Sextants and security

The U.S. Navy is well known to be secretive about its nuclear submarines. The Navy doesn’t like to talk about the equipment its subs carry or their operational capabilities. Just try asking a current submariner or an ex-submariner what the top speed of a fast attack sub is, or ask them for details of the sub’s nuclear power plant. They will just smile &mdash and tell you nothing. But as ON contributor Greg Rudzinski points out, there is one piece of gear that sub officer’s will discuss: the fact that the boat carries a sextant. Check out this article on the new U.S.S. New Hampshire from the Nashua, New Hampshire Telegraph. One of the sub’s officers actually admits there are only four members of the crew who know how to use this rare navigational device. That sure seems like a serious breach of security to me!