Here Come the Tridents

When its black hull slipped into the waters off Groton, Conn., last week, the submarine Ohio launched a new era in nuclear warfare. Regarded as one of the world's most sophisticated weapons systems, it is the first of a planned fleet of 13 Trident A-subs. In size alone the Ohio is staggering: its 560-ft. length is five feet longer than the Washington Monument, and its 18,700-ton displacement nearly equals that of World War II's Yorktown-class aircraft carriers. Equally monumental is the ship's $1.25 billion price tag.

The new subs will carry 24 Trident I missiles, each with a dozen warheads. The older Polaris and Poseidon subs have only 16 missile-launching tubes aboard; Polaris missiles carry three warheads, Poseidon 14. Because the range of the Trident missile is 4,000 nautical miles, some 1,500 nautical miles greater than the Polaris and Poseidon missiles, the new subs will have a much wider expanse of ocean in which to hide while still being within striking distance of Soviet targets. Moreover, their ability to run faster and quieter than the older subs will make them harder for enemy ships to detect.

When the Ohio is fully outfitted and commissioned in November 1980, its 154 officers and sailors will be the envy of the Navy's submariners. The crew will live in nine-man rooms instead of mass dormitories, each room with a table and lounge. At every bunk will be a stereo headset for listening to music. These amenities are important. Explains Rear Admiral Charles Larson, the Trident program coordinator: "The physical limit on how long you can stay out on a nuclear submarine is determined by the food and other consumables on board -and the psychological limit of the crew. There's a lot of habitability that's built into a Trident." Not to mention an enormous lethal punch, which is intended to deter war by ensuring that the U.S. can retaliate devastatingly in the event of nuclear attack. For the Ohio to succeed as a deterrent would mean that some 30 years from now, when it is expected to retire, it would never have fired a shot in anger.

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