[Buffalo Head]

"I may be wrong, CNN, but don't submarines travel UNDER the water?"

Yes, you are wrong. Diesel electric subs only run under water when they want to or have to be more stealthy. Their batteries can only be charged when they are on the surface running on diesel power.

Score one for CNN - damn it!

[ZOOKER]

Not a submariner but I think it's possible that if the sub's batteries were shorted out, it couldn't make headway either on or beneath the surface.

Were the sub's Diesel engines actually connected to her screws, or did they run generators which fed electric motors, through the batteries? With batteries shorted out, there would be no way to transfer the diesel engines' power to the propellers.

On the surface, dead in the water, in 20 foot seas - not a good scenario.

[PGR88]

have never been on a sub - if a normal diesel-electric sub ran into a hurricane, wouldn’t they simply submerge a few hundred feet and travel underwater to ride it out?

[PLMerite]

“Their batteries can only be charged when they are on the surface running on diesel power.”

Well, they can snorkel, but they’re only a few feet down and still subject to surface action.