United States Attack And Ballistic Nuclear Submarines :: essays papers

United States Attack And Ballistic Nuclear SubmarinesThe United States Navy has developed over the years to lay down one of theworlds close powerful forces. The nuclear submarine is one of the majorcomponents responsible for achieving this status. The nuclear submarineshave evolved over time in design, construction, and weapons to becomethe most feared deterrence force ever. Tom Clancy, a well-known authorand naval expert describes nuclear attack submarines (SSN&rsquos) in anexcellent fashion by commentingThe raw SSN is a stealth platform with 70 percent of the worldssurface under which to hide, its endurance determined not by fuel but bythe get of food that may be crammed into the hull, and its operationallimitations determined more by the skill of the commander and crew thanby external factors. (XIX)Clancy also gives the complete novel of nuclear submarines from thebeginning. The idea of nuclear energy to power navy submarines came froman improbable origin a United States nava l officer named Hyman G.Rickover. After World fight II, Rickover was transferred to the engineeringdepartment of the United States Navy. While there, he was responsible forenvisioning the idea of placing small nuclear reactors in submarines andsurface ships. With these reactors, vessels could travel great distanceswithout having to refill the their fuel supply. Most importantly forsubmarines, it would now allow them to stay submerged for longer periodsof times instead of having to come to the surface to give air to whereforediesel engines (Clancy 10).According to Clancy, Rickover&rsquos main focus was submarines. In theearly 1950&rsquos, a contract was signed for the production of the firstnuclear submarine in the world. The sauceboat was to be named the USS Nautilus(SSN-571) and built by Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. Thenuclear reactor in the Nautilus generated steam for the turbines as aresult of pressurized water. This development was far more promising thanthe n ow 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 carrying into action and technological barriers. Being similar tosubmarines developed after 1944, the boat&rsquos speed was greaterunderwater than above, it did not have surface often to replenishbatteries, and could uphold underwater for a length of sixty days. TheNautilus became the first ever vessel to travel the Arctic from thePacific to the Atlantic. While initiating an entirely new proportion forsubmarine operations, it was the first submarine to arrive at the NorthPole (Dalgleish and Schweikart 6).A web site dedicated to United States submarines gives statistics about