Nuclear Powered Submarines in the Post-ColdWar Era
Written on February 8, 2010
There is only so much to say about the role of nuclear-powered submarines
in the post-Cold War era. During the Cold War they seemed to be all the rage among American and Soviet Union governments. The two countries were both continually making more nuclear weapons and were afraid of attack from the other country. The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union caused great threat to both sides and in turn this lead them to potentially be on the verge of nuclear war.
The first Soviet nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine was
launched over 40 years ago during the Cold War, and it was this very submarine that quite possibly saved our world from going through a nuclear catastrophe. This submarine was called K-19. The construction of K-19 began on October 17, 1958. It was on April 8, 1959 it was christened, and the accident that ended up potentially saving the world from nuclear disaster occurred on July 4, 1961.
K-19 was doing some exercises in the North Atlantic, close to Southern Greenland,
when a leak struck in the reactor coolant system. There was a fair chance that this leak could lead them to unintentionally firing missiles at an American ship and therefore possibly causing the beginning of a nuclear war. Engineering officers and crewmembers ended up working for long periods of time in high-radiation areas trying their best to fix the problem. Because of their exposure to such a high level of radiation many of the crewmembers became terribly ill, including 8 men who died from the extreme conditions. Eventually the crew was evacuated to a diesel submarine, and K-19 was towed to a base in the Soviet Union.
It wasn’t until 1991, nearly 50 years after the Cold War began, that it all
ended. During 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, their borders opened, in Eastern Europe free elections were taking over, and in mid to late 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved into its component republics. With this in mind, the Iron Curtain was lifted and the Cold War had finally come to an end. It took nearly 50 years for this war to end and for nuclear weapons to stop being used as threats.
Since the mid-1980s, most nuclear-powered submarines have not been allowed
to be in service. There are three different generations of nuclear-powered submarines that have been have been built from the year 1955 to present day. All of the submarines from first generation, most from the second, and even some from the third generation have been taken out of service and are waiting to be decommissioned. The first of the upcoming fourth generation is currently under construction at the naval yard in Severodvinsk.
Despite the end of the cold war, Russia has made it known stated that the
Northern Fleet, a place where they operate on specially constructed tankers, will continue to be an important part of their nuclear strategic arm forces. They now have not only nuclear-powered submarines, but also some tankers and such. Fortunately though, the Cold War has ended and we do not have to worry about nuclear war striking any time soon. Cold War.
