Submarines, the hunter killer ships we all know from the first and second world war. Or the missile submarines that hide in the deep oceans, ready to launch their deadly cargo of nuclear-tipped missiles.
First used on a large scale by the German Navy during the First World War, they attempted but failed to starve Britain out of the war by cutting off from its empire.
During the Second World War, the Germans again tried to cut off Britain from its lifeline in the Atlantic ocean, this time with more success at first but submarines remained extremely vulnerable. Forced to surface multiple times every day to recharge the batteries, they became easy prey for marauding airplanes.
It wasn’t just the Germans that used Submarines in WWII, the war in the Pacific showed the Americans the value of their submarine fleet. They succeeded in cutting Japan off from its island empire, making it almost impossible for Japan to move troops and supplies around and making defeat inevitable.
After World War II ended the Submarine was further developed into the specialized killing machines they are today. The first goal was to eliminate the need to recharge batteries which became possible with the introduction of nuclear power.
Then came the idea of launching nuclear missiles from Submarines, which meant a change in submarine tactics. The attack submarines would now have the task to protect the missile submarines and focus on tracking and eliminating enemy submarines.
It is now hard to imagine a modern navy that has no submarines, they have become that important.
But at some point, for every submarine, there comes a time when it becomes obsolete. When it is replaced by a new and better model, a regime change or lack of money to maintain this expensive fleet.
Not all countries have the ability to clean them up properly, and some are left abandoned at a pier, half sunken or only visible at low tide.
This video takes to those submarines, disused, abandoned, rusting hulks that used to be the pride of their Navy.
https://youtu.be/Ug585vHop_c