The following is true of every submarine I have served or ridden on:

You can tell who the experienced submariners are on a boat by asking them one of two questions: “how fast are we going?” and “how deep are we?”.

Someone who is new to submarining (NUB) will immediately start looking around for an indicator panel. That’s not a bad habit to be in—in the LA class the depth and speed were available on various displays so you typically wouldn’t have to go far to get an answer. Someone who is a little more experienced would know immediately where to look to get an answer to your question.

Any sailor who had been on the boat for long enough? They already know the answer. Different speeds made a slightly different shimmy in the boat. Different depths might mean that that rivet over there is 1/2 covered by the curtain instead of 3/8. I’m swaying back and forth, but not that much—I’d better finish my coffee before we come all the way to periscope depth, it feels like there’s weather up there.

I’ve never heard anything creak or strain audibly on any of the nuclear or diesel subs I’ve been on. But you can tell nevertheless.