat the purpose of stealth, which is a crucial aspect for military submarines. Submarines, including attack subs and ballistic missile subs (boomers), operate on the principle of not being found. Bright lights would make them easy marks for the enemy and compromise their strategic missions, such as the nuclear deterrence provided by SSBNs, or ballistic missile submarines, within the U.S. nuclear triad.

Military submarines use sensors to navigate

Navigating Without Windows

It might seem, as it often does, that they operate ‘blindly’ in the vast oceans, but nothing can be further from the truth. A submarine crew navigates safely by employing a variety of advanced instruments and techniques.

• : The most important navigation aids for submariners are the detailed topographic charts of the ocean floor, updated regularly. Poorly done charts lead to disasters, like that involving the USS CoCharts of the Ocean Floor Topographynnecticut, a Seawolf-class submarine which struck an underwater mountain because the charts disagreed.
• GPS and Inertial Guidance: Above water, GPS is used to establish latitude and longitude position. However, GPS signals do not penetrate the ocean. Below the water, submarines utilize an inertial guidance system where gyroscopes are used to measure movement. It can remain accurate for up to 150 hours, after which the submarine should go back to the surface to recalibrate using GPS.
• SONAR Systems: Yet another important tool is the SONAR systems. Submarines have both passive and active SONAR on them. Passive SONAR constantly listens for noises to know where objects in general-possible submarines or marine animals-are located. In the case of active SONAR, if more specific information is needed, then a pulse, or ping, of sound is sent out to detect how far away something is and where it is located. This ping can disclose the position of the submarine to opponents; therefore, it is seldom used.

Military submarines may not be with windows, but highly technologically advanced to navigate and operate even inside the ocean’s darkest portion.