by 
MARGIE
ANSWERS: 2
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I am going to treat this as two questions: 1.) How big is wake created by a submarine when it surfaces? 2.) How big is a submarine's visible wake while surfaced? 1.) Well, that depends on speed, ascent angle, size, and hull shaping. If a boat is traveling slowly (<5 kts [1 kt ~ 1.15 mph]), is ascending slowly (<10 ft/min) is relatively small (submarines range from 150' to 560' in length) and is aggressively streamlined; it is possible to create virtually no wake from the act of surfacing, most of the wake generated would be from forward movement. Fisherman have noted that an emergency surface maneuver by fleet ballistic missile submarines (450' to 560') can unsettle water up to a half-mile away. 2.)Again all the factors from #1 except that vertical movement is not a factor. A small WWII sub at high speed would make a smaller wake than a modern nuclear submarine because it was designed to operate on the surface and submerge to attack; whereas a modern submarine is designed to surface to return home and operate submerged.
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When it pops out of the water? Hmmm...as a retired submariner, I've never thought of that myself. Here's some information for you though, which you can think about when you look at the video below. A Los Angeles class fast attack submarine is 362 feet long and 33 feet wide. The most dramatic surfacing event any submarine can make results from what is called an "Emergency Blow". US submarines routinely test this Emergency Blow capability from test depth on every submarine, because it's one of the most important safety features on the boat. At test depth, a submarine will initiate an Emergency Blow and simultaneously drive the ship to the surface. This will cause a significant portion of the submarine to be literally launched out of the water, perhaps as much as 2/3 of her length, give or take. Now that you know this, take a gander at the following video of a Los Angeles class submarine breaking through the surface during an Emergency Blow: . .
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