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From the end of World War II in 1945 to the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991, the Cold War dominated international affairs. It was a global struggle
between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although the Cold War was
sometimes fought on the battlefield, it involved everything from political
rhetoric to sports. Overshadowing all was the threat of nuclear war.
The United States adopted a policy of deterrence. It threatened any would-be
attacker with nuclear annihilation. To make the threat credible, the United
States developed what came to be called the "Strategic Triad" of nuclear
forceslong-range bombers, land-based missiles, and submarines. Each force
independently could inflict catastrophic damage and devastating casualties
on an enemy.
As the least vulnerable leg of the Triad, nuclear-powered ballistic missile
submarines played a major Cold War role. This exhibition reviews the early
history of submarines and their radical transformation after World War II.
It shows how submarines are built, how they work, and what they do. It also
tells the story of submariners and their families, Americans on the front
lines of the Cold War.
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This exhibit is no longer on view at the National
Museum of American History.
During the 1950s, the U.S. Navy developed two major types of nuclear-powered
submarine, fast attacks and boomers. The smaller model is a typical fast
attack submarine. The real fast attack is a fish-shaped cylinder 360 feet
longexactly the same length as a football field with end zones includedand
roughly 33 feet in diameter. Although they have a variety of missions, the
main purpose of fast attacks is to locate and track enemy submarines. Both
fast attacks and boomers have streamlined superstructures called sails;
they hold a pair of horizontal diving planes and enclose the radar masts,
radio antennas, and periscopes. The larger model is a typical boomer, or
fleet ballistic missile submarine. In life it is 560 feet longabout
the same length as this museumwith an oval cross-section, 42 feet
from deck to keel and 35.5 feet abeam. Ready to launch their nuclear missiles
against the enemy's homeland, boomers deter attack on the United States
and its allies.
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