Would a Submarine Work as a Spaceship?

[trappedslider]

No, but not for the reason you'd think.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

No, that's exactly the reason I'd expect. Real spaceships need specialized radiator systems or they'll bake, and the more heat your systems (and crew) produce the more effective those radiators need to be. See Ad Astra Games' Attack Vector Tactical starship combat rules for more on that subject, or dive into the bottomless rabbit warren of Project Rho for more real-world science.

Despite all that, there was a military scifi author who wrote two or three books back in the early 2000s where a US sub refitted with alien-BS-tech engines and systems was a key element in the plot. Maddeningly, I can't recall the author or any of the titles, which says a lot about how memorable I found them. "Something with empire in it" is asking too much even of google.

There have also been submarine cognates in many scifi stories, including Star Trek's Balance of Terror episode, Starblazers' hyperspace submarines, and Glen Cook's excellent 1985 book A Passage At Arms, where the POV character is serving aboard what amount to a spacegoing attack submarine during an interstellar war. That last is interesting because heat buildup is a major issue there as well, albeit for reasons tied to how the space-BS-tech that lets them achieve stealth in space functions rather than the IRL science in the vid.

 

[Dioltach]

I read an old Dan Dare comic where they team up with a Navy captain in a submarine, and DD says something along the lines of, "Your problem is trying to keep the pressure out, we have to keep the pressure in."

 

[aco175]

I was thinking that they were too small to fit pregnant whales inside.

 

[Morrus]

No, it can't fly.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It would probably be more relevant to ask if a space ship can function as a submarine, since the trope seems to crop up more often (especially if JJ Abram’s is involved).

Answer is still “no”.

 

[MarkB]

It would probably be more relevant to ask if a space ship can function as a submarine, since the trope seems to crop up more often (especially if JJ Abram’s is involved).

Answer is still “no”.

From Futurama:

Fry: "How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?"

Prof. Farnsworth: "Well, it's a spaceship, so I'd say anywhere between zero and one."

 

[Willie the Duck]

No, it can't fly.

And the sonar will be terribly inefficient.

 

[Ryujin]

No, that's exactly the reason I'd expect. Real spaceships need specialized radiator systems or they'll bake, and the more heat your systems (and crew) produce the more effective those radiators need to be. See Ad Astra Games' Attack Vector Tactical starship combat rules for more on that subject, or dive into the bottomless rabbit warren of Project Rho for more real-world science.

Despite all that, there was a military scifi author who wrote two or three books back in the early 2000s where a US sub refitted with alien-BS-tech engines and systems was a key element in the plot. Maddeningly, I can't recall the author or any of the titles, which says a lot about how memorable I found them. "Something with empire in it" is asking too much even of google.

There have also been submarine cognates in many scifi stories, including Star Trek's Balance of Terror episode, Starblazers' hyperspace submarines, and Glen Cook's excellent 1985 book A Passage At Arms, where the POV character is serving aboard what amount to a spacegoing attack submarine during an interstellar war. That last is interesting because heat buildup is a major issue there as well, albeit for reasons tied to how the space-BS-tech that lets them achieve stealth in space functions rather than the IRL science in the vid.

A quick search seems to point at the "Looking Glass" series by John Ringo. In the second book of the series, entitled "Vorpal Blade", they convert the USS Nebraska into a spaceship.

 

[MarkB]

And the sonar will be terribly inefficient.

In space, nobody can hear you ping.