There are 56 fast-attack subs, down from a high of 103, and 18 boomers, down from 36. Stringent inspections of the port facilities, as well as the crews and sub, take place at least every 18 months in order to ensure they are capable of carrying out their assigned nuclear functions. This operational tempo does not slack while in port. They have two alternating crews, the "Blue" and the "Gold," to allow the Tridents the maximum amount of time on patrol.Ĭruises normally last six months, and the days are filled with missile drills and simulated strike operations to keep the crews at a high state of operational readiness. Between eight and 11 of these silent harbingers of death are on patrol beneath the waves at any given time. Split between the Atlantic and Pacific, 10 of the Tridents are based at Kings Bay Submarine Base, Georgia, and the remaining eight at Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Washington. All 18 submarines are of the Ohio class, armed with long-range ballistic missiles containing 3,500 nuclear warheads. These "boomers" remain a lethal leg of the United States nuclear triad, due to their mobility and stealth. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there are presently 18 ballistic nuclear submarines in the U.S. The Trident II is a three-stage, solid propellant, inertially, guided missile, with a range of more than 4,600 miles. Ohio-class submarines carry 24 Trident I or Trident II SLBMs in their launching tubes. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kelsey J. The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726) departs Apra Harbor after completing a scheduled evolution in Guam, Jan. Conversely, the arms race of the Cold War built the Soviet navy to an estimated 120 nuclear submarines 48 of these equipped with cruise missiles, the remainder with guided antisubmarine missiles. The range of maneuver on these submarine reactors provided propulsion for approximately 400,000 miles without refueling the nuclear core. This successor to the Polaris-Poseidon included the new Ohio class of nuclear submarine, the first vessel of which, the USS Ohio, was launched and commissioned in 1981.īy 1988, the United States had 132 submarines in operation, including attack and ballistic missile submarines. The Polaris paved the way for the development of the Trident system in the early 1970s. These missiles increased the lethality of the nuclear submarine by carrying 10 nuclear warheads. ![]() ![]() In the late 1960s, the newer long-range, sea-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Poseidon missile replaced the Polaris missiles on some submarines. In the mid-1960s, a further step was made in the development of long-range antisubmarine missiles launched from torpedo tubes. These Polaris subs had a strike range of nearly 2,500 miles and launched while submerged. The next step in the evolution of the nuclear submarine, the advent of the submarine launched nuclear missiles, also came in the early 1960s with submarines carrying the Polaris missile. All 129 crew on board went down with the ship. The loss of the USS Thresher on April 10, 1963, off the coast of New England, the first loss of an American nuclear submarine, caused the Navy to reevaluate its training and development of DSRV's ( deep submergence rescue vehicles). The new Thresher class entered the fleet in the early 1960s.
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