POLARIS: Submarines, Missiles, the US Navy and the Royal Navy

Charts the rise of the Polaris missile and the nuclear-powered submarines that reshaped Cold War naval strategy. Explores the research program that culminated in the launch of USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, and how the US Navy partnered with the army to develop a ballistic missile. Under the leadership of RADM William Raborn, the US Navy set up its own project: the Polaris weapon system. In 1960, the first missile-armed nuclear-powered submarine (SSBN) left on patrol, with forty more to follow in subsequent years. Two years later, when Britain's Blue Streak and Skybolt plans were canceled, Polaris was supplied to the Royal Navy. Contains 110 illustrations.