15 largest submarine fleets worldwide
Submarines are weird when you think about it. Picture a big metal tube full of people just sitting on the ocean floor for weeks. They’re down there eating canned food and breathing recycled air while the rest of us are up here complaining about traffic.
Every navy wants submarines because they’re basically invisible. You can park one off someone’s coast and they’ll never know it’s there until it’s too late. Some carry enough firepower to level a small country. Others just sneak around taking pictures and listening to radio chatter.
Here is a list of 15 countries with the largest submarine fleets worldwide.
United States
America has 70 submarines and every single one runs on a nuclear reactor. That means they can stay underwater forever without coming up for diesel or batteries. The Columbia class ones cost about 13 billion dollars each, which is more than some countries spend on their entire military.
Russia
Russia keeps 63 submarines around, half of them nuclear. The Russians built some subs specifically to hunt American subs, which sounds like something out of a Tom Clancy novel. Their Sierra class can dive over 3,000 feet down, deeper than most fish ever go.
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China
China owns 61 submarines right now but they’re building more every year. Most still run on diesel but they’re working on nuclear ones as fast as they can. China basically wants to turn the South China Sea into their own private lake.
Iran
Iran has 25 submarines, including some really small ones that look like torpedoes with windows. They use these in the Persian Gulf where the water’s shallow and big submarines would just get stuck in the mud. Smart move when you’re dealing with the U.S. Navy.
Japan
Japan built 24 submarines that are so quiet you could probably sleep next to one underwater. Japanese engineers are obsessed with making things silent, and their submarines prove it. North Korea keeps shooting missiles over their heads, so they need something to keep watch.
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South Korea
South Korea has 22 submarines and they’re getting really good at building them. Korean shipyards used to just build cargo ships but now they’re making submarines that other countries actually want to buy. Fear of your crazy neighbor makes you get creative fast.
India
India operates 18 submarines, some big enough to carry ballistic missiles. They patrol an ocean that’s literally named after their country, so they take underwater warfare pretty seriously. Indian submarines travel from the Middle East all the way to Southeast Asia.
North Korea
North Korea has 13 submarines, most of them older than your dad. But don’t laugh – these things are perfect for sneaking around in shallow water where modern submarines can’t fit. North Korea fights weird and submarines fit their style perfectly.
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Turkey
Turkey runs 13 submarines in some of the busiest shipping lanes on Earth. They sit right where Europe meets Asia, so their submarines can mess with cargo ships heading between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Geography is everything in naval warfare.
Greece
Greece has 10 submarines playing hide and seek among 6,000 islands. Try finding a submarine when it can hide behind a different island every few miles. Greek submarine crews probably know every underwater cave and rock formation in the Mediterranean.
Vietnam
Vietnam bought 9 submarines, which is a big deal for a country that was mostly farming rice 50 years ago. They got these because China keeps building artificial islands in their backyard. Sometimes you need submarines to tell your bigger neighbors to back off.
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France
France keeps 9 submarines scattered around the world protecting islands most people never heard of. French submarines show up in the weirdest places – one day they’re in the Caribbean, next week they’re near Australia. France still thinks it’s a world power and submarines help prove it.
United Kingdom
Britain has 9 submarines including four that carry enough nuclear missiles to end civilization. British submarines are probably the most high-tech things floating around, even though there aren’t many of them. Quality over quantity when you can’t afford both.
Egypt
Egypt runs 8 submarines near the Suez Canal, where 12% of all world trade passes through. Egyptian submarines could shut down global shipping if they really wanted to cause chaos. That’s some serious power for a country most people only know from history class.
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Italy
Italy has 8 submarines cruising around the Mediterranean looking for trouble. Italian submarines are designed to sink other people’s warships, which sounds aggressive until you remember they’re surrounded by water on three sides. When your country looks like a boot, you need submarines.
What This All Means
The top three countries own nearly half of all military submarines, which shows how crazy expensive these things are to build and maintain. American submarines are still way ahead of everyone else technologically, but China and Russia are catching up fast. More countries keep buying submarines because controlling what happens underwater is becoming just as important as controlling what happens on land or in the air.
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