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by Massey on December 5th, 2004

Massey

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What's the difference between a normal submarine and a nuclear submarine?

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  • by Merry Walker on December 12th, 2004

    Merry Walker

    Nuclear submarines are called that because their primary source of energy is a nuclear reactor. The reactor drives steam turbines that are used to drive the propellor shaft(s) and the electrical generators that create electricity for the various systems on the submarine.

    Submarines that aren't nuclear are powered by a combination of diesel engines and electric batteries. While on the surface a diesel submarine generally runs her diesel engines both for power and to charge her batteries. When submerged, a diesel boat generally has to shut down the engines and run strictly on batteries. There is one notable exception to this: many (if not all) diesel subs are rigged with a type of "snorkle" that lets them come to a shallow depth and raise the snorkle to be able to run their engines and recharge their batteries without actually surfacing.

    You can read more about it here:
    http://dede.essortment.com/howsubmarines_rvpc.htm

    and here:
    http://science.howstuffworks.com/submarine3.htm

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