The typo that broke a billion-dollar subHow basic arithmetic ruined a military megaproject.
From the show
It really happenedA fundamental calculation error triggered a chain of disastrous fixes for the Spanish S-80 submarine program. When engineers misplaced a single decimal point, the vessel became too heavy to safely resurface. Fixing the weight imbalance required lengthening the hull, which ultimately made the machine too large for its own dock. The story reveals the hidden fragility of complex megaprojects and the dangers of siloed problem-solving.
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