Given the submarine's importance to many of the world's navies, it's perhaps surprising to learn that for many years it was considered an inventor's folly and of little use in maritime warfare. Indeed the submarine had a difficult birth because of the technical challenges involved in putting a moving vessel underwater, challenges that could only be overcome once the technology became available. The submarine eventually proved its potential in World War I, where its ability to pass undetected ushered in a new era of ‘unrestricted warfare’. Since then, it has never looked back and today’s submarines are capable of remaining submerged for months at a time – the ultimate stealth weapon. As navies modernise, what has traditionally been an exclusively male service is now opening up to women in some countries. Rajan Datar prowls the ocean's depths to find out more about the 'silent service', along with submarine designer Professor David Andrews from the Mechanical Engineering department of University College London; historian Axel Niestlé, author of German U-boat Losses in World War II; George Malcolmson, the curator of the British Royal Navy's submarine museum; and author Eric Wertheim, editor of the US Naval Institute’s reference book Combat Fleets of the World. Image: Karelia nuclear-powered submarine, Murmansk, Russia, 2018 Credit: Lev Fedoseyev/Getty Images
This BBC podcast is supported by ads.
Outside the uk.
Available now on the documentary from the BBC World Service.
The distinct musical genre of amapiano can be heard in clubs and parties all around the world.
It's a sound born out of the unique cultural identity of South Africa.
I am Legendary Chris and I'm going to take you on a journey of exploration as we dive into the history of the music.
Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
Unseen, unheard, undetected.
Few things could be more unsettling to a sailor in wartime than the threat of a submarine.
We left port thinking everything was fine.
July 30th was a black, dark night and that submarine skipper, he looked towards the east and here was a little speck that he recognized as a ship.
We were coming right toward him, we're fairly close.
And he crash dove got in position, put his periscope on us and watched us.
The idea of traveling underwater has captivated people for centuries.
It's thought the ancient Greeks and the Chinese too, designed a vessel that could go beneath the waves.
And the Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci left sketches for an underwater warship in literature, film and television.
Life on board a submarine has made for compelling drama.
What, after all, can compare to being cocooned inside a metal capsule for months on end deep down in the ocean?
Perhaps that's because so few of us will ever experience it, but also because submarines, even today's high tech models, are hazardous craft.
When they go wrong, the results can be catastrophic.