ABSTRACTRecent groundings oferrant supertankers have resulted in disasters unacceptable to an ecology conscious nation. Of particular concern is that these have occurred despite the fact that the past twenty years have seen an order of magnitude improvement in marine navigation technology due primarily to the operational need of our missile firing submarines. This paper presents a brief insight into the evolution of submarine navigation during the past two decades with a glimpse into the near future. Perhaps knowledge of the methods and technology developed for our modern submarines can be of value in solving the critical problem of safe navigation for other vessels such as supertankers. This paper may serve as a step toward that end.