 Quote by Morbius
I would bet that the U.S. Navy is making subs as quiet as possible within the
limits of current technology.
Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist
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Up until recently, you would have one that bet. However, the Germans appear to have beat us out with their
hydrogen fuel cell powered submarine .
It is now the worlds quietest submarine, which nicely illustrates your point about the chief source of noise being something other than the propeller. The new Germans sub uses a propeller, just like nuclear powered American subs, but because it uses hydrogen fuel cells rather than a reactor, it is much quieter, because it does not have "the noise of the reactors cooling system", according to one interview I saw on, TLC.