Here’s what it looks like when special operations forces launch raids from a sub

On July 12, US soldiers and sailors and foreign counterparts blew up a retired US warship roughly 60 miles north of Hawaii, bludgeoning the decommissioned USS Racine with missiles and torpedoes as a part of the Rim of the Pacific exercise, a series of drills attended by 25,000 personnel from 25 countries around the Pacific between June 27 and August 2.

A few days before, the fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii carried out a much more discreet mission closer to the shores of Oahu, secreting special-operations personnel close to shore to practice a submarine-insertion maneuver that’s a mainstay of naval commando raids.

Below, you can see how US special operations force troops and their counterparts from six other countries carried out a submarine-insertion exercise.

The submarine-insertion exercise on July 9 involved special-operations personnel from the US, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Peru, and Japan.

Fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii during a submarine insertion exercise with combat rubber raiding craft off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, July 9, 2018. US Navy/Mass Comm. Specialist 1st Class Daniel Hinton

Source:US Navy

RIMPAC is meant to provide training opportunities and strengthen security partnerships among Pacific countries. Four other submarines took part, in addition to 46 ships and about 200 aircraft.

Multinational special operations forces participate in a submarine insertion exercise with the fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii and combat rubber raiding craft off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, July 9, 2018. US Navy/Mass Comm. Specialist 1st Class Daniel Hinton

Source:US Navy

The insertion exercise was meant to improve the maritime interoperability of the forces involved.

Multinational special operations forces participate in a submarine insertion exercise with the fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii and combat rubber raiding craft off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, July 9, 2018. US Navy/Mass Comm. Specialist 1st Class Daniel Hinton