NationStates Jolt Archive

Alright I was just wondering how feasible it is with PMT tech to move soldiers/civilians around via submarines. It would probably be easier to hide than a normal troop carrier, but submarines can't really stand up to quite as much as a conventional military personnel carrier. So whats your say on it and what hurdles would I need to pass to make this in any way possible on a large scale.

The only real difficult I can see right off, would be the lack of/difficult in installing landing boats onto/into the submarine.

Pretty much agree with Theao. Other than that it could work pretty well, also it could dive to prevent missile strikes and to stay better concealed from satellites. >_>

The idea is sound, but you would never be able to carry as many men as a standard troop carrier would [since standard troop carriers are huge]. More than that, the idea behind a submarine is stealth, and making it larger, and stronger, doesn't really help in that respect. So, it would certainly be something on a limited scope, but the idea is wonderful for special operations. For example, it was a submarine that had inserted Mark Clark into Cerchel, prior to Operation Torch [1942]. And it was submarines that allowed the Japanese to hold their tenuous position at Buna for as long as possible, although in the end, the Japanese hold outs were destroyed. So, submarines certainly have their place - but making a large troop carrier sorta defeats the purpose of submarines. Not only that, but it would be much for expensive, and would most likely be classified as a submergible, as opposed to a submarine. You would probably have to surface the submarine before deploying the boats, in any case.

I was pretty much expecting to surface to actually release the troops. However underwater the ship would be completely safe from cruise missiles and almost any weaponry aside from torpedos. Plus since my nation is in the arctic if it went low enough it could avoid most ice floes.

So Macabees, what would you say a good upper limit for the number of troops in one of these would be?

Submarine Troop Carriers are used almost exclusively for special operations. They have been used by the United States successfully in the Korean war, Vietnam War, and various special operations. They allow a group of soldiers to land unnoticed in enemy territory, carry out a covert mission and return to the sea.

http://www.bowfin.org/website/bowfin/sub_facts/korean_war_sub/korean_war_sub.htm