Mistral – Life on a Spanish submarine (MASTER SUBS)

Credit: Courtesy | Date Taken: 06/10/2019
Take a deep dive into the world of a submarine. Meet the men and women of the Spanish Agosta-class submarine ESPS Mistral as they explain what life is like ‘living in a tube’. Synopsis A rare opportunity to explore life deep beneath the Mediterranean Sea. Meet the crew of the Spanish submarine ESPS Mistral as they embark on a mission underwater. Allied submarines are key assets to NATO and contribute to enhancing the safety of the Alliance. The Spanish submarine Mistral was decommissioned in February 2021 after 35 years of service. This video was filmed in October 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Footage includes shots on board the Spanish submarine ESPS Mistral featuring the day-to-day lives of Spanish naval personnel. Transcript —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Lieutenant Commander Jorge Garrido, ESPS Mistral “Submarines are known as the silent service. The motto on all submarines is ‘Ad utrumque paratus’. ‘Ready for anything.’” —SOT—(SPANISH) “Control room from the bridge, alert, alert. Begin the immersion process.” —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Executive Officer Ignacio Lopez, ESPS Mistral “We work in an environment which is not compatible with human life. Working here is the closest thing there is to working on a spaceship.” TEXT ON SCREEN: MISTRAL – LIFE ON A SPANISH SUBMARINE —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Lieutenant Commander Jorge Garrido, ESPS Mistral “The Mistral submarine is approximately 68-70 metres long. The crew on board is currently around 70 people. TEXT ON SCREEN: Lt Commander Jorge Garrido ESPS Mistral, Spanish Navy We carry out intelligence missions for NATO. Our main advantage is discretion. We work in areas where there might be other units but no one knows we are there. So this discretion and the fact that they don’t know we are there means that we gather intelligence other ships are unable to obtain.” —SOT—(SPANISH) Lieutenant Junior Grade Javier Sanchez-Tembleque “Submerging to periscope depth. Periscope depth!” —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Lieutenant Junior Grade Javier Sanchez-Tembleque, ESPS Mistral “We’re now going down to a depth of 14 metres, periscope depth. The commander will raise the attack periscope and then continue our navigation submersed. We’re doing a watertightness check on the hull to make sure no water is entering. TEXT ON SCREEN: Lt Jnr Grade Javier Sanchez-Tembleque, ESPS Mistral, Spanish Navy When we submariners navigate at night, we wear an eyepatch. We are going to be looking through the periscope, so we need to adjust our eyesight and dilate our pupils before we can look.” —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Executive Officer Ignacio Lopez, ESPS Mistral “A submarine is always operating. It is always doing real things. From the moment it heads out to sea until it returns to port, everyone is perfectly aware of what has to be done and they do their jobs. Here, we are one big family and we are very united. Everyone has an important role to play, from the sailors to the commander.” TEXT ON SCREEN: Executive Officer Ignacio Lopez ESPS Mistral, Spanish Navy —SOT—(SPANISH) Lieutenant Francisco Barrios “Watch out below.” TEXT ON SCREEN: Lt Francisco Barrios ESPS Mistral, Spanish Navy —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Lieutenant Francisco Barrios, ESPS Mistral “There are 66 of us living in a tube. In the bow, there are torpedoes and the bunk beds where the crew sleep. It’s normal to shower once every three days and the smell is unpleasant. There’s one shower for all of us. Personally, after three days, my nose stops working. When we surface after a long time at sea, I go outside and breathe in the fresh air. I always think how awful fresh air smells!” —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Executive Officer Ignacio Lopez, ESPS Mistral “On Spanish vessels, especially submarines, we keep heads of garlic so that the machinery works and doesn’t give us trouble while we’re navigating. It’s an important tradition. It’s what keeps us alive down here, right? The joke of having garlic hanging from the machinery and preserving the ‘submariner spirit’ just as crews on these ships have always done.” —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Lieutenant Commander Jorge Garrido, ESPS Mistral “I don’t think that just anyone can be a submariner. Sacrifice is one of our characteristics, austerity. It’s not a normal situation.” TEXT ON SCREEN: 1st Sergeant Paula Osorio-Fernandez ESPS Mistral, Spanish Navy —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) 1st Sergeant Paula Osorio-Fernandez, ESPS Mistral “I work with underwater weaponry, so torpedoes and mines. My role while we are navigating is at the plotting desk. My husband and I both work on the Mistral and we’ve reached an agreement. When I’m at sea, he stays at home with our children and then when he’s at sea, I stay at home with them. The submarine is like our second home. I miss my husband and children very much.” —SOUNDBITE—(Spanish) Lieutenant Commander Jorge Garrido, ESPS Mistral “We always say that our life is one of minimums and maximums. On the submarine, th