"The size difference between battery-powered submarines and nuclear-powered ones is insignificant. Sail height is the major contribution to a submarine's dimension in the water column and is governed by the need to keep the hull far enough below the surface to avoid the trough effect in rough seas. Short sails have proven unattractive in this regard, so now this dimension is essentially the same regardless of the means of propulsion. Except for ballistic-missile submarines, the difference in the length is less than 200 feet, insignificant in an ocean measured in hundreds of miles."