However, in the 2000s the Navy converted the first four Ohio-class SSBNs to guided missile submarines (SSGNs) after the 1994 Nuclear Posture Review recommended the U.S. Eighteen Ohio-class SSBNs, commissioned between 19, replaced the original 41 for Freedom SSBNs and became the largest submarines built by the U.S. The introduction of two new SLBMs with considerably longer ranges and payloads-the Trident I (C4) in 1979 and Trident II (D5) in 1990-transitioned the Navy through the end of the Cold War and into the era of modern strategic deterrence. Of the Navy’s 41 for Freedom submarines, 31 were converted to carry Poseidon missiles. The Poseidon missile’s greatest advancement was its multiple warheads, which could attack separate targets. The successor to Polaris, the Poseidon (C3) missile, became operational on 31 March 1971, when James Madison (SSBN-627) began a deterrent patrol carrying 16 Poseidon missiles. Two more generations of Polaris missiles, the A2 and A3, followed in 19. The first of the 41 for Freedom submarines was George Washington (SSBN-598), which made history by successfully launching the first Polaris A1 missile from a submerged position on 20 June 1960. Known as the 41 for Freedom submarines, these vessels comprised five classes of submarines: the Washington-class, the Ethan Allen-class, the Lafayette-class, the James Madison-class, and the Benjamin Franklin-class. From 1959 to 1967, the Navy commissioned 41 SSBNs, each capable of carrying 16 Polaris missiles and operated by rotating Blue and Gold crews. Navy engineered the Polaris missile, it also built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines to create a deterrent force. After only four years of testing and development, converted high-speed cargo ship Observation Island executed the first at-sea launch of a Polaris test missile on 27 August 1959.Īs the U.S.

In late 1955, Burke established the Special Projects Office dedicated to this mission and appointed Admiral William “Red” Raborn as its director. Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh Burke paved the way for this achievement by prioritizing the development of a fleet ballistic missile for sea launch. Navy rapidly developed the Navy’s first SLBM, the Polaris A1 missile, in response to the Soviet Union’s accelerating nuclear program. In fact, the Navy’s SSBNs have long been recognized by the Department of Defense (DOD) as the most survivable leg of the United States’ nuclear triad, also composed of strategic bombers and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.ĭuring the Cold War, the U.S. This guaranteed retaliation is a powerful deterrent to opponents considering a first strike. Hidden at sea on nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), SLBMs can survive an initial nuclear attack and launch in retaliation. Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) play a key role in the strategic deterrence mission by providing the U.S.

The goal of strategic deterrence is to dissuade adversaries from launching a nuclear attack.

Cold war timeline 3d