Submarine History - Early Cold War
When WWII ended, the United States found itself in an ideological, and sometimes armed, conflict with the USSR. While open warfare was limited, the conflict largely polarized much of the world into pro-US or pro-Soviet governments. In contested nations, proxy wars between the two combatants and their allies raged, sometimes for years or decades. Although open conflict between the US and the USSR was largely avoided, both nations sought to intimidate the other by the size and potency of their forces and by developing new weapons. During this period, military technology saw a rapid burst of growth as the US and the USSR tried to achieve an advantage, and naval forces were no exception.
Up to WWII, the pinnacle of surface fleet development was the battleship - a literal floating fortress. During WWII, it was shown that carrier-borne aircraft could sink any surface ship. The aircraft carrier's ability to locate and destroy enemy vessels from hundreds of miles away led to major changes in naval warfare after WWll, including the use of submarines. Because of airplanes, subs could no longer remain on the surface for long, if at all. Radar and enemy spy planes made the ships far too vulnerable on the surface. In addition, because of the advances in submarine detection technology and surface ship weapons, Cold War subs could not fire torpedoes without being quickly detected by the enemy and destroyed. However, because submarines were hard to detect under the surface, these ships could still be called upon for missions that required secrecy, such as intelligence gathering missions or covert operations.
While all pre-war submarines were disposed of after the war, the majority of the "fleet boats" built during the war were retained, many being rebuilt as "guppies" or as "fleet snorkels"; some remained in foreign service, and for the first two postwar decades, they comprised the bulk of the US submarine force.
Undersea warfare underwent a revolution after World War II and the American submarine force led the way. Building on the advanced submarine designs created by the Germans during World War II, the Navy anticipated submarines of the future going deeper, staying there longer, and moving much faster. Indeed, in reports submitted in 1949 and 1950, naval and civilian advisors suggested that advanced German U-boat technology exploited by the Soviets might present the most potent postwar naval threat to the United States. No warship of the time could effectively detect and track a submarine like the German Type 21 which could sustain a 17 knot submerged speed for at least thirty minutes.
Almost immediately after the war, the submarine force began experimenting with high speed, sophisticated silencing techniques, sensitive sonic detection, and deeper diving. An effective way at improving technology quickly is to reverse engineer a superior machine. In WWII, the US captured several German U-Boats, which were widely held to be the best submarines in the world at the time. By reverse engineering these captured subs, American engineers hoped to determine how to best improve American ships. What they found led to the creation of four goals for American submarine development: increased battery capacity, more streamlined hulls, snorkel systems, and improved fire control systems.
With these goals in mind, the American Navy began the GUPPY (Greater Underwater Propulsion Power) program, which simply took WWII subs and retrofitted them to be more effective. Surface weapons were removed because they were no longer needed and only increased drag on the submarine when submerged. The conning tower became much less boxy and more streamlined. Snorkels, or long tubes that can be extended to let air into the sub, allowed the subs to run under diesel power even while under the surface. GUPPY, conversions that changed the configuration of wartime submersibles to enhance submerged speed and hydrodynamic efficiency.
Beginning in 1946, the U.S. Navy inaugurated a modernization program with its war-built diesel boats; the "Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Project" (GUPPY) commenced with 24 submarines of the Gato, Balao, and Tench class. The GUPPY conversions resulted in a "streamlined" appearance with rounded bows, conning tower shapes, topside sonar domes, and tower extensions to house periscopes, radar, and "Snorkel" underwater breathing devices to allow the operation of diesel engines at periscope depths. The secondary deck armament was also removed during GUPPY conversions and new batteries with smaller cells were installed. Representing an important final evolutionary step in the design and operation ofdiesel submarines, "guppies" extended the wartime U.S. submarine fleet, as well as Great Britain's into longer careers.
Conversion was expensive, averaging $2.5 million per submarine, but the cost of building a large postwar fleet offset resistance to guppying, particularly when the outbreak of the Korean War signalled a need for a large, "modern" U.S. submarine fleet. Only three "GUPPY" submarines survive; the Tench class, GUPPY II USS Torsk, the Gato class GUPPY II submarine USS Becuna, and USS Clamagore. Three other surviving boats received post-war modifications, but are not guppies.
As of January 1, 1950, the Navy had 167 useful submarines; the 73 active submarines included 22 "streamlined" guppies (one of the 24 guppies was lost in 1949 and the other was not yet completed), at that time only one of nine guppied Balaos. Eleven additional boats were scheduled for guppying in 1951-1952. By 1952, 48 submarines had undergone GUPPY conversion; 12 to GUPPY Type IA; 24 to Type II; and 16 to Type IIA. The alterations were similar in all cases; Type IIA boats additionally had anchors recessed, propeller guards removed, and one of the engines and main generators removed to provide space for new sonar rooms. This reduced the surface speed of Type IIA boats to 18 knots. In 1958, out of 159 active boats, the Navy had three nuclear submarines and 156 "usable" diesel submarines; there were 102 Balao boats left in commission; of this number, 32 were guppies. The next and last GUPPY conversions were 9 boats converted to GUPPY Type III submarines. Rather than sacrifice an engine, generator, and speed, the hull was cut in half and a 15 to 16-foot section was welded forward of the control room to create a new sonar room.
From the GUPPY boats came the Tang Class of submarines. Purpose built with the GUPPY improvements, these subswere the pinnacle of submarine technology when they were revealed in 1947. The Tang class, the first truly new postwar construction, represented an initial step on a new road toward greater speed and endurance below the surface. Though they were the most advanced subs in the world, they still had flat decks and tall conning towers. They were also slow, managing top speeds of only 15 knots at the surface and 18 knots submerged.
Though the Tang Class represented the best technology of the time, the Navy still sought to improve these designs. One field of research was nuclear technology, which would allow a submarine to stay submerged for long periods of time. The Navy was also interested in improving handling and performance. Instead of pursuing both nuclear power and improved performance in a single design, the Navy developed each concept separately using non-combat concept submarines constructed solely to test new designs and technologies. The improvements developed from these ships were incorporated into combat vessels.
Launched 5 December 1953, the Albacore (AGSS-569) was designed to test hydrodynamics, noise reduction, and generally to make improvements wherever possible. Albacore was the first sub in the world to be built with the now familiar "tear drop" -shaped hull. Previous sub types had flat decks and pointed prows to maximize speed and maneuverability on the surface. In contrast, the Albacore was a cylinder with a rounded nose and a tapering tail that allowed it to move more easily while submerged. The new hull shape increased the speed of the ship under the surface dramatically. It was so quick and so maneuverable that when submerged that sailors dubbed its movements "hydrobatics." The Albacore was also the first to pioneer the aircraft controls that all subsequent subs would use. In place of the hand-cranks and wheels used by previous classes of ship, a simple yoke and pedals would do. The Albacore was at the fore of a new trend in submarine development that emphasized hydrodynamics and underwater efficiency over surface performance.
The Barbel class was developed directly from the tests conducted on the Albacore. The contract to build the first ship of the class, the USS Barbel (SS-580) was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine on 24 August 1955 and her keel was laid down on 18 May 1956.
Deep Ocean, Cold War
The Tang class provided the basic hull form used for the first true submarine. At the same time tests were conducted on the Albacore, the Navy introduced the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) as a test bed for nuclear power plants. Funded by Congress in 1951, the experimental Nautilus was finally launched 21 January 1954. Where Albacore researched hull design, Nautilus was intended to test power plants andengine endurance. Nautilus looked quite similar to a Tang Class submarine, yet internally was very different. Diesel engines existed solely as backups should the new nuclear generator stop working.
USS Nautilus went to sea propelled by a pressurized water nuclear plant in January 1955 and set a new standard for this type of vessel. Its submerged endurance was limited only by the crews' periodic need to see both their families and the light of day. Rather than a surface ship capable of submerging when the need arose, this submarine's natural environment lay below the surface.
The Navy quickly realized that nuclear power submarines were limited in range only by the amount of food that could be stored for the sailors. Nuclear generators require no oxygen, so the sub never has to surface or snorkel. They require no refueling, so the sub is not limited in the distance it can travel from port. Since Nautilus had no need for oxygen, she became the first sub to travel all the way under the polar ice cap, from the Bering Strait to the Greenland Sea.
This was the vessel John Holland wanted to create but could not because of the limits of science and technology at the turn of the century. Seawolf and the Skate class hunter-killer submarines quickly followed Nautilus and together they demonstrated the new extent of submarine effectiveness, from the deep ocean, to the shallows, to the polar regions. From the new propulsion technology developed with Nautilus came the next class of subs. The Skate Class was the first full class of submarines to be nuclear powered. They were developed directly from the Nautilus, but, like Nautilus, they were not built with the hull design pioneered by Albacore. They were still constructed much like the GUPPY and Tang subs: flat decked with a tall sail.
The advent of nuclear submarines provided the final piece to a number of promising technical puzzles. The quest for greater submerged speed, initiated in earnest after 1945, found its way to the Navy's David Taylor Model Basin just as Admiral Hyman Rickover's nuclear propulsion project succeeded with Nautilus. The researchat David Taylor provided insights into the ideal hull form for high speed submarines.
The first class of submarines to put the two differing directions of development together was the Skipjack class. Skipjack had the nuclear reactors from Nautilus, and the hull form and maneuverability advancements from theUSS Albacore and the Barbel Class. Production of the Skipjack boats was rushed. Funding was approved infiscal year 1956 and the first ship of the Skipjack class, the Skipjack, received its commission three years later on 15 Apr 1959. Beginning with the Skipjack, all subsequçnt submarines utilized the tear-drop shape and nuclear power among other innovations.
With the conventionally-powered experimental Albacore, submariners reached an extraordinary submerged speed. In the fast attack submarine [SSN] USS Skipjack the endurance of nuclear propulsion and the high speed of the Albacore teardrop hull came together to form the new paradigm. Every American submarine since 1958 has followed the same basic formula. The attack submarines proved very effective during the Cold War in addressing the Soviet submarine threat in the north Atlantic and northwest Pacific through surveillance and deterrence.
The Nautilus-Albacore combination also served to extend the reach of the submarine force. While the Navy experimented with launching air breathing missiles like the Regulus from submarines during the late 1950s, the mobility, stealth, and endurance of nuclear submarines based on the Skipjack model proved the ideal platform for launching ballistic missiles. From the Polaris A-1 in 1960, through multiple generations of missiles suitable for submerged launching, the Navy's fleet ballistic missile submarines [SSBN] have provided the ultimate nuclear deterrent. As opposed to easily targeted land-based missiles, SSBNs are in constant motion. Hiding deep in the ocean, with virtually unlimited endurance, SSBNs are capable of reaching almost any target at the direction of the President. With the current Ohio class SSBNs, the submarine force employs the most effective and survivable component of current American strategic nuclear defense.
Since the 1970s, the submarine force has also provided the Navy with a stealthy way of applying tactical firepower against land and sea targets. Fitted at first for torpedo tube launch, the Tomahawk cruise missile has enhanced the effectiveness of the attack submarine fleet. Now capable of firing these missiles from a vertical launch system in the bow, the latest flight of the submarine force's front line Los Angeles class SSNs has proven very useful in the challenging environment of modern littoral war at sea. During Desert Storm, submarine launched Tomahawks proved their extraordinary effectiveness during the first combat use of the submarine force's new capability.
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