NavyRedesigning Its Submarines to Accommodate Women

Associated Press | 19 Apr 2017 | by Jennifer Mcdermott

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Every submarine in the U.S. fleet wasdesigned with the height, reach and strength of men in mind, from the wayvalves are placed to how display screens are angled.

That's going to change.

With women now serving aboard submarines, defense contractorElectric Boat is designing what will be the first Navy subs built specificallyto accommodate female crew members.

The designers are doing the obvious things, such as addingmore doors and washrooms to create separate sleeping and bathing areas for menand women and to give them more privacy. But they are also making more subtlemodifications that may not have been in everyone's periscope when the Navyadmitted women into the Silent Service.

For example, they are lowering some overhead valves andmaking them easier to turn, and installing steps in front of the triple-highbunk beds and stacked laundry machines.

The first vessel built with some of the new features isexpected to be delivered to the Navy in 2021, the future USS New Jersey.

The Navy lifted its ban on women on submarines in 2010,starting with officers. About 80 female officers and roughly 50 enlisted womenare now serving on subs, and their numbers are expected to climb into thehundreds over the next few years.

For now, the Navy is retrofitting existing subs with extradoors and designated washrooms to accommodate women. But Electric Boat inGroton, Connecticut, is at work on a redesign of the Navy's Virginia-classfast-attack subs and is also developing a brand-new class of ballistic-missilesubmarines, relying on body measurements for both men and women.

"We have a clean sheet of paper, so from the ground up,we'll optimize for both men and women," said Brian Wilson, Electric Boatdirector of the new ballistic-missile sub program.

Electric Boat officials had no immediate estimate of howmuch the modifications will cost.

As anyone who watches war movies knows, submariners are alwaysturning valves, whether to operate machinery, redistribute water between tanksor isolate part of a system that has been damaged.

On the Columbia-class boats, valves will generally be placedlower, Wilson said. Sometimes there will be an extension handle, and some willbe easier to turn. Sailors will be able to connect their masks into theemergency air system at the side of passageways, instead of overhead.

Emergency air masks are being moved on fast-attacksubmarines, too, but the bulk of the changes on those subs are to ensureprivacy.

Seats in the control room on the ballistic-missilesubmarines will adjust forward a little more so everyone can touch each displayand reach every joystick. Steps will be added so shorter people can climb intothe top bunk or see into the washers and dryers, since clothes that get stuckin the machines are a fire hazard.

The first Columbia-class ballistic-missile sub is scheduledto join the fleet in 2031.

At 5-foot-6, Lt. Marquette Leveque, one of the first womento serve on a submarine, said that she didn't have any trouble reaching valvesand other equipment but that the ergonomic changes will be helpful for shortercrewmates.

Leveque was assigned to a compartment with two other femaleofficers on the USS Wyoming. They shared a washroom with male officers. A signon the door could be flipped to show whether a man or woman was using it.

With so few women on board, the timesharing worked, shesaid. But with more on the way, the need for separate spaces is greater, she added.

"Privacy is important anywhere you are," she said."We live on this boat, as well as work there."