Silent Enemies Part 1: Under Pressure

In Part 1 of Silent Enemies, Dr Darin Detwiler draws on his time as a nuclear submarine officer to explore lessons of responsibility, risk and vigilance that later shaped his career in food safety.

A true story of silence, signals and the human cost of systemic failure.

The sound of the sea trying to kill you is eerily silent.

It catches you off guard. Cold, unfeeling, blink-of-an-eye fast, clawing at your clothes and pounding steel like a battering ram.

It doesn’t argue or ask for permission. It tells you one thing, and only one thing: You are running out of time.

During the Cold War, I operated the engine room aboard a nuclear-powered submarine when a seawater pipe broke near where the propulsion shaft exits the hull.

At hundreds of metres below the surface, pressure builds in silence…until it does not.

The seawater surged in, relentless. No hesitation. No second chances.

Read part 1 here: Silent Enemies: Under Pressure