On November 15, 1960, the dark waters of the Firth of Clyde boiled, and a new generation of boats emerged from the depths of the Scottish Gulf. Ripping through the bitter cold water, the world's first nuclear-powered missile submarine set off on its first combat patrol.
George Washington spent 66 days in a designated area of the Norwegian Sea, aiming his Polaris at civilian and military targets on the Kola Peninsula. The appearance of the "killer of cities" seriously alarmed the commander-in-chief of the USSR Navy - from that moment on, hundreds of Soviet ships were thrown to neutralize a new terrible threat lurking under the sea water.
The emergence of the George Washington-class strategic ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) marked a new era in the history of the navy. After a long hiatus since August 1945, the fleet was finally able to regain its strategic importance.
On board the nuclear-powered submarine were 16 Polaris A-1 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) capable of delivering a guaranteed 600-kiloton warhead (power of 40 Hiroshima bombs) to a range of 2,200 km. Not a single bomber could compare in efficiency with an SLBM: the time of arrival, reliability, almost complete invulnerability - 50 years ago (however, as now) there were no air defense and missile defense systems capable of providing at least some reliable protection against a Polaris strike … Its tiny warhead pierced the upper atmosphere at a speed of 3 kilometers per second, and the apogee of the flight path was at an altitude of 600 kilometers in space. The powerful combat system (nuclear submarine + SLBM) turned out to be a phenomenal weapon - it is not without reason that the appearance of "George Washington" in the Arctic latitudes caused such a commotion in the General Staff of the USSR Navy.
Characteristically, submariners received the exclusive right to possess strategic thermonuclear weapons. This is despite the fact that initially the space for the installation of the Polaris was reserved for the Albany-class missile cruisers, and the US Navy had a whole set of specialized aircraft for the delivery of nuclear weapons. Alas, neither the armor, nor the missiles, nor the high speed of the Albany-class cruisers inspired the Pentagon strategists. Despite all the admiring exclamations about the "all-seeing" and "invulnerable" aircraft carrier strike groups, it was decided to place nuclear weapons on board the flimsy and slow "steel coffins", which were supposed to pass through the enemy's anti-submarine barriers in splendid isolation.
Another confirmation of the amazing secrecy and the highest combat stability of nuclear submarines. It was the submariners who were entrusted with the honorable honor of becoming priests at the funeral pyre of Mankind, throwing 13-ton "logs" with a thermonuclear filling into the fire.
Squadron "41 on guard of Freedom"
The number of SLBMs in service with the US Navy was limited by the Soviet-American SALT Treaty of 1972 - a total of 656 submarine ballistic missiles deployed aboard forty-one strategic missile carriers. The fleet of 41 Polaris ballistic missile carriers has become extremely famous - all boats were named in honor of famous US figures. The Americans, with ill-concealed glee, presented the missile carriers as “the last defenders of freedom and democracy,” as a result, the pathetic name “41 for Freedom” was assigned to the squadron in the Western media. 41 Freedom Fighters. "City killers". The main headache and the main enemy of the Soviet Navy during the Cold War.
Coats of arms SSBN from squadron "41 for Freedom"
In total, between 1958 and 1967, 41 boats were built according to five projects:
- "George Washington"
- "Ethan Allen"
- "Lafayette"
- "James Madison"
- "Benjamin Franklin"
"41 for Freedom" formed the backbone of the strategic forces of the US Navy in the period from the early 60s to the mid-80s, when the US Navy began to massively replenish the new generation of SSBNs "Ohio". Nevertheless, the aging missile carriers continued to remain in service, sometimes having a completely different purpose. The last representative of "41 for Freedom" was expelled from the US Navy only in 2002.
George Washington
Firstborns of the strategic submarine fleet. A series of five "city killers", the most famous representatives of the squadron "41 for Freedom". It's no secret that “J. Washington "- just an impromptu on the basis of multipurpose submarines such as" Skipjack ".
The lead boat - USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was originally laid down as a multipurpose submarine "Scorpion". However, in the midst of construction, it was decided to convert it into a carrier of strategic missiles. The finished hull was cut in half, welded in the middle of a 40-meter section with the Polarisov launching shafts.
“J. Washington "managed to deceive fate. Its old name "Scorpion" and tactical number (SSN-589) were inherited by another submarine, whose hull was built on a nearby slipway according to the original Skipjack project. In 1968, this boat will disappear without a trace in the Atlantic along with its crew. The exact cause of the death of USS Scorpion (SSN-589) has not yet been established. Existing versions range from banal assumptions (torpedo explosion) to mystical legends mixed with science fiction (revenge of Soviet sailors for the death of K-129).
As for the missile carrier “J. Washington”, then he served 25 years without any problems and was scrapped in 1986. The deckhouse was installed as a memorial in Groton, Connecticut.
From a modern point of view, “J. Washington "was a very primitive structure with low combat capabilities. In terms of displacement, the American missile carrier was almost 3 times smaller than the modern Russian boats of Project 955 Borey (7,000 tons versus 24,000 tons of Borey). The working depth of the Washington dive did not exceed 200 meters (the modern Borey operates at depths of over 400 meters), and the Polaris SLBM could be launched from depths of no more than 20 meters, with severe restrictions on the submarine speed, roll, trim and the order of the exit of the "Polaris" from the missile silos.
The main weapon “J. Washington.
The 13-ton Polaris is simply a midget against the background of the modern Bulava (36.8 tons), and the comparison of the Polaris with the 90-ton R-39 (the main weapon of the legendary missile carriers Project 941 Akula) can only cause amazement.
Hence the results: the missile's flight range is only 2200 km (according to official data, the Bulava hits 9000+ km). The Polaris A1 was equipped with a monoblock warhead, the throw weight did not exceed 500 kg (for comparison, the Bulava had six split warheads, the throw weight was 1150 kg - progress in technology over the past half century is evident).
The warhead of a two-stage solid-propellant rocket "Polaris A-3"
However, the point is not even a short firing range: according to declassified reports from the US Department of Energy, up to 75% of Polaris warheads had some serious defects.
On the terrible Day X, the 41 for Freedom squadron could freely enter the launch areas, prepare for firing and send its SLBMs into flight. The warheads would have drawn a trail of fire in the peaceful sky of the USSR and … stuck into the ground, becoming a heap of molten metal.
This circumstance threatened the existence of all "Freedom Fighters" - the formidable "Washington" and "Ethan Allens" in fact turned out to be toothless fish. However, even 25% of the regularly completed combat units were enough to plunge the world into the chaos of a global war and make an important contribution to the extermination of humanity. Fortunately, this is all just science fiction …
From the standpoint of our days, “J. Washington looks like a very crude and imperfect system, but it is fair to admit that the appearance of such weapons in the years when Gagarin's flight still seemed fantastic was a colossal achievement. The firstborn of the strategic submarine fleet defined the appearance of modern missile carriers, becoming the basis for the design of boats of the next generations.
Despite all the reproaches against Polaris, it should be admitted that the rocket turned out to be successful. The US Navy initially abandoned liquid-propellant ballistic missiles, focusing on the development of solid-propellant SLBMs. In the limited space of a submarine, in conditions of specific storage and operation of missile weapons, the use of solid-propellant missiles turned out to be a much simpler, reliable and safe solution than domestic liquid-fueled missiles. For example, the Soviet analogue of Polaris, the R-13 ballistic missile, took an hour to prepare for launch and included pumping liquid oxidizer from tanks on board the boat into the tanks of the rocket. A very non-trivial task in the open sea and possible opposition from the enemy.
The rocket launch itself looked no less funny - the filled R-13, together with the launch pad, rose to the upper cut of the shaft, where the main engine was launched. After such an attraction, Polaris's problems may seem like childish pranks.
The Americans continuously modernized their boats - in 1964, George Washington received a new Polaris A-3 missile with multiple dispersing warheads (three 200-kt W58 warheads). In addition, the new Polaris hit at 4600 km, which further complicated the fight against the "city killers" - the USSR Navy had to push the anti-submarine defense line to the open ocean.
Ethan Allen
Unlike boats of the type "J. Washington ", which were improvised on the basis of multipurpose PAL, the Ethan Allen-class missile carriers were originally designed as carriers of submarine-based strategic missiles.
The Yankees optimized the design of the boat, taking into account the many wishes of naval specialists and naval sailors. The boat has noticeably "grown" (the underwater displacement increased by 1000 tons), which, while maintaining the same power plant, reduced the maximum speed to 21 knots. However, the specialists attached importance to another parameter - the newly designed hull made of high-strength steels made it possible to expand the range of Ethan Allen's working depths to 400 meters. Particular attention was paid to ensuring stealth - in order to reduce the acoustic background of the boat, all the power plant mechanisms were installed on amortized platforms.
The main weapon of the boat was a specially designed modification of the Polaris - A-2, with a monoblock warhead of megaton power and a firing range of 3,700 km. By the beginning of the 70s, the not particularly successful Polaris A-2 was replaced by the A-3, similar to the SLBMs installed on the J. Washington.
USS Sam Houston (SSBN-609) - Aten Allen-class nuclear submarine
Five strategic missile submarines of this type were on constant watch in the Mediterranean Sea, threatening to deliver a fatal blow to the "underbelly of the Soviet bear" from the south. Fortunately, the archaic design did not allow Aethen Allen to remain on the front lines as long as other representatives of 41 for Freedom - missiles and fire control systems were dismantled from boats in the early 80s, and the launch silos were filled with concrete. Three "Eten Allen" were reclassified as multipurpose submarines with torpedo weapons. The two remaining SSBNs - "Sam Houston" and "John Marshall" turned into boats for special operations: two Dry Deck Shelter containers were fixed outside the hull for transporting mini-submarines and seals equipment; swimmers.
All five Ethan Allens were scrapped in the early 1990s.
Lafayette
A milestone project of the US Navy, which has absorbed all the accumulated experience of operating missile submarines of previous projects. When creating Lafayette, emphasis was placed on increasing the autonomy of SSBNs and the duration of its combat patrols. As before, special attention was paid to the safety measures of the boat, reducing the level of its own noise and other unmasking factors.
The submarine's armament complex was expanded at the expense of SUBROC rocket torpedoes, used for self-defense against Soviet submarine "interceptors". Strategic weapons were housed in 16 universal missile silos with interchangeable launch cups - Lafayette was created with a backlog for the future. Subsequently, a similar design and an increased diameter of the missile silos made it possible to re-equip the boats from the Polaris A-2 to the Polaris A3, and then to the new Poseidon S-3 submarine ballistic missiles.
USS Lafayette (SSBN-616)
In total, 9 strategic missile submarines were built under the Lafayette project. All boats were removed from the US Navy in the early 1990s. Eight boats were cut into metal, the ninth - "Daniel Webster" is used as a model in the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit.
James Madison
A series of 10 American SSBNs, almost identical in design to Lafayette-class submarines. In domestic reference books of the Cold War times, it is usually written like this: "type" Lafayette ", the second sub-series".
In the early 1980s, six James Madison-class submarines became the first carriers of the promising Trident-1 SLBMs with a firing range of 7000+ kilometers.
All submarines of this type were decommissioned in the 1990s. All but one.
The strategic missile submarine Nathaniel Green left the valiant ranks of the US Navy before anyone else - in December 1986. The story is trivial: in March of the same year, when returning from a combat patrol, "Nathaniel Green" was badly hurt on stones in the Irish Sea. The boat somehow limped to the base, but the scale of damage to the rudders and main ballast tanks was so great that the restoration of the missile carrier was considered futile.
USS Nathaniel Greene (SSBN-636)
The Nathaniel Green incident was the first officially recorded emergency, resulting in the loss of an American SSBN.
Benjamin Franklin
A series of 12 strategic missile submarines are the most formidable and accomplished fighters of the 41 for Freedom brigade.
Launch of USS Mariado G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) - Benjamin Franklin-class missile carrier
In order to reduce noise, the shape of the bow end was changed and the propeller was replaced - otherwise the design of the Benjamin Franklin was completely identical to the Lafayette-class submarines. Carriers of ballistic missiles "Polaris A-3", "Poseidon S-3", and later "Trident-1".
Boats of this type were actively excluded from the fleet throughout the 1990s. Two of them - "James Polk" and "Kamehameha" (in honor of one of the rulers of Hawaii) were converted into submarines for special operations (two outdoor modules for combat swimmers, two airlock chambers on the site of the former missile silos, premises for the landing).
USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) remained in service until 2002, thus becoming the oldest survivor of the squadron 41 on the guard of Liberty.
Epilogue
Squadron 41 for Freedom has become a key force in the American nuclear triad - during the Cold War, more than 50% of all nuclear warheads in service with the US armed forces were deployed on missile submarines.
Over the years of active service, the boats "41 for Freedom" made more than 2,500 combat patrols, demonstrating a surprisingly high coefficient of operational stress (KOH 0.5 - 0, 6 - for comparison, the KO of Soviet SSBNs was in the range of 0, 17 - 0, 24) - "Defenders of freedom" spent most of their lives in combat positions. Driven by two shift crews ("blue" and "gold"), they operated on a 100-day cycle (68 days at sea, 32 days at the base) with a break for overhaul and reloading of the reactor every 5-6 years.
Fortunately, the Americans did not manage to learn the destructive power of strategic submarine cruisers from the 18th division of the Northern Fleet (Zapadnaya Litsa), and Soviet citizens never got to know the "city killers" from the 41 for Freedom squadron.
Small photo gallery
Emergency ascent of Benjamin Franklin-class SSBN
Commander's cabin SSBN "Robert Lee" (type "George Washington")
Launch of Polaris A-3
