Does a nuclear sub leave a poopy trail?

[broberfett]

When submariners finally had nuclear power they could stay submerged for really long periods of time. Subs became more and more stealthy. Since subs were away for long periods they would stock up on large amounts of food for the crew. So the crew chows down and nature calls. Does the sub constantly dump poopy as it goes or does it store it for long periods of time so it doesn't give itself away?

 

[Trekker4747]

When submariners finally had nuclear power they could stay submerged for really long periods of time. Subs became more and more stealthy. Since subs were away for long periods they would stock up on large amounts of food for the crew. So the crew chows down and nature calls. Does the sub constantly dump poopy as it goes or does it store it for long periods of time so it doesn't give itself away?

I presume they store it until they're in an area where they can surface and dump it out. (Either at a facility or straight into the ocean.)

 

[Scout101]

Yeah, it goes into tanks. Not like they just leave a hole open in the back...

 

[broberfett]

Yeah, it goes into tanks. Not like they just leave a hole open in the back...

I meant immediate flushing of waste, not just an open hole in the back.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Does the sub constantly dump poopy as it goes or does it store it for long periods of time so it doesn't give itself away?

Tracking the enemy sub's err... dumps would make for one hell of a Tom Clancy novel.

 

[CaptainStoner]

"Keptin....we are detecting poopy trails in Sector 4,7."
"Lock phasers!"

 

[gturner]

It's stored in a large tank and dumped periodically. The system is complex.

In later years they just used the transporter system to beam waste out of the crews' large intestines and directly into the food replicators.

 

[broberfett]

It's stored in a large tank and dumped periodically. The system is complex.

In later years they just used the transporter system to beam waste out of the crews' large intestines and directly into the food replicators.

That makes me wonder if Counselor Troi ever got some bad chocolate.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Does the sub constantly dump poopy as it goes or does it store it for long periods of time so it doesn't give itself away?

Tracking the enemy sub's err... dumps would make for one hell of a Tom Clancy novel.

Or a movie:

 

[SPOCKED]

Yeah, it goes into tanks. Not like they just leave a hole open in the back...

I meant immediate flushing of waste, not just an open hole in the back.

Here's the process: enter stall and use the seawater valve to put a (minimal) amount of water in the dry basin. Do your business. To "flush" (actually its a gravity drain), pull the (very long) handle on the right side of the toilet towards you - it just opens a ball valve at the bottom of the basin, and everything flows directly into the sanitary tank.

"Blowing sanitaries" (at sea) is usually just one of several evolutions performed at night. Others might include TDU (trash disposal) and getting a satellite fix. The boat has to be at periscope depth (roughly 60 feet on the keel) to overcome sea pressure and it's only done at night, obviously, to avoid the risk of detection. In port, sanitary tanks are pumped into an external tank and is dealt with by the shore facility. The ocean is a BIG place... so no poopy trail

 

[All Seeing Eye]

The shits are rerouted to weapons storage, allowed to dry up and are then fired as torpedoes at enemy ships.

 

[John Picard]

Yeah, it goes into tanks. Not like they just leave a hole open in the back...

I meant immediate flushing of waste, not just an open hole in the back.

Here's the process: enter stall and use the seawater valve to put a (minimal) amount of water in the dry basin. Do your business. To "flush" (actually its a gravity drain), pull the (very long) handle on the right side of the toilet towards you - it just opens a ball valve at the bottom of the basin, and everything flows directly into the sanitary tank.

"Blowing sanitaries" (at sea) is usually just one of several evolutions performed at night. Others might include TDU (trash disposal) and getting a satellite fix. The boat has to be at periscope depth (roughly 60 feet on the keel) to overcome sea pressure and it's only done at night, obviously, to avoid the risk of detection. In port, sanitary tanks are pumped into an external tank and is dealt with by the shore facility. The ocean is a BIG place... so no poopy trail

There is a process by which submarines can dispose of trash/refuse while submerged. A bubblehead explained it to me once. Also, there's no way a submarine can be out to sea for very long and not have to discharge its bilge tanks. Every US Navy ship has to be 25+ nautical miles from shore before it is allowed to discharge waste.

 

[KimMH]

"Awww captain! Why does it have to be a poop question?"

-Cmdr Charles Tucker III

 

[SPOCKED]

There is a process by which submarines can dispose of trash/refuse while submerged. A bubblehead explained it to me once.

submerged... as in below periscope depth? No way. Unless it gets fired out the torpedo tubes

TDU ops -- The boat carries flat aluminum (?) sheets (which later become cylinders roughly 3 or 4ft long by around 14 inchs in diameter) to fit into the TDU compactor which packs ship's garbage (especially kitchen garbage) - IIRC, the ram hydraulics are 7000# so it can really crush a lot of stuff into a small can. At the bottom of every cylinder, before the garbage, are placed thick, dinner-plate sized weights (I think they are 5 pounds each, but again memory fades) sometimes, depending on what went into the cylinder, you need to add several weights. The cans are meant to sink, and you don't want to be the guy who did the compacting if it turns out any floated - again, if detected it could mean being detected. These garbage-filled cans drop out a hull penetration beneath the boat. You'll be walking on these boxes of cans and weights in the passageways for weeks on long underways since there's really no place else to put them

 

[LitmusDragon]

lol poopy

(someone had to say it)

 

[John Picard]

There is a process by which submarines can dispose of trash/refuse while submerged. A bubblehead explained it to me once.

submerged... as in below periscope depth? No way. Unless it gets fired out the torpedo tubes

TDU ops -- The boat carries flat aluminum (?) sheets (which later become cylinders roughly 3 or 4ft long by around 14 inchs in diameter) to fit into the TDU compactor which packs ship's garbage (especially kitchen garbage) - IIRC, the ram hydraulics are 7000# so it can really crush a lot of stuff into a small can. At the bottom of every cylinder, before the garbage, are placed thick, dinner-plate sized weights (I think they are 5 pounds each, but again memory fades) sometimes, depending on what went into the cylinder, you need to add several weights. The cans are meant to sink, and you don't want to be the guy who did the compacting if it turns out any floated - again, if detected it could mean being detected. These garbage-filled cans drop out a hull penetration beneath the boat. You'll be walking on these boxes of cans and weights in the passageways for weeks on long underways since there's really no place else to put them

As he explained it to me, the compacting process you point it is what he told me. That reason for crushing is like you said -- space is at a premium on a sub; however, I remember his saying the cylinders were steel, or perhaps weighted so when discharged they would sink.

Like you, the memory gets fuzzy, but I could have sworn he stated that the compacted cylinders were discharged at depth

Hell, I was on a carrier, where we just chucked stuff into the ocean! One of my more humorous recollections was when we were anchored out, and about 10 guys were driving golf balls into the ocean

 

[SPOCKED]

lol poopy

(someone had to say it)

My old pal Thad (sitting) is wearing his poopy suit if that helps

He and Donny are nukes, working on the ICV panel (just fwd of the ships battery) which is located in lower level ops berthing. Coincidently enough, the sanitary #2 blow station is located just a few feet behind Thad, in the lowest outboard bunk on the port side. Good times

 

[Captain Shaw]

On QI the other week they said in the early days of the submarine that they had to have a person who was specially trained to flush the loo on a sub.
They told a story about a German who was to embarrass to get the man to come and flush the loo so he flushed it himself and ended up sinking the sub.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-1206#Sinking

 

[SPOCKED]

As he explained it to me, the compacting process you point it is what he told me. That reason for crushing is like you said -- space is at a premium on a sub; however, I remember his saying the cylinders were steel, or perhaps weighted so when discharged they would sink.

Whatever they were made of, they were sharp as hell and I cut my bare hands a few times shaping them. They were probably a galvanized steel.

Like you, the memory gets fuzzy, but I could have sworn he stated that the compacted cylinders were discharged at depth

I'm sure he meant not on the surface, but at periscope depth.

 

[Barbados Slim]

I was on a Trident sub and yes, we had porcelin toilets that worked like regular ones. They went to tanks and we pumped the sanitary tanks. There were dirty sans, (toilets, kitchen drains) and clean sans (bathroom and shower drains).

The TDU (trash disposal unit) job was the worst on the boat. The hydraulic compactor would normally squeeze the liquid from a dirty paper towel or kim wipe all over the floor. I'll tell you about the legend of the Mad Shitter later.