Silent Running Mode: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[The Matrix]]'', when the Nebuchadnezzar has a close call with the sentinels.

* ''[[Star Wars]]'': Han's whole Cling-to-the-star-destroyer-and-drift-away thing in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' counts, and if not, several times in the [[Expanded Universe]] (Thrawn trilogy?)

* ''[[Star Trek II ~~the~~ Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan]]'' used the nebula as a variant. It worked by having the radiation emitted by it scrambling the sensors of both ships.

* ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan]]'' used the nebula as a variant. It worked by having the radiation emitted by it scrambling the sensors of both ships.

** Also ''[[Star Trek VI ~~the~~ Undiscovered Country|The Undiscovered Country]]'' which has a Klingon Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked - Uhura even says something to the effect of "if they're here, they're rigged for silent running."

** Also ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|The Undiscovered Country]]'' which has a Klingon Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked - Uhura even says something to the effect of "if they're here, they're rigged for silent running."

* "Hide and seek" in ''[[The Last Starfighter]]''.

* ''[[Wing Commander (~~Film~~)|Wing Commander]]'': Numerous examples, ranging from individual fighters to an entire fleet of ships, using the "energy and heat signatures" version of the trope. For best effect, they typically attempted to conceal themselves in the clutter of an asteroid or debris field, or in the case of the fleet, by putting themselves in low orbit over a planet. At one point, the heroes' [[Battle Star]] is attempting to lay low inside of an asteroid's crater, while the Kilrathi methodically drop warheads into each crater trying to find the one the Terrans are sheltering in.

* ''[[Wing Commander (film)|Wing Commander]]'': Numerous examples, ranging from individual fighters to an entire fleet of ships, using the "energy and heat signatures" version of the trope. For best effect, they typically attempted to conceal themselves in the clutter of an asteroid or debris field, or in the case of the fleet, by putting themselves in low orbit over a planet. At one point, the heroes' [[Battle Star]] is attempting to lay low inside of an asteroid's crater, while the Kilrathi methodically drop warheads into each crater trying to find the one the Terrans are sheltering in.

** They also assume that [[Space Is Noisy]], so everyone must stay quiet and whisper lest the enemy ships hear them.

* Done twice in [[Master and Commander]]. First, Captain Aubrey has his men tow a crippled HMS Surprise into the fog to avoid further bombardment by the French frigate, the Acheron. Then later when the Acheron sneaks up on the Surprise again, Captain Aubrey uses a decoy to distract his opponents and keeps the lights of the stern at the Surprise well doused, all the while running a course east in order to bring the ship on the Acheron's tail the very next morning.

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== Live Action TV ==

* The ''[[Star Trek ~~the~~ Original Series]]'' episode "Balance of Terror." A virtual [[Recycled in Space|remake]] of the 1957 film ''[[The Enemy Below]]''.

* The ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "Balance of Terror." A virtual [[Recycled in Space|remake]] of the 1957 film ''[[The Enemy Below]]''.

** ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' has its own "Balance/Enemy Below" episode that reference both the original and the remake. It was also a bit silly.

** The ''[[Star Trek ~~the~~ Next Generation]]'' episode "Face of the Enemy" specifies that a Romulan ship's systems have to be perfectly balanced and calibrated in order for its cloaking device to work; this was exploited when a Federation sympathiser created an engine imbalance to 'poke a hole' in the cloak and allow Enterprise to detect it.

** The ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "Face of the Enemy" specifies that a Romulan ship's systems have to be perfectly balanced and calibrated in order for its cloaking device to work; this was exploited when a Federation sympathiser created an engine imbalance to 'poke a hole' in the cloak and allow Enterprise to detect it.

*** In ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'', the show's main [[Cool Ship]], the ''Defiant'', had a cloaking device. Since in the earlier seasons the [[Big Bad]] Dominion had weaponry that could easily destroy Federation starships, the Defiant's only real defence upon being approached by a Jem'Hadar ship was to cloak, go to [[Silent Running Mode]] and pray they weren't noticed.

*** In ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', the show's main [[Cool Ship]], the ''Defiant'', had a cloaking device. Since in the earlier seasons the [[Big Bad]] Dominion had weaponry that could easily destroy Federation starships, the Defiant's only real defence upon being approached by a Jem'Hadar ship was to cloak, go to [[Silent Running Mode]] and pray they weren't noticed.

* The only time anyone was able to destroy a minbari battleship in ''[[~~Babylon Five|~~Babylon 5]]'', Captain Sherridan was hiding his light cruiser in an asteroid field. He then had the nuclear warheads on board modified into mines, while the battleship kept searching for them. The human ship then send out a distress call, which immediately gave away their position and had the minbari chase right after them.

* The only time anyone was able to destroy a minbari battleship in ''[[Babylon 5]]'', Captain Sherridan was hiding his light cruiser in an asteroid field. He then had the nuclear warheads on board modified into mines, while the battleship kept searching for them. The human ship then send out a distress call, which immediately gave away their position and had the minbari chase right after them.

* The pilot episode of ''[[Firefly]]'', where the characters had to do this against both the Alliance and the Reavers, the former to keep from getting boarded and searched, and the latter to keep from getting raped to death, their flesh eaten and their skins sewn to the Reavers' clothing. And if they're very, very lucky, it'll happen in that order.

** Likewise when rescuing the Captain from [[Big Bad|Niska's]] space station.

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* Ditto ''[[Blue Thunder]]'', the other show about a super-advanced helicopter.

** Also an important aspect of the movie on which the series was based.

* ''[[~~Red Dwarf (TV)|~~Red Dwarf]]'' did a version of it, when every system aboard ''Starbug'' but for the bare minimum needed to survive was switched off in an attempt to hide from a simulant's scanners. Their cover was blown when a robot (who was the robot equivalent to an alcoholic) bumped into a control panel, turning some of the ship's electronics back on.

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' did a version of it, when every system aboard ''Starbug'' but for the bare minimum needed to survive was switched off in an attempt to hide from a simulant's scanners. Their cover was blown when a robot (who was the robot equivalent to an alcoholic) bumped into a control panel, turning some of the ship's electronics back on.

** An earlier episode establishes the concept when hiding from simulants, though the AR machine prevents it.

* Mildly invoked in the episode "Justice" from ''[[Smallville]]''. While infiltrating a [[Lex Corp]] complex, Green Arrow turns off his communication feed with Watchtower by saying, "Switching to silent running." Presumably, this is so he can {{spoiler|plant explosives throughout the complex without having to listen to potential objections from Chloe.}}

* A rare version from the Age of Sail. In the [[Horatio Hornblower]] TV series, Hornblower manages to sail his tiny cutter into the middle of the Spanish fleet in some fog. They try [[Dressing As the Enemy]] and being very quiet. {{spoiler|It doesn't work.}}

* A rare version from the Age of Sail. In the [[Horatio Hornblower]] TV series, Hornblower manages to sail his tiny cutter into the middle of the Spanish fleet in some fog. They try [[Dressing as the Enemy]] and being very quiet. {{spoiler|It doesn't work.}}

** [[Truth in Television]]: [[Four-Star Badass|Horatio Nelson]] did something similar. It worked for him.

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== Literature ==

* Yep, [[The Thrawn Trilogy]]. Kaarde starts out ''Dark Force Rising'' hiding on an asteroid, passive-scanning Myrkr being taken over by the Empire. He only gets caught because Thrawn knows Kaarde is exactly the sort of person to do that, and he only escapes because his Force-sensitive copilot turned everything back on before Thrawn's Interdictor Cruisers finished generating a gravity well trap.

* One of the common concepts of the tactics used in the ''[[~~Honor Harrington (Literature)|~~Honor Harrington]]'' books is that the spaceships used in the battles are virtually invisible when the "wedges" that normally propel them are powered down, and the rare obedience to physics means that a powered-down ship is not motionless and can coast on a ballistic course with virtually no chance of detection. They're almost incapable of maneuvering, though. Honor uses this trick, along with a ridiculous amount of luck, to get the drop on a Havenite fleet guarding the Cerberus system, from which she and a few hundred thousand POWs and Peep political prisoners are attempting to escape.

* One of the common concepts of the tactics used in the ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' books is that the spaceships used in the battles are virtually invisible when the "wedges" that normally propel them are powered down, and the rare obedience to physics means that a powered-down ship is not motionless and can coast on a ballistic course with virtually no chance of detection. They're almost incapable of maneuvering, though. Honor uses this trick, along with a ridiculous amount of luck, to get the drop on a Havenite fleet guarding the Cerberus system, from which she and a few hundred thousand POWs and Peep political prisoners are attempting to escape.

** Specifically, a ship without its wedge powered is invisible to ''gravitic'' sensors; it continues to emit everything else (heat, EM, etc) as normal, and still presents a perfect target for radar and laser systems. However, lots of commanders in the Honorverse don't bother with anything but the gravitics, since gravitics operate at FTL speeds as opposed to light-speed EM-based methods, and it's assumed that any ship attempting aggressive action will have to have its wedge running. Basically, Honor's entire plan hinged on the Peeps being [[Too Dumb to Live|terminally lazy]] and failing to check their EM sensors. In a later novel, she and Michelle Henke [[Lampshade Hanging|hung a giant pair of fuzzy dice]] on the tactic for the benefit of a gaggle of hero-worshiping midshipmen, dissecting all of the myriad ways the Peeps could have spotted Honor coming light minutes away and turned her entire fleet into space junk with a single salvo. Paraphrased below:

{{quote| '''Michelle Henke:''' Dame Honor's tactic may not have been the single most outrageous, gutsiest, all-or-nothing, do-or-die throw of the dice in the history of the Royal Manticoran Navy. If it wasn't, however, I cannot imagine the action that ''was.''}}

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* Possible, but rarely used in ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4''. Mechs could shut down completely to remove themselves from electronic detection. This wouldn't make you invisible, but a good observation point could let you set up an ambush.

* In the ''[[Fallout]]'' series of games there is a perk named silent running that takes the phrase much more literally.

* Included in the [[~~Silent Hunter Series (Video Game)|~~Silent Hunter Series]], and frequently necessary for survival.

* Included in the [[Silent Hunter Series]], and frequently necessary for survival.

* All [[Stealth Based Mission|Stealth Based Missions]] involve this in ''[[Nexus the Jupiter Incident]]''.

** Ditto for ''[[Star Trek Bridge Commander]]''.