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By Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline

Updated: 10:36 EDT, 25 June 2023

The USS Indiana is a multi-billion-dollar state-of-the–art U.S nuclear-powered submarine, capable of staying submerged for three months at a time and firing 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles in a single salvo.

She has the latest in stealth technology, can travel at up to 29mph (25 knots) and can dive to depths of at least 800 feet (her actual dive capabilities are classified). What’s more, Navy Seal forces can exit and enter the submarine while she’s under the water from a chamber within the vessel.

By all accounts, she’s one of the most lethal boats on the planet – and now you can peek inside thanks to fascinating footage vlogger Terry Fields filmed when he clambered down the hatch for a tour during ‘Fleet Week’ at Port Everglades in Florida.

The video, which has been viewed over 200,000 times on YouTube, shows the captain’s quarters, the stylish mess hall and Fields clambering inside a torpedo tube.

What aspects of the submarine impressed him? ‘Certainly, the control room,’ Fields told MailOnline Travel. There, he learns from his tour guide – the submarine’s commander, Scott Bresnahan – that sailors use an Xbox controller to control the periscope.

Fields, who posts on social media as the Barefoot Vlogger, said: ‘Seeing the brain of the ship and letting it register that there are no windows to see out of and that the ship is literally guided by sound is fascinating. They do have cameras, but the ship uses sonar to travel when submerged.

‘And the integration of X-Box controllers to operate the sub’s periscopes was an eye opener.’

The USS Indiana doesn’t have a traditional periscope operated from the control room. Instead, it has extendable ‘photonics masts’ that offer multiple views via sophisticated cameras, including infrared imagery.

These images can be beamed to screens located all around the ship.

The attack submarine also has a fierce array of weaponry, some of which Fields saw first-hand, with his video tour taking viewers inside the torpedo room.

The torpedoes are gigantic – and so is the torpedo tube, which Fields crawls into with a flashlight.

It’s a claustrophobic experience inside a vessel that’s already a tight squeeze for the complement of around 150 sailors, which is all-male, bar one female officer, Lieutenant Lexi Silva.

As Fields explained: ‘The Indiana is about 377 feet long, so with roughly 150 sailors on board, that averages under three feet of space per sailor.’

The lack of space means sailors must ‘hot rack’ – that is, rotate use of the very basic beds, with some even sleeping in the torpedo room.

The video shows that the commander’s berth is, by contrast, a luxury affair – a 25-square-foot room with wood panelling.

He is the only sailor on board with a room to himself.

The executive officer’s room is also relatively comfortable, with an extra ‘rack’ for a visiting VIP. A third stateroom has a triple bunk for officers, plus storage space and two fold-down beds.

Fields, who lives in Boca Raton, Florida, said: ‘As if the sleeping arrangements were not challenging enough, they don’t really shower on a daily basis in the usual sense. To preserve water on the ship while underway, they will often use disposable wipes to freshen up.’

The state-of-Indiana-themed ‘luncheonette-styled’ mess hall – the Courtside Cafe – undoubtedly offers some relief for the sailors.

Taco Tuesday is, apparently, a big hit with the crew.

Having been on board, does Fields think he could cope with being a submariner?

He said: ‘I gave this question a lot of thought and my honest answer is, I think I could do it for maybe a weekend. That’s about it. If you’re down there for months at a time, I think something that would make it most difficult is not necessarily the confined space itself, but the coldness of the surroundings.

‘What I mean by that is, the lack of coziness. In a submarine, you’re looking at a lot of piping, valves, stairwells and metal. It’s virtually impossible to get that “homey” feel. I know you could say that about almost any ship in the Navy, but on a submarine it’s magnified because it’s tighter and you’re always inside.’

There’s no doubt that a submariner’s life is a challenging one, but the crew of the USS Indiana meet it head-on.

Fields added: ‘The most impressive thing about the submarine for me was the crew itself. The crew’s professionalism and positivity was apparent from the moment I stepped on board. Considering the challenges they face on their journeys together, it says a lot about their commitment to serving their country.’

To watch the full video on Barefoot Vlogger’s YouTube channel, click here. Join his Patreon for exclusive content – www.patreon.com/barefootvlogger. And follow him on Instagram here – www.instagram.com/thebarefootvlogger.