Posted on 05/02/2023 1:31:51 PM PDT by george76
The 18 Ohio-class submarines are arguably the most destructive weapons on the planet. Here’s everything you need to know about these exceptional military machines.
The 18 Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines are some of the most exceptional military machines in human history, packing more nuclear or conventional firepower than any other platform on air, land, or sea.
One leg of America’s nuclear triad, the subs are designed to be ultra-quiet, bristle with nuclear weapons, and survive to carry out their mission at all costs. The 14 nuclear-armed Ohio-class submarines ensure that hundreds of nukes are resting quietly in the world’s oceans, ready to enact a devastating reprisal against any surprise attack on the United States.
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Nuclear Weapons Go to Sea..
In the 1950s, the United States placed much of its faith in its ability to deter war on nuclear weapons. The U.S. Navy struggled to find a reliable deployment strategy for nukes at sea, at first turning to large rockets or cruise missiles that would be launched from a surfaced submarine. Unfortunately, early efforts led to ungainly missiles that required highly modified submarines, and took considerable preparation to prepare for launch.
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By 1960, the Navy had developed the Polaris A-1 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SSBN) and ballistic-missile submarine. The Polaris A-1 was a short, squat missile with a range of 1,400 miles, and whose solid rocket fuel motors were chemically stable enough to remain stored in the missile for long periods of time. It carried three warheads, each with the explosive yield of 200 kilotons of TNT. (By comparison, the Hiroshima bomb had only a 15-kiloton yield.)
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The Polaris missiles were compact enough to be stored, one per silo, in two rows of eight silos each per missile submarine, for a total of 16 missiles. Although the missile’s limited range meant the submarines needed to venture close to the Soviet Union, the solution was elegant enough that submarine-launched ballistic missiles became, like bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, one of the three main legs of the nuclear triad.
Enter the Ohio Class..
In the 1970s, the Navy began planning its fifth series of ballistic-missile submarines. At 560 feet long and 18,750 tons submerged, the Ohio class would be the largest American submarines ever built. A typical crew consists of 15 officers and 140 enlisted. The submarines are officially described as being able to dive to 800 feet, but in reality, that number is understood to be greater than 1,500 feet.
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A single General Electric S8G nuclear reactor, turning two steam turbines, provides up to 60,000 horsepower to each sub. The Ohio class, streamlined to operate entirely underwater, can travel at speeds of 30+ knots, and remain submerged indefinitely, with their stay limited only by food and water for the crew.
In addition to their nuclear armament, each of the subs is equipped with four 533-millimeter torpedo tubes. As missile submarines, their primary mission was to remain undetected, but if forced into a fight with a Soviet submarine, a missile boat had to retain the ability to return fire and destroy its attacker. The primary torpedo over the Ohio class’ lifetime has been the Mk-48 guided torpedo, now upgraded to the Mk-48 ADCAP (advanced capability.)
The Nukes..
As ballistic-missile submarines, the primary armament of the Ohio class are their submarine-launched ballistic missiles, stored in an elevated position behind the sail. The first eight Ohio-class submarines were built with their silos filled with Trident C-4 missiles; Trident C-4 weighed 73,000 pounds, could carry up to eight Mk-4 reentry vehicles, and had a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles.
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Trident C-4 was eventually replaced with Trident II D-5, which weighs 130,000 pounds, and can carry up to 12 Mk-4 reentry vehicles. The Navy states that the D-5 has a range of 4,000 nautical miles, but this seems unlikely given that the missile is nearly twice as heavy as its predecessor, yet carries only four more warheads. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the true range at about 6,500 nautical miles—enough range to strike nearly every target in the northern hemisphere.
Each Mk-4 reentry vehicle carries a single thermonuclear warhead. Almost all of the warheads are W-76-1 warheads with a yield of 90 kilotons; that’s the equivalent of 90,000 tons of TNT. Each Trident D-5 can carry up to 12 warheads, though the number actually deployed today, in relative peacetime, is believed to be just 4–5.
In 2020, the U.S. introduced a new, low-yield variant of the W-76: the W-76-2, each of which has a yield of 4–5 kilotons. An estimated 1–2 Tridents per deployed submarine carries a single W-76-2 warhead.
Blue and Gold..
The 14 Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines run at a high tempo to keep as many as possible at sea at any given time. Between two and four submarines are in drydock at any one time; the rest of the subs are going out on patrol, returning from patrol, training, or actively on nuclear-deterrence patrol.
This tempo is achieved by doubling the number of crews assigned to any one ship. Unlike other warships, Ohio-class submarines typically operate with two separate crews, Blue and Gold, composed of 15 officers and 144 enlisted men and women each. This allows the submarines to deploy more frequently—and on shorter notice, if necessary.
During the Cold War, missile submarines spent as much as 60–70 percent of their time at sea. Due to the declining threat, the average Ohio-class submarine now conducts an average of 2.3 patrols per year, down from 4.1 per year at the height of the Cold War. Each patrol lasts an average of 70 days, much shorter than for other ships.
Arms Control and a New Course..
On April 8, 2010, the United States and Russia signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which limited the number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 and nuclear weapons delivery systems to 700. In the case of the Ohio class, each warhead on each Trident II D-5 missile counted as a nuclear weapon, while each missile counted as a delivery system.
Theoretically, the entire fleet of 18 Ohio-class submarines could sortie with as many as 24 missiles, each with 12 warheads each; that could amount to a total of 5,184 nuclear weapons and 432 delivery systems alone, more than the U.S. wanted to put at sea. Instead, the U.S. Navy chose to fill four silos per submarine with concrete, limiting the number each ship could carry to 20, and reducing the number of W-76-1 nuclear warheads on each missile. The real number is classified, but is believed to be 4–5 per Trident II D-5.
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The Navy no longer needed all 18 Ohio-class submarines, so it converted four of the boats—Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and Georgia—into guided-missile submarines (SSGNs). The Trident missiles were removed, and 22 silos were converted to each carry seven Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles. Each sub could carry a whopping 154 cruise missiles, giving just one SSGN more firepower than an aircraft carrier can generate over the course of an entire day. In 2011, USS Florida carried out strikes in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn, the NATO intervention in Libya.
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The Takeaway..
The Ohio-class submarines have proven a remarkable success—capable, reliable boats that have safeguarded nuclear weapons for decades. There has not been a single major incident involving the submarines or their deadly cargoes, a testament to their design and the skill and careful nature of their crews.
The U.S. Navy plans to replace the 14 nuclear-armed boats with 12 Columbia-class submarines, with the first ship, District of Columbia, conducting its first patrol in 2031.
None of those represent individual accomplishment. Bowl of salad for showing up. Obammys personnel office (assignments) eager to display wokeness likely for own future promotions.
As sad as obit I read of a 26 year officer I knew. Was nothing but 2 long pages of his military bio. No family mentioned, no other interests—odd.
Virginia class submarines are being built to replace Los Angeles class submarines. Since 1999, 21 have been put in service, two more have been launched, and 11 are under construction.
“The 18 Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines are some of the most exceptional military machines in human history..”
Not after Biden and his toadies in the DOD get through with them and crew them up with god knows what.
“Current” is the keyword there.
I’m thinking about the whole woke movement destroying STEM, math, science, and engineering educations. Downstream this is going to seriously impact our ability to build anything. We are coasting in many areas on prowess and capabilities from decades ago. We are not sustaining that.
The woke people are going after the accreditation boards and lowering standards. That will work its way through the engineering disciplines.
The extreme dumbing down of everybody to achieve “equity” is going to have extremely deleterious effects in a few years.
Let’s hope we don’t launch them like we launch LCS boats.
FWIW, back in 1984 with Doug Dalgleish I wrote the first major history of the Trident sub program.
Most common reaction from US Navy: “How the hell did you get this info?”
Most common reaction from the Soviets: “Where can we buy more copies of this?” (joke)
Maximum tickets punched. Will be a hysteric CNO.
-fJRoberts-
25: Adm. Raleigh Burke was a regular attendee at our McDowell/Council Against Communist Aggression monthly luncheons.
Also there , if I recall accurately, were Admirals Dan Galley (captured U-Boat 505), possibly Radford, and at larger affairs, Middendorf, a SecNav - Lehman, and others. The FBI/CIA crowd took up several tables just by themselves.
Also a few generals and colonels, POWs, etc.
Never a dull moment from those who made history.
Thanks for a very good and informative posting!
bkmk
“I honestly don’t think that Iran nor even Kim is crazy enough to attack the U.S. directly” was a reply to poster z3n.
My reply was not about NK, but about Iran which so many here are so ill-informed about.
Thank you
One of my childhood friends dad worked at Electric Boat in Groton. Subs are amazing...A replica of the Bushnell’s Turtle is at the Connecticut River Museum. The Turtle was the first sub.
Not really, the Nautilus is a museum in Groton, CT. Beautiful ship...
NEW - Iran seizes second oil tanker in a week — US Navy
Iran sure seems to be “Cruisin’ for a bruisin’ these days.
On May 3 at approximately 6:20 a.m. local time, Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. See video & link to statement below
(Video Of It In Link Below)
https://twitter.com/US5thFleet/status/1653683480235057152
Agree, but it kinda jibes with my thesis. I contend that they generally wont attack the U.S. directly, and when they do, it wont be the kind of aggression that they fear would provoke significant military response. Both Iran and N.Korea want us to think they are war-crazy and unpredictable, so that they can do things like seize a Panamanian oil tanker, or fire missile tests over the sea of Japan. They both want nuclear capacity on par with the West so that they can get away with more aggression inside their region, skirt sanctions, and gain power, all protected from full escalation because they will have nuclear deterrence, or so they believe.
I know that Iran pulls stuff like the taking of hostages they did within recent years, but events like that seem more like outliers. What they really want is to be able to operate with aggression in their region without outside interference.
This is why most people think Israel would never allow Iran to have nuclear capability. It’s not just because they could be crazy enough to nuke Tel Aviv. I’m not saying they’re not that crazy but I think it’s less likely than what they really want is to be able to operate with conventional military aggression as well as asymmetric aggression (terrorism) while being shielded because of the fear of nuclear escalation.
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