How To Nearly Sink a $2.9 Billion Dollar Submarine: Leave a Hatch Open. As mishaps go the Arihant may have been among the more embarrassing but at least it didn’t result in the loss of life. Here’s What You Need to Remember: Since their inception submarines have been called a “steel tomb” due to the inherent dangers involved in their routine operations. It almost seems unnatural to design a boat that would travel under the water’s surface, and that is why it took a brave type of sailor to volunteer for such duty. During the American Civil War, the CSS Hunley became the first “successful” submarine in that it could effectively submerge yet had problems surfacing—and sadly that cost the lives of its entire crew.