It was called high tech for the sake of high tech. Everything had to be high tech.
Interestingly enough, the sub my Uncle was on collided with another sub during a drill. The captain did the wrong thing and surfaced immediately. If one sub had been over the other sub, this could have caused one or the other or both to sink. This mistake cost the captain his job. The dent went all the way through the super-structure to the interior of the sub. Afterwards a sizeable percentage of the crew were so shaken up that many were allowed to transfer out.
My Uncle was happy that since he was a cook, he was allowed to shower frequently. Because they carried a limited amount of water, the rest of the crew was often not allowed to shower for extended periods of time. He was also quite pleased that every month that they went into hostile waters in Vietnam to support special forces or for reconnaissance he got bonus “combat pay”. This was in addition to the extra “hazardous duty” pay he received for being on the sub to begin with. I forget how long he was on subs, but I know it was most of his career in the Navy... I think about eight years. I will have to ask him about it again soon; he is getting old enough that the story of his service could be lost.