Assignment 7 - Kyle Hosey

On September 30th, 1954, the world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned into the United States Navy. Maybe I'm a little bit biased because I just watched The Hunt for Red October, but this was undeniably a hugely significant event, and not just for military history. Yes, a new era of submarines dawned; nuclear-powered vessels stay submerged and at sea far longer than diesel or battery powered subs, meaning that a submarine's range was now almost unlimited. Combined with new torpedo and missile technology in the coming years, they proved far more effective convoy and warship hunters than the German Unterseeboots ever dreamed of being. But the greatest military impact, also permeating politics and our society as a whole, was early-strike technology. In a single, terrifying word, nukes. Just a year after the Nautilus was commissioned, the Soviets fielded the first SSB - ballistic missile submarine. Though a rudimentary design, Project 611, as it was called, could theoretically approach the coast of the United States undetected and launch its nuclear-tipped missiles with just a few minute's warning. The potential for effective nuclear deterrence was quite obvious. Within a few years, the US launched USS George Washington, which conducted its first deterrence patrol in 1960. Nuclear submarines thus became a part of the ongoing arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, also entering the sphere of politics by doing so. Though ICBMs and air-based nuclear weapons were certainly enough to wipe out both countries many times over, these "boomers" played a special role in the convoluted "peace through mutually assured destruction" that characterized most of the Cold War. The threat of annihilation from a hidden enemy within 20 minutes was not only real but constant. So much of the fear and terror that we associate with this period, and to a lesser extent our own lives today - we still have them after all - stems directly from the very first nuclear submarine. That said, I do admire the technological achievement that the Nautilus, its descendants, and nuclear power in general represent. Improved sonar and navigation at sea were actually positively impacted by the competitive development of nuclear-powered vessels. It is unfortunate that the Nautilus, the culmination of decades of scientific pioneering, proved just a stepping stone to another aspect of the threat of global annihilation during the Cold War.