British and American submariners stealthily cruising the ocean depths are likely to have no idea about the coronavirus pandemic, former and current officers have revealed.
The teams, which are at sea for 60 to 70 days at a time on top secret missions of nuclear deterrence, are deliberately shielded from world news to improve mission focus and because it could undermine morale.
They are believed to be one of the last pockets of humanity unaware of the global shutdown and almost 40,000 deaths caused by the virus so far.
France has the sixth highest number of confirmed cases globally, at 45,170, and has instigated a nationwide lockdown as authorities grapple to contain the outbreak.
Mariners are shielded from world news to encourage undivided attention on their missions. Pictured above is Le Vigliant nuclear submarine in Brest, France
French naval commander Axel Roch pictured on the ‘Suffren’ submarine in Cherbourg, north-west France, in July last year
Officers said that any crews that left port before the virus spread will most likely be spared the news until the final two days of their mission, when they are heading back to port.
‘They won´t know,’ said retired Admiral Dominique Salles, who commanded the French ballistic submarine squadron from 2003-2006 and the nuclear-armed submarine L’Inflexible. When he was on a 60-day mission he wasn’t told his father had died until he got back to shore.
‘The boys need to be completely available for their mission. Those who are at sea don´t need this information.
‘The commander, I think, is doubtless informed about what is happening. (But) I don’t think he’ll have all the details.
When the retired admiral was on a 60-day mission while he was serving his father died. The news was kept from him until he returned to shore.
French President Emmanuel Macron visits the ‘Suffren’ submarine in July last year. He has ordered a complete shutdown of France due to coronavirus
Chief Doctor Gabriel, who was underwater in 2012 when an Islamic extremist killed French paratroopers, said that all events that could affect or change the crew’s morale ‘are kept from them’.
‘Since there is no internet, no radio and no television on board, the only news you get comes from messages received by the commander,’ he said, ‘and the commander filters the messages to not give all of the information to everyone’.
‘The only place where you are really cut off from all information is underwater, because even on a vessel in space there is still the radio, television, the internet.’
The French navy has refused to say whether its submarine crews currently at sea have been made aware.
French navy spokesman Leitenant Commander Olivier Ribard said it was ‘impossible’ to know whether crews have been informed because ‘the deterrent is wrapped in a bubble of protection and confidentiality’.
The crews will be returning to a changed France when they come back into port. Pictured above is a view of Saint Lazare train station in Paris on March 30
This is the outside of Paris’ usually bustling Gare du Nord station, which connects the French capital to London. People have been urged to stay indoors by authorities
Four of the country’s ballistic submarines, laden with 16 missiles that each carry up to six nuclear warheads, left harbour before a nationwide lockdown was started on March 17.
Missions last between 60 and 70 days, with about 110 crew members, meaning that any submarines that left in February could be unaware of the coronavirus pandemic until the end of April.
On March 1, France had recorded just 130 cases of coronavirus and two deaths.
A serving officer, who was the doctor on ballistic submarine ‘Le Triomphant’ for four years, said that the coronavirus outbreak will be ‘quite a surprise’ for the crews.
‘They won´t have experienced the crisis as we did, with a bit of fear, the lockdown,’ they said. ‘So for them it will be quite a surprise. They will learn the history, but it will be a history that is related to them.’
Salle said that when bombings hit Madrid in 2004 he didn’t inform his crew, who were then at sea.
He said the situation will be tough for any crews leaving France in the weeks ahead, as they will be leaving loved ones without knowing what will happen to them.
A deserted Massena’s place in the French Riviera city of Nice on March 30
The empty ‘Place Vendome’ square in Paris, France, pictured on March 30
The French government has already extended its stay-home orders to April 15 and warned that it may need to do so again.
Salles said he believes those crews will get regular coronavirus updates, but won’t be told of any family deaths until they are returning to the l´Ile Longue submarine base near Brest in Brittany.
‘No matter how serious an event is, there is nothing a submariner can do about it. And since he cannot do anything, better that he know nothing,’ Salles said. ‘They know that they won’t know and accept it. It’s part of our deal.’