Throughout history, navies have made significant impacts in the technological development of human kind. These impacts range from improvements in metal technologies made while perfecting the cannon to the advent of cybernetics,which allowed more precise targeting of weaponry. One of the more sophisticated developments in naval history has been the invention of the submarine. The submarine was born in 1620 as a leather-covered rowboat built by Cornelius Drebbel. After Robert Fulton came up with a more modern prototype in 1800, the military advantages of a nearly invisible warship were quickly divined. However, they remained unrealized for quite a while. Although Fulton probably foresaw that his invention would be used for war, he hardly could have envisioned it launching projectiles with the capability to level entire countries. However, after a series of innovations in nuclear missile and submarine designs, the submarine-launched ballistic missile has become an integral part of our naval weapons arsenal.
To understand the need for the development of nuclear missile submarines, there is a need to examine the political climate of the world in the era after World War II. The realignment of the superpowers after the war resulted in a unique situation. …
