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A Quick Dive Into How Submarines Work : Short Wave Submarines can descend thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, but to do so, they have to deal with an enormous amount of pressure. In this episode, engineer and pilot Bruce Strickrott of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explains some of the fundamental engineering principles that allow submarines to dive so deep without imploding under the pressure.

Have any questions you'd like us to try answering? Send us an email, shortwave@npr.org.

Short Wave

A Quick Dive Into How Submarines Work

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Rasha Aridi

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A Quick Dive Into How Submarines Work

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Alvin is recovered to the research vessel Atlantis after a dive. Photo by Luis Lamar, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution hide caption

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Photo by Luis Lamar, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Alvin is recovered to the research vessel Atlantis after a dive.

Photo by Luis Lamar, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Submarines can dive thousands of feet below the surface of the water, but to do so, they have to deal with an enormous amount of pressure. In this episode, we talk with engineer and submarine pilot Bruce Strickrott and take a dive into some of the fundamental engineering principles that allow submarines to travel so deep underwater without imploding under the pressure.

Have any questions you'd like us to try answering? Send us an email, shortwave@npr.org.

This episode was reported and produced by Rasha Aridi, with production help from Thomas Lu, fact-checked by Berly McCoy and edited by Viet Le.