The interior and missile launch of the Ohio-class nuclear submarines

On April 7, 1979, the first unit of a new class of US Navy ships was launched: the USS Ohio.

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The new vessel entered service on November 11, 1981. It is a nuclear-powered submarine, 170 meters long, 13 meters wide, with a displacement of 16,764 tons surfaced and 18,750 tons submerged. Its propulsion system is a PWR S8G nuclear reactor with a nominal power of 26.1 MW. Thanks to this reactor, its autonomy is limited only by the supplies it can carry on board for its crew (for about 60 days). It can travel at a speed of 12 knots surfaced and 20 knots submerged.

The USS Ohio has a crew of 15 officers and 140 enlisted personnel. Like other submarines, it has torpedo tubes: a total of four, all located in the bow and with a caliber of 533 mm for Mark 48 torpedoes. However, the primary mission for which the USS Ohio was designed was not to sink ships. Originally, it was a ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). It had 24 tubes for launching Trident I C4 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), each equipped with 12 nuclear warheads of up to 100 kilotons each. Its purpose was to be a very difficult-to-detect missile launch platform, as it did not need to surface to launch these missiles.

Conversion of the USS Ohio into a cruise missile submarine (SGN) began in November 2002. The work was completed in January 2006. Since then, the USS Ohio's mission has been to launch conventional cruise missiles. The USS Ohio now has 22 missile tubes, each capable of launching 7 Tomahawk missiles: 154 in total.

Between 1976 and 1997, 18 Ohio-class submarines were built (originally planned to be 24). All 18 remain in service. The four oldest (USS Ohio, USS Michigan, USS Florida, and USS Georgia) were converted into cruise missile submarines, while the remaining 14 continue operating as ballistic missile submarines. Currently, the Ohio-class submarines are awaiting replacement by new vessels. The U.S. Navy expects to receive 12 Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and 66 Virginia-class cruise missile submarines.

If you want to know more, yesterday AiTelly published a very comprehensive video showing the interior of Ohio-class submarines and also explaining the launch system of their nuclear missiles:

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Main photo: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. The USS Florida, an Ohio-class submarine, arriving at the port of Suda, on the Greek island of Crete, on May 21, 2013.