Naval Submarine School

Throwing a "trim party"
If you’ve ever wondered how bored sailors get trapped inside a giant metal tube under the ocean for months at a time, this is the gold standard.

To understand why this works, you have to look at how a submarine actually stays level. It's all about physics. The guy in charge of this is the Diving Officer of the Watch. His entire job is to keep the boat perfectly balanced, or "in trim", by constantly shifting thousands of gallons of water between tanks in the front and the back of the sub. If the nose gets heavy, he pumps water to the rear. If the tail dips, he pumps it forward. It’s a delicate balancing act.

So, naturally, the crew turns it into psychological warfare the second a rookie takes the controls.

Once the new guy is in the hot seat, about 10, 15 off-duty sailors will silently gather in the very front of the sub. They aren't doing any work; they’re just standing there, adding a ton of extra weight to the bow.

Inevitably, the sub's nose starts to dip. The rookie officer looks at his gauges, gets a little stressed, and starts pumping water to the back of the ship to level it out. The exact second he finishes balancing the boat, the sailors silently tiptoe all the way to the back of the submarine.

Suddenly, the tail is incredibly heavy. The rookie is totally baffled. He thinks the sub is malfunctioning or he's losing his mind, so he hurriedly pumps all that water back to the front. And like clockwork, the crew tiptoes right back to the nose.

They will make this poor guy chase a "phantom weight" back and forth for an hour while the veteran officers in the control room bite their lips to keep from laughing out loud. It’s completely low-tech, requires a ridiculous amount of effort from the crew, and is arguably one of the finest tradition in the Navy.

| USS Flasher (SS-249) – Silent, Lethal, Legendary

Today we honor the legendary USS Flasher (SS-249), a true titan of the Silent Service during WWII. Commissioned in 1943, Flasher earned six battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation—sinking 21 ships accounting for 100,231 tonnage, more than any other U.S. submarine during the war.⚓

From the South China Sea to the Luzon Strait, Flasher and her brave crew operated deep behind enemy lines, striking with precision and vanishing without a trace.

With each patrol, they risked everything—living cramped, silent, and deadly beneath the waves so freedom could reign above them.

Let’s remember the courage, sacrifice, and steel nerves of the submariners who made Flasher one of WWII’s most formidable warriors.

🔱 Gone but never forgotten.

Toughness Is Built Before The Pressure Hits!