Under Pressure: Living Life and Avoiding Death on a Nuclear Submarine

by Richard Humphreys

Overview

This is the world of the submariner. This is life under pressure.

What’s it like to spend three months without sunlight, sharing what little space you have with over a hundred fellow crewmen and more firepower than all the bombs dropped in World War II combined? This is the world of the submariner. This is life under pressure.

As a restless and adventurous eighteen-year-old, Richard Humphreys joined the Royal Navy submarine service. For five years during the Cold War, he served on the nuclear sub HMS Resolution. Nothing could have prepared him for life beneath the waves. He existed in a world without natural light, surrounded by 140 other men, all eating the same food, breathing the same air, smelling the same putrid smells and surviving together in some of the most forbidding conditions imaginable.

Based on Humphreys’ firsthand experience, Under Pressure is the candid, visceral and incredibly entertaining account of what it’s like to live, work, sleep and eat—and stay sane—in one of the most extreme man-made environments on the planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335996244
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	06/02/2020
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	997,599
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Richard Humphreys has been a bookseller for over twenty years. In 2017, he sat on the judging panel of the prestigious Costa Awards for Best Biography. From 1985 to 1990, Richard served in the Royal Navy and spent his career on the Polaris submarines, which carried nuclear ballistic missiles. Under Pressure is his first book. He lives with his family in London.

Table of Contents

Author Note 13

Diagram of HMS Resolution 16

Polaris Submarine Hierarchy 18

Glossary 21

Introduction 31

1 Beasting 39

2 HMS Neptune, Faslane 55

3 The Bomber 63

4 Alongside 77

5 Work-up 85

6 Coulport 97

7 Before the Off 103

8 Set Sail 107

9 The Dive 113

10 A Brief Tour 119

11 No Time 137

12 All the Time in the World 155

13 Downtime 161

14 Booze 165

15 Snadgens 169

16 Porn 171

17 Familygrams 175

18 Showtime 177

19 Under the Lights 181

20 Cut Off 189

21 Racked Out 203

22 Food, Glorious Food 211

23 The Day Job, the Night Job, Repeat 223

24 Letters from the Grave 235

25 Captain Is God 239

26 To Launch or Not to Launch 247

27 Homeward Bound 253

28 Off Crew 259

Acknowledgments 269

Editorial Reviews

A vivid, honest and very funny account of life as submariner at the height of the Cold War.” —James Jinks, author of The Silent Deep

“An utterly fascinating and wonderfully detailed insight into the hidden – and frequently disorientating and claustrophobic – world of the modern submariner, this richly compelling and hugely entertaining memoir brilliantly conveys the tension, huge responsibility, culture and, of course, humour, of being a crewman on the nuclear deterrent.” —James Holland, author of Normandy '44:D-Day and the Battle for France

“One of the finest memoirs published in recent years.” –Dan Jones, bestselling author of The Plantagenets


“For the vast majority of people who will never experience life in a submarine, Humphreys’s work delivers an engaging glimpse into what they’re missing out on.” -Library Journal

"A visceral trip under water."
-The Spectator (UK)

"[Humphreys'] account is fascinating and eye-opening. It reveals submariners such as him as unsung warriors, front-line fighters in a bizarre war of silent menace that anyone outside the tight-knit community can barely comprehend."
-The Daily Mail (UK)

"In geopolitical terms Humphreys really picked his moment... He captures the details of this eerie, constrained existence so well."
-The Times (UK)

"A vivid no holds barred account of life on a Polaris nuclear sub during the Cold War."
-Cold War Conversations (UK)

"Readers will enjoy an expert account of nuclear submarine technology, operation, command structure, and culture." -Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/17/2020

First-time author Humphreys pens a colorfully entertaining account of the five years he spent as a submariner in the Royal Navy during the Cold War. Assigned to one of Britain's elite Polaris nuclear submarines at age 18, Humphreys found himself enduring three-month patrols on secret missions to locate and track Russian submarines operating in the North Atlantic. With frank honesty and good humor, the author describes the challenges of adjusting to life beneath the sea, chief among them the cramped quarters and lack of fresh air and sunlight. Skillfully summarizing technical issues such as sonar operations and nuclear fission for civilian readers, Humphreys also delves into personal experiences with bullying by other crew members, the physical and emotional toll taken by shifting watches, and the ever-present risk of catastrophic mechanical and systems failures. Humphreys also touches candidly on his struggle to reconcile his day-to-day duties with the horrible purpose for which the Polaris submarines were designed. VERDICT For the vast majority of people who will never experience life in a submarine, Humphreys's work delivers an engaging glimpse into what they're missing out on—and what they're definitely not.—Sara Shreve, Newton, KS

Library Journal

2020-03-29
Life aboard a Polaris missile submarine, a serious business most of the time.

The son of working-class British parents, Humphreys was bright enough to win a scholarship, but the experience of an English public school convinced him that a life of adventure trumped education. After an unsuccessful attempt at professional soccer and rejection from the French Foreign Legion at age 17, he joined the Royal Navy in 1985. Britain’s fleets no longer ruled the sea, but the country did possess four Polaris missile–firing nuclear submarines. Before beginning five years of service, Humphreys experienced basic training, which “is pretty consistent across the armed forces,” involving ceremony, interminable drills, draconian inspections, and staff dedicated “to making your life a misery.” Being fit and a veteran of public school bullying, he made it through mostly unscathed, and he delivers much wry commentary. Moving on, Humphreys delivers a vivid description of a profession that requires technical skill, obsessive multitasking (men routinely perform several jobs), and absolute absence of claustrophobia: He explains the unique experience of living in cramped quarters with 143 men breathing the same stale air during three month patrols away from sunlight and family. To avoid detection, missile submarines never “transmit sonically.” The author reminds readers that the Cold War hadn’t yet ended, and no one doubted that an order to fire missiles meant Armageddon. For the most part, readers will enjoy an expert account of nuclear submarine technology, operation, command structure, and culture. Regarding the last, the author describes how smoking was permitted, as was drinking to excess—although that was curbed after an intoxicated sailor murdered his captain in 2011. The humor often centers on bad smells and the overworked toilets. The author also includes a helpful diagram of the sub, an officer hierarchy, and a glossary.

An amusing addition to the rare genre of submariner memoirs. (b/w photos)

Kirkus Reviews

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