Daniel Wolfram
Tight quarters and months without fresh air are driving recruits away, putting Australia’s naval expansion in jeopardy.
Australia committed A$368 billion to buy American-built nuclear submarines under the AUKUS pact that was signed on September 15, 2021.
It sounds like an impressive deal that is supposed to help the Australian military and counter Chinese influence in the region.
Finding enough sailors to run the giant vessels is a different story and has turned out to be a real crisis.
Who will serve on the submarines?
Each new submarine needs 134 crew members. That is more than double the size of the existing crews, and replacing six aging diesel boats with American nuclear vessels creates huge maintenance and training headaches.
Retired Admiral Peter Briggs warned Guardian Australia that recruitment is trending in the wrong direction.
“We have got to triple the size of the submarine arm and we’ve got to train them in nuclear skills,” Briggs told The Guardian. Today, Australia has just 850 qualified submariners. Pointing to the summit, Briggs added: “You are heading toward needing a submarine arm of 3,000 — that’s the hill you have to climb.”
Trapped underwater in a submarine
Right now, the Royal Australian Navy has 230 sailors enrolled in the American training pipeline. A Navy spokesperson stated that about 145 personnel have completed initial coursework, aiming for 400 ready sailors by 2030.
Still, signing up has turned out to be a tough sell. During a port call at HMAS Stirling near Perth this week, USS Colorado Commander Justin Reeves plainly stated that his vessel is “built for combat, not for comfort.”
Inside the submarine, 160 men share tight quarters without fresh air. Sailors stack three bunks high or rotate through hot bunks, occasionally sleeping directly inside the torpedo room. There is a cardinal rule written on a sign in the entryway: “Don’t be stinky.”
Nuclear power keeps the boat running indefinitely. As Reeves pointed out, “The limits of its endurance are really food and toilet paper, and that’s several months’ worth.” Persuading young people to trade sunshine for that dark grind remains the real test.
“Being nuclear-powered is a massive advantage,” Reeves said. However, being trapped in tight quarters in the deep sea is turning out to be a monumental hindrance.
