Vive les Differences !

Background
Most submariners know that France recently approved allowing women to serve aboard its nuclear subs, catching up to the United States and the United Kingdom which years ago (2010 and 2011, respectively) permitted mixed crews.

What are Differences? France Acknowledges the obvious:

Excerpted from France's 16 Apr 2014 The Local

• Women in navies around the world, France included, have been barred from serving on nuclear subs due to concerns over sex and close quarters during the lengthy missions.

• A new larger class of submarine in France made it possible for separate male and female quarters in the cramped space aboard the vessels. Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian plans to provide separate toilets and living quarters to discourage promiscuity (at least, in the army).

• French authorities had also admitted a difference in women’s physical capacities, questioning their ability to handle higher levels of carbon dioxide during underwater missions.

• Finally, unlike the U.S. program counterpart, France's program is not open-ended to accept all qualified women who may wish to apply.  Though the door is now open to women, "the pool of candidates is expected to remain small."

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Next Blockbuster Submarine Movie: "THE KILLING DEPTHS"

Vigilis promised to review Martin Roy Hill's  submarine novel THE KILLING DEPTHS after reading the thriller. After reading Hill's pageturner, however, he realized the  best way to review it without spoiling the thrills and action was by simple comparison with another outstanding submarine novel, the late Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October:

What's to Like

• Action in KILLING DEPTHS, which includes an active NCIS homicide investigation on the U.S. sub, differs entirely from Red October. Interesting updates and enhancements (since 1984) also include:
• female SSN crewmembers
• female accomodation in space commonly occupied by 4 of 12 VLTs;  (most boats in service as of 2011 have a 12-tube VLS) Hmmm!
• slot buoy comms
• CAPTOR (encapsulated torpedoes) intelligent, deep-water, anti-submarine mines anchored to the ocean floor. 
• Helo transport of key civilian character to USS Encinitas was fairly humorous.
• plot keeps reader guessing for a long time.
• CO is a black.
• Engineering officer is a woman.

What's not to Like 

• Use of single ping sonar (common element of both novels) although barely more credible in DEPTHS as  El-Wazir, the enemy sub captain in THE KILLING DEPTHS,  uses his ping from desperation in a deadly kill or be killed action.
• Editing is generally appropriate, but in some rare instances appears to have relied more on computerized text-editng than human skill. Annoying instances were "Condition Dog Zebra", which has an urban definition unlike the navy's Condition "ZEBRA", oddly scattered use of present tense verbs instead of appending an "ed", and a single use of "fairweather" that should have been "fairwater". [Red October was published by the Naval Institute Press. Unlike Clancy, Hill did not sell his to USNI for $5,000.]
• Rather than answering the political question of how psychological screening of U.S. submarine volunteers could have deteriorated to the point of allowing a psychopath on board, the author simply asks the same question I had before reading the book. -Vigilis

Submarines are always silent and strange.