Aboard the ‘INS Dolphin’ (Reporters at sea aboard IDF submarine)
‘Dive, dive, dive,” yells Cmdr. M. into a loudspeaker that rattles throughout the navy’s Dolphin submarine. A second later, the helmsman pushes hard on the vessel’s steering system as the submarine dips into a 45-degree angle and descends to almost 300 meters below the choppy Mediterranean.
The INS Dolphin submarine.
Photo: IDF
The submarine is on a routine training exercise a few dozen kilometers off Haifa and the 40-man crew is extinguishing fake fires that erupt in the engine room while searching for leaks among the thousands of pipes that crisscross the sub’s ceiling.
In the meantime, after bringing the boat up to periscope depth, Cmdr. M., captain of the INS Dolphin, dashes from one side of the combat information center to the other while monitoring the almost-20 plasma screens that portray everything a submarine commander needs to know - from sonar readings and weapons systems status to fuel and fresh water quantitie