United States Attack And Ballistic Nuclear Submarines :: essays papers

United States Attack And Ballistic Nuclear Submarines The United States Navy has developed over the years to form one of the world's most powerful forces. The nuclear submarine is one of the major components responsible for achieving this status. The nuclear submarines have evolved over time in: design, construction, and weapons to become the most feared deterrence force ever. Tom Clancy, a well-known author and naval expert describes nuclear attack submarines (SSN&rsquos) in an excellent fashion by commenting: The modern SSN is a stealth platform with 70 percent of the worlds surface under which to hide, its endurance determined not by fuel but by the amount of food that may be crammed into the hull, and its operational limitations determined more by the skill of the commander and crew than by external factors. (XIX) Clancy also gives the complete story of nuclear submarines from the beginning. The idea of nuclear energy to power navy submarines came from an improbable origin; a United States naval officer named Hyman G. Rickover. After World War II, Rickover was transferred to the engineering department of the United States Navy. While there, he was responsible for envisioning the idea of placing small nuclear reactors in submarines and surface ships. With these reactors, vessels could travel great distances without having to replenish the their fuel supply. Most importantly for submarines, it would now allow them to stay submerged for longer periods of times instead of having to come to the surface to give air to then diesel engines (Clancy 10). According to Clancy, Rickover&rsquos main focus was submarines. In the early 1950&rsquos, a contract was signed for the production of the first nuclear submarine in the world. The boat was to be named the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) and built by Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. The nuclear reactor in the Nautilus generated steam for the turbines as a result of pressurized water. This development was far more promising than the now Admiral Rickover and the Navy had ever dreamed (Clancy 10-11). Dalgleish and Schweikart include that when the boat was launched in 1954, it passed both performance and technological barriers. Being similar to submarines developed after 1944, the boat&rsquos speed was greater underwater than above, it did not have surface often to replenish batteries, and could remain underwater for a length of sixty days. The Nautilus became the first ever vessel to travel the Arctic from the Pacific to the Atlantic. While initiating an entirely new dimension for submarine operations, it was the first submarine to arrive at the North Pole (Dalgleish and Schweikart 6). A web site dedicated to United States submarines gives statistics about