Battles & Wars › Cold War › Nuclear weapons and deterrence
Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris)
Nautilus launched 1954; first Polaris patrol 1960· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Submarines powered by nuclear reactors, able to stay submerged for months; some carry nuclear missiles that can be fired from underwater.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
A nuclear reactor makes heat without air, so a submarine can stay underwater for months instead of surfacing to run diesel engines and recharge batteries. Admiral Hyman Rickover drove the US program; USS Nautilus signaled 'underway on nuclear power' in January 1955 and passed under the North Pole in 1958. In November 1960 USS George Washington began the first patrol with 16 Polaris nuclear missiles that could be fired submerged. The Soviet Union, Britain, France, China and India followed.
Why it matters
Hidden missile submarines are the hardest part of a nuclear force to destroy in a surprise attack, so they guarantee retaliation, the core of deterrence.
How we know
US Navy and Rickover program records, Nautilus itself (a museum ship at Groton, Connecticut), declassified Polaris files, and fleet data published by navies and in arms-control treaties.
Still debated
Whether the oceans will stay opaque is debated: some analysts think new sensors, underwater drones and AI could someday make missile submarines findable.
Connections (5)
▸Falklands War saw the only combat sinking ever by Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris)Well documented
The connection
On May 2, 1982, the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror fired three World War II-design torpedoes at the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano, sinking it; 323 of its crew died. It remains the only ship sunk in combat by a nuclear-powered submarine. Afterward Argentina's surface fleet stayed close to its own coast.
When and how
South Atlantic, southwest of the Falklands and outside Britain's declared exclusion zone, May 2, 1982; Commander Christopher Wreford-Brown commanded Conqueror.
How we know
Both navies' records, survivors' accounts and British cabinet papers document the sinking and the orders behind it.
Debates and open questions
Whether sinking a ship outside the zone and sailing away was justified is still argued; Britain said it threatened the task force.
▸Submarine was transformed by nuclear power into the Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris)Well documented
The connection
Diesel-electric submarines of both World Wars spent much of their time surfaced and crept slowly on batteries underwater. A nuclear reactor removed that limit: needing no air, boats like Nautilus could stay submerged for weeks at high speed, turning the submarine from a diving torpedo boat into a true underwater warship.
When and how
Groton, Connecticut, where Electric Boat built Nautilus (launched January 1954); Admiral Hyman Rickover led the Navy's reactor program.
How we know
Navy records and Nautilus's own voyages of 1955–58, including the first submerged passage under the North Pole, demonstrate the change.
Debates and open questions
Some navies still prefer cheaper diesel-electric or air-independent boats, which near coasts can be as quiet as nuclear submarines.
▸Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris) carry the hidden missiles of Nuclear weapons and deterrenceWell documented
The connection
Missile submarines hide in the open ocean, so an enemy first strike cannot reliably destroy them. That guarantees retaliation, the 'second strike' at the heart of deterrence. Since 1960 the US, and later the Soviet Union, Britain, France, China and India, have kept submarines on patrol carrying nuclear missiles.
When and how
USS George Washington's first deterrent patrol, November 1960, with 16 Polaris missiles; Britain's Polaris submarines began patrols in 1968.
How we know
Navy patrol records, arms-control treaty data on submarine launchers, and published strategy documents describe their role.
Debates and open questions
Some strategists ask whether future detection technology could make submarines vulnerable, undermining the most secure part of deterrence.
▸Sonar (ASDIC) is the main sense of the Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris)Well documented
The connection
Underwater, light and radio barely travel, so submarines depend on sound. Nuclear submarines carry large passive sonar arrays that listen for other vessels, and designers make them as quiet as possible to avoid being heard. Cold War cat-and-mouse between US and Soviet submarines was largely a contest of sonar against quieting.
When and how
North Atlantic and Pacific from the 1950s, along with the US SOSUS network of seabed listening arrays.
How we know
Declassified Navy histories and accounts such as 'Blind Man's Bluff' (1998) describe sonar's central role in submarine operations.
Debates and open questions
Current sonar performance and submarine quieting are classified; how close some Cold War encounters came to collisions or worse is partly unknown.
▸Electric Boat (later General Dynamics) launched the first of the Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris)Well documented
The connection
Admiral Hyman Rickover's naval reactor program, with Westinghouse building the reactor, chose Electric Boat to build the hull. President Truman laid Nautilus's keel at Groton in 1952. Launched in 1954, it signaled 'Underway on nuclear power' in January 1955. Electric Boat then built George Washington, the first Polaris missile submarine, by inserting a missile section into an attack submarine's hull.
When and how
Groton, Connecticut, 1952–60; Rickover, Westinghouse and Electric Boat; Nautilus launched January 21, 1954, by Mamie Eisenhower.
How we know
Navy and Atomic Energy Commission records, ship histories, and the preserved Nautilus at Groton.
Debates and open questions
How to divide credit among Rickover, Westinghouse and the shipbuilders is debated, and Rickover later fought the company bitterly over costs.