Example – In *The Hunt For Red October*, Petty Officer Jones can tell where submarines are and what they’re doing just be listening to sonar. So how do submariners do this, especially since there aren’t any viewscreens or windows on the boat? Like how did Jones know that USS *Dallas* just inbetween *Red October* and the Soviet sub to distract the torpedo?
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The answer is, most of the time they don’t.
They have charts to make sure that they don’t hit any underwater terrain feature, but most of the time, they just turn everything off because the ocean is a big place and the chances are ridiculously slim that you hit something.
Which was why everyone was surprised when [HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vanguard_and_Le_Triomphant_submarine_collision) hit each other.
When the submarine is looking for other submarines, then usually it just uses Sonar, like in Hunt for Red October. The listen for enemy subs.
Only very very very rarely do they make a sound to listen for how it bounces. That sound will tell everyone listening where your sub is, which is usually bad.
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