The submarine could be piloted by one person, and was equipped with an emergency escape system. The pilot would simply eject using the central cockpit fuselage.
Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi used one such submarine to investigate wreckage from CIS warships that crashed into the ocean during the Battle of Kamino. He then used the escape system when the submarine was attacked by aqua droids, which emerged from the wreckages.