Today’s US submarine force is the largest submarine fleet in the world with 72 boats in its arsenal,(2015 Submarine) all of which are powered with a nuclear reactor.(United States Capabilities) They carry out the primary duties of deterring enemies through intimidation with nuclear missiles, performing special operations, conducting intelligence missions, and having capabilities to fight against other ships and submarines. (Submarine FAQ) However, the use of submarines would not be where it is today without Admiral Hyman Rickover.(Finney) Admiral Rickover revolutionized the use of submarine warfare by developing and upgrading the nuclear submarine fleet that is still in use today. Before the development of nuclear reactors, a submarine had …show more content…
Ideas such as fuel cells, closed cycle diesel engines, and steam turbines were proposed, but all of these were deemed unsafe for the crew as well as the submarine’s stealth. (NRL History) The research for a nuclear powered submarine started with physicists Ross Gunn. Fueled by Fermi’s report to the Department of Defense on fission energy, Gunn began to research different ways to enrich uranium. He started out by using fluorine gas, but it proved to be too dangerous for a submarine. Gunn could not successfully find a way to enrich large amounts of uranium so he invited Phil Abelson, a physicist, to Naval Research Laboratories in order to figure out a cost effective method to enrich uranium. Monetary constraints were a major problem for Abelson and Gunn since most money was going to the Manhattan project, but they were able to accrue some funds for their research for a nuclear propulsion system. Abelson’s collaboration with Gunn proved to be somewhat successful, but the size of the reactor was too big to fit into a submarine. (NRL) After World War II, Gunn did not want to continue his work with the Navy so he moved away from nuclear studies in order to study the application of physics on weather. (NASONLINE) However, Gunn’s work throughout World War II had been critical to Rickover’s success at creating nuclear …show more content…
After the development of the atomic bomb, nuclear research was a priority for the US Navy. At Oak Ridge, the Navy tasked him with looking over all reports about atomic energy and studying “…atomic physics, chemistry, and mathematics.” (ORNL) He excelled at Oak Ridge by making his subordinate officer record and write very detailed reports about atomic energy and developments in nuclear engineering. He also made sure his subordinates worked to their fullest potential by writing fitness report about them. Through his work at Oak Ridge, he came across Ross Gunn’s work on a nuclear submarine and began to tinker with the idea. He unofficially tasked several officer and civilians to look into making a submarine reactor and persuaded the Chief of the Bureau of Ships to make this project official. (ORNL) (The United States Naval Nuclear) (Johnson,
The Collins class submarines used leading edge of technology and were specifically designed for Australia’s special requirements. Despite all the issues discussed, the Project has some significant project management, engineering and construction achievements which in many ways demonstrate the capacity of Australian Industry to manufacture world-class submarines. Meanwhile, many of the mechanical, technical and combat system problems of the Collins class submarines have now been resolved. The latest review indicates that the availability of the submarines for deployment has increased significantly (ABC, 2014). However, the actual procurement process was risky because it had unclear objectives, unrealistic expectations, adopted untried construction processes, and was dominated by inexperienced supervision and management.
The Trident Submarine houses twenty-four nuclear warheads with each having a range of 4,600 miles over land. If a nuclear war were to break out between the Soviet Union and the United States, virtually every major city could be destroyed in a matter of hours. The origin of these major players in modern day warfare lies in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Throughout the years submarine technology has advanced throughout the years from the original military submarine the turtle to the German u boats during WWII modern nuclear power submarines that we have today. These developments have required a lot of technological improvements. To make the u boats work the Germans need better battery and electrical motor technologies and the nuclear submarine obviously needed nuclear technology. Submarines have always been an innovative way to win the navel war.
The author Kenneth Sewell, who is a former submarine officer (Hutchinson) does an outstanding job of not only describing the overall picture, but also breaking down not only the submarine, but also the men who served on her final mission. He provides personal information about everyone from the commanding officer all the way down to the junior enlisted sailors of K-129. As a former submariner, Mr. Sewell understands the strong bond that occurs between submariners. This bond may well have saved the world from nuclear destruction.
As chief chemist in the nuclear power division he analyzed material used in reactor plant construction, nuclear propulsion plant systems, and worked on radiochemistry on nuclear submarines.
The U.S. Navy nurtured into a challenging power in the years previous to World War II, with battleship construction being revived in 1937, commencing with the USS North Carolina . It was able to add to its fleets throughout the early years of the war when the US was still not involved, growing production of vessels both large and small. In a conflict that had a number of amphibious landings, naval superiority was important in both Europe and the Pacific. The mutual resource...
Many people had their thoughts about why or why not the Hydrogen Bomb should have been built. What this essay will talk about is why the Hydrogen Bomb was built. "The successful explosion of a Teller-inspired thermonuclear device in 1952 gave" the U.S. the go ahead blow against the Soviet Union in the arms race of the fifties (Teller and Ulam). Scientists around the world had been thinking that a thermonuclear bomb, also known as the Hydrogen Bomb, could be developed, but their arms race was completely focused on the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer was a household name because he was the head scientist at Los Alamos while developing the atomic bomb, after that had been completed the tide shifted to a man who’s name is Edward Teller.
After being taken by the Germans convinced others that they still had the lead in developing a fission weapon. It all started with the “Hungarian conspiracy” that had everyone convinced that the creation of a nuclear bomb was possible, but that the German government was already doing research in this field of study on such a weapon. To the rest of the world, the thought of Adolf Hitler might be the first to gain control of a weapon this destructive would be terrifying to the United States. Right, then they decided that the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt must be warned about the dangers and that the United States must begin its research department. As the planned gave way, Einstein was to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt about the possibilities and dangers of the atomic weapons, and later was taken to the president.
The Truman Administration wanted to enhance the countries knowledge on the effects of nuclear weapons on its ships and equipment. Until that point, nuclear testing was done on the behavior of nuclear weapons. During the summer of 1946, a joint task force was given the mission to test the effects of nuclear radiation on ships, equipment and material. Formed in the winter of 1946, Joint Task Force 1 was made up of Navy, Army and civilian personnel (“Operation Crossroads, 1946”). The test was done using two atomic bombs, ABLE and BAKER.
“Early in 1939, The worlds scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting the uranium atom and word spread quickly and several countries began to duplicate the experiment.” Albert Einstein warned President Roosevelt that Germany may have already built an atomic bomb. Roosevelt did not see an urgency for such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly. In 1941, British scientists pushed America to develop an atomic weapon. America’s effort was slow until 1942 when Colonel Leslie Groves took over. He quickly chose personnel, production sites and set schedules to invent the atomic
The Office of Naval Intelligence, more commonly known as ONI was formed in 1882 and is the oldest Intelligence organization in the United States. Its primary function then was to gather information secretly from the navies of other countries with the goal of helping to modernize the American navy. The Office of Naval Intelligence was formed as part of the Bureau of Navigation in 1882 and initially served a mostly public relations function for the Navy. It helped the U.S. upgrade its navy in 1890. These functions were the primary mission of the ONI until the Roosevelt administration took office. Roosevelt relied on the ONI and the agency began to have an influence. Things were pretty slow until the US entered into World War I. This is the first time that the ONI moved into domestic security. In the period between World War I and the end of World War II the ONI's focused on different duties such as providing security not only to the navy and it’s entities but also the nation.
The U.S. decided to develop the atomic bomb based on the fear they had for the safety of the nation. In August 1939 nuclear physicists sent manuscripts to Albert Einstein in fear the Germany might use the new knowledge of fission on the uranium nucleus as way to construct weapons. In response, on August 2, 1939, Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt concerning the pressing matter to use uranium to create such weapons before Germany (Doc A-1). To support the development of the atomic bomb, President Roosevelt approved the production of the bomb following the receipt that the bomb is feasible on January 19, 1942. From this day to December of 1942, many laboratories and ...
In the thirty-eight years of the United States Naval Submarine Service no United States submarine had ever sunk an enemy vessel. With the ignition of the Second World War the poorly equipped and poorly trained Silent Service, nicknamed for the limited access of the media to the actions and achievements of the submarines, would be thrust into the position American submariners had longed for. The attack on Pearl Harbor left the United States Navy with few options for retribution. The three remaining aircraft carriers were to be “the last line of defense.” Commander Stuart S. Murray made the precarious situation clear to his skippers, captains, upon sending them on their first war patrol. He stressed the importance of smart sailing by warning them not “to go out there and win the Congressional Medal of Honor in one day. The submarines are all we have left.” We entered the war with 55 submarines, 27 at Pearl Harbor and 28 at Cavite in the Philippines. At first our submarine strategies lacked ingenuity and failed to use our subs to their full potential. United States subs were assigned to reconnaissance, transporting supplies, and lifeguard duty, picking up downed airmen and sailors. They were even, on occasion, sent to rescue high profile Americans on the run from the enemy or from islands under enemy siege. Although their ability was, unfortunately, wasted in our entrance to the Pacific Theater the Silent Service would soon gain the recognition its men yearned for.
In 1939 rumor came to the U.S. that Germans had split the atom. The threat of the Nazis developing a nuclear weapon prompted President Roosevelt to establish The Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer set up a research lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico and brought the best minds in physics to work on the problem of creating a nuclear weapon. Although most the research and development was done in Los Alamos, there were over 30 other research locations throughout the project. After watching the first nuclear bomb test Oppenheimer was quoted as saying simply “It works.”.