May 11, 2026
Silent subs, loud comments
Extremely Low Frequencies
How old submarines sparked a very weird comments-section rabbit hole
TLDR: The article explains that early submarines had a huge problem: they could hide underwater, but communicating from down there was incredibly hard. In the comments, one reader helpfully dropped a better diagram, while another launched the thread into spooky sci-fi with talk of speech sent through microwaves.
A history piece about submarines somehow turned into a delightfully nerdy mini-drama over how you talk to a boat that’s hiding underwater. The article’s big reveal is simple enough for non-naval people: early submarines were basically underwater gambles, and one of their biggest problems was communication. Radio signals don’t travel well through seawater, so if crews wanted to send messages, they often had to come closer to the surface—which is a pretty awkward move when your whole advantage is not being seen.
The community reaction? A mix of “wow, this is fascinating” and “hold on, let me make this even weirder.” One reader showed up like the class overachiever with a clearer diagram of the Cutler array, basically saying: great article, but here’s the visual aid for the rest of us. That gave the thread a friendly, collaborative vibe—less fight club, more “group project with one very prepared person.”
Then came the comment that swerved the whole mood into sci-fi territory: a reference to a 1975 experiment claiming microwaves could transmit audible speech without a receiver. Suddenly the comments weren’t just about submarines anymore; they were flirting with tinfoil-hat-adjacent energy. That was the real popcorn moment: history buffs calmly discussing old naval engineering while another commenter casually opened the door to what sounds like mind-control radio. In other words, classic internet—start with antique subs, end with everyone side-eyeing invisible voices from the sky.
Key Points
- •The article presents submarines as an old concept whose practical military use began in primitive form and became far more effective by the First World War.
- •German, British, and US advances in submarine design helped establish submarine warfare, with concealment underwater as the core tactical advantage.
- •WW1 submarines had limited underwater endurance because of onboard power constraints and because radio communication generally required surfacing.
- •The article explains that seawater severely blocks radio propagation, with HF radio penetrating only a few meters in real conditions.
- •US Navy experiments from 1887 through the 1910s tested seawater conduction, onboard radio, and floating antenna systems, ultimately finding underwater radio communication impractical and adopting surface-reaching antenna methods instead.