The Collaborative International Dictionary
Submarine \Sub`ma*rine"\, n.
A submarine boat; a ship that can travel under the surface of the water. Most such ships are ships of war, as part of a navy, but submarines are also used for oceanic research. Also called sub and (from the German U-Boot) U-boat. esp., (Nav.), a submarine torpedo boat; -- called specif. submergible submarine when capable of operating at various depths and of traveling considerable distances under water, and submersible submarine when capable of being only partly submerged, i.e., so that the conning tower, etc., is still above water. The latter type and most of the former type are submerged as desired by regulating the amount of water admitted to the ballast tanks and sink on an even keel; some of the former type effect submersion while under way by means of horizontal rudders, in some cases also with admission of water to the ballast tanks.
A stowaway on a seagoing vessel. [Colloq.]
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Nuclear submarine A submarine powered by a nuclear reactor.
Attack submarine A submarine designed to attack other ships, including other submarines.
WordNet
n. a submarine that is propelled by nuclear power [syn: nautilus, nuclear-powered submarine]
Wikipedia
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor. The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines are considerable. Nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for conventional submarines. The large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long periods of time; and the long interval between refuelings grants a range limited only by consumables such as food.
Current generations of nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25-year lifespans. Conversely, the limited power stored in electric batteries means that even the most advanced conventional submarine can only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed; recent advances in air-independent propulsion have somewhat eroded this disadvantage. The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few states have fielded nuclear submarines. Some of the most serious nuclear and radiation accidents ever to occur have involved Soviet nuclear submarine mishaps.
Usage examples of "nuclear submarine".
This was the only practical way to run the one department in the nuclear submarine which could never shut down.
A really militant sub skipper could try running at Periscope depth to operate his search radar, but that meant running the risk of broaching and momentarily losing control of his boat, not some thing a nuclear submarine officer looked kindly upon.
That, anyway, was how he struck me at first glance, but on the reasonable assumption that I might very likely find some other qualities in the man picked to command the latest and most powerful nuclear submarine afloat I took a second and closer look at him and this time I saw what I should have seen the first time if the dank gray fog and winter dusk settling down over the Firth of Clyde hadn't made seeing so difficult.
It was an XO's responsibility to understand everything about his captain, and he was doing what he had to do, asking if his captain's wife had also noticed the man wholly responsible for a nuclear submarine was changing.
On a nuclear submarine you are absolutely cut off from the outside world.
His marriage up to that point had been a troubled one, not an uncommon problem for nuclear submarine officers.
That type was a nuclear submarine, and the only Chinese SSN currently in service was the Han class.
Perhaps that is why the grim thought of disaster couldn't have been further from Commander Felix Dupree's mind as he climbed onto the bridge of the nuclear submarine Starbuck, just before nightfall.
He rolled over and floated on his back and looked up at the huge sail tower of a nuclear submarine that towered above him.
Here you have the world's most advanced nuclear submarine, including her missiles complete with warheads, sitting a few hundred yards from your doorstep, and you never moved her as much as an inch because you didn't know how to operate her.
It was an old joke, one grounded in cold, hard reality: Sailing on a Russian or Ukrainian nuclear submarine was never a family tradition.