![]() To reduce the time in port for crew turnover and replenishment the submarines were built with three large logistics hatches – and these provide large diameter supply and repair openings. The SSBNs were also developed to operate for fifteen years or longer between overhauls. Navy’s submarines of the Pacific Fleet are currently based at Bangor, Washington, while those of the Atlantic Fleet are based at King’s Bay, Georgia. The Ohio-class submarines were constructed between 19 by the Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. Navy’s boats displaced 16,764 tons, were 560 feet (170 meters) in length, and were 42 feet (13 meters) at the beam. Until the deployment of the Soviet Union’s mighty Typhoon-class, the Ohio was the largest submarine in the world. The crew facilities were also enhanced, and included two onboard libraries and other amenities. The Ohio-class has been seen as a major improvement over the previous Lafayette-class SSBNs, and the boats were faster, quieter, and easier to maintain. The first eight boats were delivered with Trident C4 missiles, while the fourteen to follow were armed with the longer-range Trident D5 – a weapon that has been touted as being as accurate as ground-based ICBMs, and with the same response time and greater destructive effect. Bush as providing “a new dimension in our nation’s strategic deterrence.” The submarine, which had been laid down five years earlier, was the first in a new class of eighteen nuclear-powered SSBNs built for the United States Navy. ![]() ![]() While the Ohio-class submarines are children of the Cold War – and built to destroy the Soviet Union in a nuclear war – these ballistic missiles submarines now are tasked with deterring China and Russia. When the USS Ohio (SSBN-726) was commissioned in 1981, the nuclear ballistic submarine was heralded by then-Vice President George H.W. ![]()
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