What Daily Life on a Submarine Is Really Like: Smells, Sleep, and the "Happiness Factor"
- Tony Grayson
- Nov 23
- 6 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
By Tony Grayson Tech Executive (ex-SVP Oracle, AWS, Meta) & Former Nuclear Submarine Commander
I spent 21 years on submarines and finished as Commanding Officer of USS PROVIDENCE (SSN-719). Here’s what life is really like inside the steel tube.
I often talk about it on LinkedIn, and if you Google "daily life on a submarine," you usually find recruiting posters or dry technical specs. But the reality of living 400 feet underwater isn't about specifications; it's about the sensory details. It's about how we sleep, the specific smell that sticks to our clothes, and the mental math we use to survive months of isolation.
There is a specific moment in every submarine deployment when the math changes—when the suffering becomes mathematically cheaper than the reward. We call it the "Happiness Factor."
But before we get to the math, we have to talk about the plumbing.
The Daily Life on a Submarine
Submarine Toilets: Where Do You Poop? (The Tale of Two Toilets)
The most common question civilians ask about life on a submarine is usually the one they are too polite to say out loud. Let's get it out of the way.
It depends on the boat. Boomers (SSBNs) are larger ballistic-missile subs; Fast Attacks (SSNs) are smaller, hunter-killer boats built for speed and stealth.
If you are on a Boomer, life is relatively luxurious. They have standard flushing toilets. But if you are on a Fast Attack, going to the bathroom becomes a high-stakes evolution.
Fast Attacks often use a manual ball-valve system. It isn't just pushing a handle; it involves a precise sequence of opening and shutting valves to flush waste into the sanitary tank. On almost every deployment, someone doesn’t read the placard. They open the inboard valve while the outboard pressure is high.
The result? The contents of the tank—under high pressure—reverse course back into the stall.
When sewage hits you at high velocity, your first instinct is to open your mouth to scream. That is the exact opposite of what you want to do. We sometimes called these sailors "Shitscreen," a nickname that stuck for the rest of the deployment.
The Happiness Factor: How We Stay Sane
Once you survive the plumbing, the next challenge is your own mind. People ask if submariners go crazy. We don't, because we turn morale into math.
We called it the "Happiness Factor."
Survival isn't just about grit; it's about calculating leverage. Onboard, we didn't just count days; we calculated the ratio of future suffering to future reward.
The formula is simple: Happiness Factor = Days of Leave / Days Left on Mission
Let's say I have 20 days of watchstanding left and only 5 days of leave approved. That’s a happiness factor of 0.25. That is misery. The "cost" of the mission outweighs the reward.
But then comes the tipping point. I remember a specific moment: Day 72 of a long patrol. I was tired, the coffee was bad, and I hadn't seen the sun in two months. But I looked at the calendar. I had 18 days left underwater, but 21 days of leave were approved.
21 / 18 = 1.17.
The Happiness Factor was greater than 1. We had mathematically beaten the boat. My mood instantly lifted because the suffering was now "cheaper" than the freedom waiting for me.
Sleep and Smells: The Physical Reality
While the math keeps your head right, your body is still trapped in a machine.
Does It Smell on a Submarine?
Yes, and it is a smell you never forget. It is called Amine. Amine is the chemical used in the scrubbers to remove CO2 from the air so we can breathe. It has a distinct, funky, chemical-musty odor.
After 24 hours onboard, your brain tunes it out. You don't smell it anymore. The shock comes when you go home. You open your duffel bag, and the scent of Amine fills your entire house. That is the smell of deployment.
What is Hot Racking?
Space is the most valuable currency on a boat. While officers usually have their own racks (beds), junior enlisted sailors on Fast Attacks often have to "Hot Rack."
This is the practice where three sailors share two bunks. It is called "hot racking" for a literal reason: When you climb into the rack to sleep, the sheets are still warm from the guy who just got out to go on watch. It’s a jarring intimacy. You are crawling into a space the size of a coffin, smelling someone else's deodorant, trying to fall asleep instantly because you have watch in six hours.
Submarine Hierarchy: NUBs, Midrats, and Field Day
Once you’ve figured out how to shower, sleep, and survive the smells, the next shock isn’t physical at all—it’s social. Daily life on a submarine runs on a strict caste system that has nothing to do with your rank.
What is a NUB?
If you walk onto a submarine for the first time, you are a NUB (Non-Useful Body). It sounds harsh, but it is an accurate description. Until you understand the systems—how to fight a fire, how to stop a flood, how the air gets scrubbed—you are a liability.
You are a ghost. You don't watch movies in the wardroom. You don't relax. You study. You are constantly chasing senior sailors to get "checkouts" on system diagrams.
The shift happens the day you pass your qualification board and pin on your Dolphins (Silver for Enlisted, Gold for Officers). In that moment, you transform from a liability to a brother. You are finally trusted to save the ship.
Measuring Time in Food and Cleaning
In an environment where the sun never rises or sets, we mark time by routine.
Midrats (Midnight Rations): Because the boat runs 24/7, there is a meal at midnight. Usually leftovers or sliders, "Midrats" becomes a critical social anchor.
Field Day: This is the weekly deep-clean. We use "bug juice" (generic Kool-Aid powder) to clean brass and green pads to scrub decks. It’s miserable work, but it hits a psychological reset button. When the boat smells like cleaning supplies instead of oil and Amine, you know another week is done.
Storms and Gyms: The Environment
Do You Feel Storms Underwater?
People think we are immune to the weather. We aren't. While we escape the crashing waves, during a bad storm, you can feel the sea state hundreds of feet down. We also do "Angles and Dangles," drills where we take the ship to steep angles (30 to 40 degrees) to check "stowage for sea."
If you didn't secure your gear, "Angles and Dangles" is when you find out. You'll hear a crash, and then the shame of everyone knowing it was your gear that fell.
How Do You Exercise on a Submarine?
Finding space to work out requires creativity. On a Boomer, we fit treadmills in the missile compartment, the large compartment housing the Trident missiles.
There is something deeply absurd about running on a treadmill at 2 AM listening to Metallica. On a Fast Attack, it's even tighter—you might find a bench press squeezed between machinery in the engine room. The air is hot, it smells like oil, and it's loud—but it's the only gym you have.
The Truth About the "Silent Service"
That’s the real truth about life on a submarine.
It’s not the movies, and it’s not the recruiting poster. It’s sweat, Amine, bad coffee, hot racks, dark humor, and a crew that will trust each other’s hands on the valves when it matters.
No equation can fully capture that, but the Happiness Factor comes close.
People always ask me, "Why would anyone volunteer for that?" The answer is simple. Because once you’ve lived in that steel tube, you’ll never again wonder whether your team will show up when the alarm sounds. You already know.
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Tony Grayson is a recognized Top 10 Data Center Influencer, a successful entrepreneur, and the President & General Manager of Northstar Enterprise + Defense.
A former U.S. Navy Submarine Commander and recipient of the prestigious VADM Stockdale Award, Tony is a leading authority on the convergence of nuclear energy, AI infrastructure, and national defense. His career is defined by building at scale: he led global infrastructure strategy as a Senior Vice President for AWS, Meta, and Oracle before founding and selling a top-10 modular data center company.
Today, he leads strategy and execution for critical defense programs and AI infrastructure, building AI factories and cloud regions that survive contact with reality.
Read more at: tonygraysonvet.com
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