A COLD WAR ERA ENDS

I was privileged to attend the christening of the USS Nevada on August 16, 1986 at the Electric Boat Works in Groton, Connecticut (there’s a neat illustrative story that goes with this, but I’ll pass in light of my earlier comments about Frank Rich).

The Nevada was the eighth of the 18 Ohio-class FBM (fleet ballistic missile) subs built. Being able to get close to these behemoths – as big as they seem in the water, their size on the construction way is overwhelming and the thought that they can move underwater, incomprehensible – was a truly memorable day for my family and I.

While FBMs like the Nevada won’t start coming out of service until 2023 the world – thanks in part to these boats – has changed, and the Ohio-class, the mighty Trident missile submarines, are changing with it.

Historical Aside: The last Ohio-class boat decommissions in 2039. The 28 Los Angeles-class Fast Attack Subs are coming to the end of their 30-year service (first deployment: 11/13/1976) and being replaced by Improved Los Angeles-class, and Virginia-class attack subs.

The USS Alabama, the sixth Ohio-class “Boomer” commissioned, offloaded the last 24 of the potent C 4 Trident missiles at Naval Base Kitsap in Bangor, Washington last month bringing the “Run Silent, Run Deep” deterrent era to a close. In their time the armament carried by these subs provided the most survivable nuclear strike deterrent in the American arsenal.

The C4 replaced the Poseidon (which replaced the Polaris) missiles starting in 1974 and will, in turn, be replaced by Trident II D-5s – the Cold War may be over, but as the Gipper said, “… we are not going to tolerate attacks from outlaw states run by the strangest collection of misfits, Looney Tunes and squalid criminals since the advent of the Third Reich.”

Farewell, and a job well done, to the Trident D-4s; and continued Godspeed to the men (no women yet. Here’s a discussion: http://gmapalumni.org/chapomatic/?p=1271) serving aboard the firing platforms – the Ohio-class subs.