Groton sub base gets new simulator

GROTON, Conn. (WTNH)--  The new facility in the Submarine Base in Groton has a simulator that can create, by all appearances, the feeling that you are on the bridge of a submarine, heading back to the Sub Base, while nothing in the building is moving. 

It's all just the video projections that are up on this 360 degree screen.

The bridge in this high tech simulator is built to scale, fans mimic the wind, and 16 projectors produce the 360 degree image.

In a simulation, it's heading up the Thames River at about 8 knots. You can even feel some of the wind blowing. You can see the submarine base ahead of you. But with just one click of a mouse you can be in one of 25 different ports around the world.

And in any number of circumstances, rough seas and rough encounters.

"The natural sway you'll catch yourself doing like this right here to counteract yourself," said navigation instructor Kenneth Martin. "We can put the most dangerous situations without actually putting anyone in actual danger."

Even those, who have been out to sea many times for real, are impressed.

"I was holding, knowing it that it's not going anywhere but it's just so real to life, it's remarkable," said Captain Dave Roberts, Commanding Officer at the Naval Submarine School.

Submarine Base Commander, Captain Mark Denno said, "it's the closest you can get to going to sea without getting wet."

It's also part of the state's most recent $3 million investment in the base, to prepare submariners for battle and to prepare the sub base for the next round of BRAC cuts.

"It'll come sometime after 2015. We're in a better position to withstand it now and we're going to be in an even better position then," said Bob Ross from Connecticut's Office of Military Affairs.

Like the navy's motto, this simulator is the first and finest.